Spiral Bound Journal

Sit Down Sessions

Breaking out some freewrites for "The Bard's Hall Contest" . Yes, I'm totally using this as an opportunity to sort of plan a novel I heop to tackle for NaNo.


SportsCenter announcer: It has been three weeks since Marlon Patterson announced that he is gay, a disclosure that sent shockwaves throughout the NFL. He recently took time to sit down with ESPN's Rachel Gershon to discuss this disclosure and its impact on his career. The full interview will air Wednesday night at eight PM. Here is a preview of that session.

[Cut to: Interview Soundstage with a dark grey backdrop]

Rachel Gershon: Coming out at this point in your career when you still have at least five more years in you seems like a significant risk. What made you decide to take it?

Marlon Patterson: You're absolutely right that it was quite a risk, but I realized I needed to come clean for the sake of my relationships. While Marty [Iverson] and I have a great partnership and have won three Super Bowls, I knew that my commitment to Garrett would jeopardize the team because my head would not be entirely in the game.

RG: Garrett being-

MP: My beau.

RG: Did Garrett influence your decision in any capacity?

MP: He actually expressed some concern about it at first, worried that making this public declaration would make it more difficult for us to just spend time together in public without me being hounded by fans or critics. I did hold off for a bit for that reason, because Garrett's concern was valid and did cross my mind. However, since we've been together for a while, I realized I needed to long at the long term picture. If I was to say, get traded to Minnesota, there would have been a lot of speculation about my motives. I realized that it would be unfair to not be transparent about that with the fans, as they've supported my work in Kansas City all these years. If I didn't say something, they might speculate that there was a conflict or something with the front office. I remember watching the Brian Horton saga back in 2021, and I did not want to have something like that hanging over my head.

RG: Once you decided you needed to come out, what was your thought process?

MP: The process had actually started six months ago when Christina and I decided to separate. While I did and still do wish to keep the divorce details private, I felt that discussing this in detail with Marty was necessary. So when I was leaning more toward going public, I went back to Marty and talked about what had started to change.

RG: And how did Marty take this information?

MP: There was some surprise definitely. He asked if I was looking to leave the team, and I told him at that point that I wasn't.

RG: Is that still the case?

MP: Now things are a little more open. I will still be in Kansas City for the upcoming season, but after that I'm not sure.

RG: You mentioned possibly going to Minnesota, though. Is this related to your relationship with Garrett?

MP: Yes. As I said, though, I'm fully committed to Kansas City this year. After this remains to be seen.

[Cut to: SportCenter studio]

SportsCenter Announcer: Again, the full interview with Marlon Patterson will air on Wednesday night at 9 PM Eastern.