The AFL continues to hold a unique - and somewhat sad - standing as one of the few professional sports leagues worldwide yet to have an openly gay player.
The barrier of players "coming out" as homosexual has been broken in a number of sports over the years, including in the NRL, the NBA and a number of football (soccer) leagues in Australia and abroad.
But in 2025 it is still yet to happen in Australian Rules and Geelong great Jimmy Bartel discussed his reasons behind that during an in-depth converstation with the A Life of Greatness with Sarah Grynberg podcast.
Bartel won three flags, a Brownlow Medal and a Norm Smith medal in his glittering 305-game career with the Cats, inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame in 2023.
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The 41-year-old was asked if he was surprised no AFL player had yet come out as gay.
“Yes and no,” he said. “I’ve thought about it, one of the factors that may be holding back a male player from coming out is that will be all they are referenced as for the rest of their life.
“They may be the most incredible player, four-time Brownlow medal winner, five-time premiership player, won every award in the game, 300 games, a legend.
“But if they were the first player, that would be how they’d describe them.”
Jason Collins in the NBA, Australia's Isaac Humphries in the NBL and former A-League player Josh Cavallo are among the men who have taken the step to reveal their identity while still playing professionally.
Ian Roberts also famously came out as gay while playing in the NRL back in 1995 and while he is recognised as such, it's far from the first or only tag that is placed on the former Australia and NSW representative whenever he is referenced.
Considering the apparent stigma that has existed in the AFL, however, Bartel is most likely on the money when it comes to his sport's first openly gay competitor.
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The two-time All Australian said the AFL has come a long way in terms of recognising issues such as mental health.
He also said change rooms these days "are incredibly open-minded" and feels most players would be accepting of a gay teammate, with any concerns simply revolving around their status as a "good person, a good teammate".
He also said a player should never have their achievements diminished if they did announce they were gay, but still felt that would be the case.
“Not that it should,” he said. “But I reckon there’d be some who might be thinking, 'do I want that always attached to me?'
“That’s only an opinion of someone who’s never walked a mile in that person’s shoes.”