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(CNN) -- U.S soccer star Robbie Rogers has "come out" as gay on the day he retired from the game Friday. The former Columbus Crew winger represented America on 18 occasions, including at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. But Rogers, who was released from his deal by second-tier club Leeds United last summer before taking up a spot with third-tier Stevenage, revealed on his blog that he is homosexual and keen to seek a life away from football. "Secrets can cause so much internal damage," Rogers wrote on his blog. "People love to preach about honesty, how honesty is so plain and simple. Try explaining to your loved ones after 25 years you are gay. "Try convincing yourself that your creator has the most wonderful purpose for you even though you were taught differently. "I always thought I could hide this secret. Football was my escape, my purpose, my identity. Football hid my secret, gave me more joy than I could have ever imagined. Soccer's last taboo: Why gay players stay in the closet . "I will always be thankful for my career. I will remember Beijing, The MLS Cup, and most of all my teammates. I will never forget the friends I have made a long the way and the friends that supported me once they knew my secret. "Now is my time to step away. It's time to discover myself away from football. It's 1 A.M. in London as I write this and I could not be happier with my decision. "Life is so full of amazing things. I realized I could only truly enjoy my life once I was honest. "Honesty is a b**** but makes life so simple and clear. My secret is gone, I am a free man, I can move on and live my life as my creator intended." Rogers' announcement has seen former teammates flock to show their support, with U.S. international defender Oguchi Onyewu, tweeting: "Extremely proud of the courage from @robbierogers. Truth is not always easy to display, but truly strong people always find a way #RESPECT" U.S. midfielder Stuart Holden added on Twitter: "Much love and respect to my boy @robbierogers ! Proud to be your friend bro." Rogers' retirement means there are still no openly gay players participating in professional football in Europe with the exception of Swedish-based Anton Hysen. 'Brave' cricketer Davies reveals he is gay . It was hoped that Hysen's coming out, which attracted headlines the world over in March 2011, would pave the way for other gay footballers to take similar steps. But not since the tragic loss of Justin Fashanu has a top-flight league witnessed an openly gay professional football player. Fashanu, who committed suicide in 1998, became the first £1 million black player in the history of English football when he signed for Nottingham Forest in 1981. While at Forest, constant rumors and speculation surrounded his private life with concocted allegations of affairs with Conservative MPs. Thomas relief after admitting he is gay . With the rumors continuing throughout his career, he finally came out in 1990 and continued to play for a whole host of lower league clubs. "You have to understand," he said in an interview before his death, "that footballers are very narrow minded people. It's the nature of the business. When you put yourself in the firing line, you are open to attack. I know I'm there to be shot down in flames." Following his passing, one particular group of fans would recite the chant: "He's gay, he's dead, he's hanging in a shed, Fashanu, Fashanu." Expert: Use gay slurs controversy to tackle homophobia in sports . While there has been huge progress since those dark days, the presence of homophobia in football has not been extinguished. Only this week, police launched an investigation into allegations that a Blackburn Rovers footballer made homophobic gestures towards Brighton fans during an English second division match. View: Hi-res gallery of openly gay athletes . Brighton, which is situated on the south coast, has a large gay population and its fans are often targeted with homophobic chants. "I think there's a big culture shift needed within football from the grassroots to the top of the game," Louise Englefield of FootballvHomophobia told CNN . "The top of the game is a symptom of a much wider issue about lack of awareness and ignorance around the ability of gay men to participate and excel at football . "When you've got a lack of gay players at the top level, then it's easy for that environment to be quite negative. "I imagine there are players who are reticent to come out." Opinion: Why the fuss about gay marriage? While other sports have embraced their gay stars, such as John Amaechi in basketball, Martina Navratilova in tennis and Gareth Thomas in rugby, football has yet to move with the times. Off the field, the UK Parliament backed a bill to legalize gay marriage earlier this month as society continues to move forward. And while football has yet to move with the times, progress is being made. Premier League and Football League clubs in the UK have created several initiatives to combat homophobia, working alongside charities such as HvF. "Within football, people don't understand the seriousness of homophobia," added Englefield. "The things fans shout at players, they believe it's not hurting them and they don't care if they're gay or not. "Homophobia is used to put players down and it's a way of deriding players. That's cultural all the way through football and happens in other sports. "When a player gives a pass away or falls over, fans use homophobia abuse to put them down and it's that which we want to stop. "One of our key things is changing chanting in the stadium. Stop and think before you chant." Liverpool youngster Suso fined for calling teammate 'gay' A particular success story in England has been the creation of the GFSN Gay National League, where "gay friendly" teams compete on a regular basis. Rogers' story has been met with admiration from fellow gay football players, but his retirement from the game means that the community is still waiting for a player to come out and continue playing. "The great pity with Robbie is that he felt it was an 'either or choice,' " Scott Lawley, who plays for Nottingham Ball Bois in the GFSN Gay National League told CNN. "Reading his blog, it felt as if he thought he had no choice but to quit football if he wanted come out. "He could have easily retired without coming out but he's been very brave and hopefully set us in the right direction. "He hasn't forced us to the point where a gay man runs out in front of 30,000 people to play football . "And the fact that no professional player has come out in recent years means there are still issues to deal with. "But we will come to that day when we do have openly gay players in the top divisions and we're moving in the right direction."
U.S. soccer player Robbie Rogers has "come out" as gay and retired from the game .
The 25-year-old had been playing in England with third-tier Stevenage until recently .
