Jake Eldridge Says “Heated Rivalry” Could Have Changed His Coming Out Timeline In College Football
Jake Eldridge says the hardest part of playing American football at Rutgers University was not the training or the pressure to perform. It was the fear of what would happen if teammates or coaches knew he was gay. That constant second-guessing kept him closeted, and he says it took a real toll on his health and headspace.
In an interview with People, Eldridge said the stress of hiding who he was helped push him to retire from football in 2024.
“I was faking my life every day.”
Eldridge has been blunt about what that stress felt like. “The stress, in my opinion, was me faking my life every day to please those around me rather than please myself,” he said.
He also linked that pressure to serious health issues, saying he was hospitalised with ulcerative colitis due to extreme stress.
Later, he came out publicly on social media in 2024. In an emotional video posted to YouTube, he said: “I went about my life for so long trying to fit that mould and hide who I was, and it really, really wrecked me.”
Eldridge believes a show like Heated Rivalry could have helped him feel safer much earlier. Speaking to People, he said: “If I was a closeted athlete and saw how many people fell in love with the story portrayed in Heated Rivalry, I would have felt a little safer.”
He was careful not to oversell it. “Every programme is different, and you know best how your team will react,” he added, before saying it still “shows that it’s possible.”
These days, Eldridge posts day-in-the-life content on TikTok and Instagram while also pushing into acting. According to Attitude, he has more than 92,000 followers on TikTok and 51,000 on Instagram.
He has also shared a TikTok video about Heated Rivalry that’s been viewed more than two million times, writing: “When I watch Heated Rivalry, all I can think about is… how much it would have helped me.”
The series, adapted from Rachel Reid’s Game Changers novels and starring Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie, has already been renewed for a second season.
Attitude also notes that US hockey player Jesse Kortuem came out in January 2026 and cited Heated Rivalry as inspiration.
