A Gay Athlete’s Journey: Todd Searcy's Decision to 'Come Out'

Part 2: Geneva star football player Todd Searcy discovers in 2003 that he has AIDS and makes the hard decision to tell his parents.

  After graduating with honors on a football scholarship from the University of Illinois, former Geneva High School star linebacker Todd Searcy lived in Chicago with high school friend Jeff Hill. Hill played football with Searcy at Geneva High School in the 1980s and said the two of them had a great time during the year they shared an apartment. “There’s nothing like being in your early twenties and in the city,” Hill said. Despite being Searcy’s roommate and close friend, Hill had no idea that his friend was gay because Searcy continued to live the “dual life” he led in college, keeping his sexual identity a secret. After living in Chicago, Searcy was a frequent visitor to San Francisco, where for the first time he met other athletes who …

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