Marques Sullivan, a two-time attendee of the Chicago Pride Parade, plans to add it to his annual list of must-attend events, even if he doesn't have the prime spotlight he did this year.
Sullivan, 35, is the president of the Retired Professional Football Players of Chicago. He is straight, married to Veronica for nine years and they have known each other for 11 years.
Sullivan was front and center June 30 when the parade passed through Uptown, Lakeview and Lincoln Park, standing side by side in support of Wade Davis, a fellow former professional football player who was the 2013 grand marshal. Former NFL player Marc May, who played for the Minnesota Vikings in 1987, also marched in Chicago's parade.
"I thought it was a good time. I felt loved and felt like people were having a good time, people were getting along. It was just a good atmosphere, a positive environment to be in. All along the [parade route] the crowd greeted us warmly," said Sullivan, a Chicago native who played in the NFL from 2001-2004 and then played for the Chicago Rush in the Arena Football League in 2007.
"I felt it was a very successful parade, with a genuinely positive atmosphere."
Sullivan attended the parade for the first time about four years ago. "A buddy of mine has a condo that overlooks Broadway Street, so he had a party there [on parade Sunday.] We had a good time grilling [outside] and watching the parade," Sullivan said.
Sullivan landed in the 2013 parade after a friend suggested he show support for Davis. Sullivan immediately agreed, though he had never met Davis.
"I thought [marching in the parade with Davis] would be a good idea to promote solidarity and just show solidarity to a former professional player," Sullivan said.
Davis made his professional debut in 2001 with the Berlin Thunder in NFL Europe. He played in NFL preseason games for Seattle, Tennessee, Washington. He retired from football in 2003 due to an injury.
Davis came out in 2012 and now works at the Hetrick-Martin Institute in New York City, helping LGBT youth.
"Wade certainly seems like a person who is committed to empowering kids, and that's where we have a lot of synergy," Sullivan said. "We both want to assist and benefit the lives of youth, him particularly for youth in the LGBTQ community and me in the Chicago area, mostly inner-city."
Sullivan praised the parade organizers for "a really good job." He said he wants to be back, showing that his organization "is a proud supporter of LGBT youth and LGBT in sports."
Sullivan said he heard general anti-gay comments in NFL locker rooms back when he played, though he doesn't know what is said, if anything, in today's NFL locker rooms. The anti-gay comments he heard years ago were not directed at anyone in particular.
"There are more and more people nowadays who are willing to come out in support [of a gay NFL player,] so hopefully that will help any gay player if he wants to come out," Sullivan said, "and it absolutely will happen, eventually. It may be five-years, or 10-years, or 20-years. But there will be a current NFL player coming out; I'm certain of that."
Sullivan said he "would not have cared" if a teammate came out while he played.
While playing for the Buffalo Bills from 2001-2003, Sullivan and his wife befriended a local gay couple, he said. "My upbringing was more diverse than some, so I was more accepting at an early age to the LGBT community, but I know a lot of people are not like that.
"I'm sure there are people in the NFL who simply do not agree or can accept gay relationships, but that's just a microcosm of the entire world.
"I look at it from my perspective, if my son or daughter told me that they were gay. As a loving parent, I would accept [them]."
Sullivan now works full-time for the Chicago Public School system as a teacher's assistant at Brennemann Elementary School in the Uptown neighborhood. This was his second year in CPS and, he admits, being a former NFL player "certainly helps, bring instant credibility," he said. "I am trying to encourage more and more former players to get involved, or pursue a career in education, because there is a need for strong male influence."
Sullivan also is an assistant football coach at St. Laurence High School.