He wrote on his blog: "Try explaining to your loved ones after 25 years you are gay"
Former teammates give their support following announcement .

Rand Paul wears his political ambition for all to see. Look no further than the tie he sported during a three-day trip to Iowa. It had yellow images of corn, the crop that epitomizes politics in the first-in-the-nation caucus state. "And by coincidence, I have one in the shape of South Carolina," the Kentucky Republican said Wednesday, drawing laughs. He was speaking at a Republican breakfast outside Des Moines at Machine Shed, a Midwest restaurant chain where the waiters wear overalls and drinks are served in Mason jars. As Paul blitzed across the Hawkeye State this week, holding events at Iowa GOP offices and campaigning for local candidates, he hardly played coy to the question of whether he was running for President. After all, his nine-city trip marked his fourth visit to the state since the 2012 election. "I don't know why Iowa keeps popping up on my calendar, but it seems to be pretty frequent," he said Monday, clearly with sarcasm. His itinerary this time included a campaign-style schedule where he continued testing his 2016 message on the road. From reducing the federal deficit to defending civil liberties and reforming the criminal justice system, Paul mostly stayed on his talking points. But the trip was not without controversy. His combative answer to a reporter's question -- combined with video of Paul appearing to avoid an immigration activist — absorbed most of the attention surrounding his visit. Experts say it's unlikely those story lines will derail any progress Paul has made in the state with voters, but his comments could underscore questions some Republicans have about his foreign policy, especially as he seeks to broaden his appeal. Off-message . At his first stop on Monday, which actually took place in Omaha, Nebraska, near the Iowa state line, Paul held a news conference after touring a tech startup venue with Nebraska GOP Senate hopeful Ben Sasse. Asked if he still supported phasing out foreign aid to Israel, Paul fired back at a reporter for "mischaracterizing" his position and staunchly denied that he had ever proposed such legislation. But it's well-documented that he called for ending all foreign aid, including assistance to Israel, and sought support in Congress for his proposal in 2011. In Iowa, Paul stressed that he never introduced legislation that solely "targeted" Israel and argued that he strongly favors sending money to the country. Still, he added, Israel will be better positioned in the long run without foreign assistance. "Every country ultimately would be better off to be independent," he said on Tuesday. Paul is also taking heat for quickly exiting a tense moment when an immigration activist confronted Rep. Steve King at a fundraiser while the two lawmakers ate dinner Monday night. Video of the incident shows Paul, at the behest of his press aide, quickly getting up from the table and getting away from the confrontation. Paul said he was stepping away to do interviews with local media. Whether or not those interviews were hastened because of the activist is unclear. Still, the video quickly spread and it was enough for critics to frame a narrative that Paul bolted from an uncomfortable exchange. The dust-ups in his trip made headlines and ate up much of the coverage of his Iowa visit. David Kochel, Mitt Romney's Iowa strategist in 2008 and 2012, said he doubts caucus voters will judge Paul negatively for leaving after "someone tried to sandbag him." "I think he's fine on that," he said. "As for Israel, that's a little more difficult. You have social conservatives in Iowa who very much feel the need to be in solidarity with Israel -- not just Christian conservatives, but it's also national security conservatives." While Paul has voted in favor of sending more aid to Israel this year and has proposed cutting off aid to the Palestinians, his past statements and views on foreign policy are rooted in his libertarian leanings — a perspective still largely outside of mainstream Republican thought. "He'll probably have work to do on that issue," Kochel continued. "It could be one of those things that might limit his potential." Still, Kochel thinks Paul is the current frontunner in Iowa among prospective candidates. He points to Paul's frequent travel to the state, his efforts to build a wider GOP, and the network of supporters built by his father's presidential campaigns the past two cycles. 'Son of Ron' In the 2012 Iowa caucuses, former Rep. Ron Paul of Texas finished with 21% of the vote, just slightly behind Romney and former Sen. Rick Santorum — who tied for first at 25%. Many of Ron Paul's supporters were previously inactive in politics, citing a lack of candidates who represented their views. "Your father cured my apathy," one man told Rand Paul at an event in Council Bluffs. Building off Ron Paul's 2012 momentum, the so-called liberty faction of Iowa's Republican Party eventually took control of party leadership. Mainstream Republicans, with the support of Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, wrestled back control earlier this year. But Paul knows he needs more than just the libertarian wing of the party. As seen in his trip this week, he's going after the state's social conservatives and business Republicans, too. "Paul is attempting to pivot from being 'Son of Ron,' so to speak," said Dennis Goldford, professor of politics at Drake University in Des Moines. "He's never going to deny that or reject it. But he has the view that Republicans need a broader base or broader range than some other candidates have maintained." Paul spoke at five GOP offices this week and five other events in a tour that took him around the state in a 730-mile loop. At each stop, Paul's main message sought to counter post-2012 perceptions that the Republican Party should change its message. "I say 'hell no.' We have to be more boldly for what we're for," he said at the GOP office in Davenport. It's a mantra he has repeated in his travels across the country this year. But he proposes doing so with some traditional and unorthodox ideas for mainstream Republicans. Part of that includes a push to speak out against domestic surveillance programs and mount a strong defense of the Fourth Amendment. He has also been aggressive in courting voters and even Democrats to help expand the party. To do that, he's urging for reform to the criminal justice system with reduced sentences for nonviolent drug offenders and the restoration of voting rights to nonviolent felons after they get out of jail. In Northwest Iowa, home to many of the state's social conservatives, Paul placed an evangelical spin on his message. "Many of us are Christians, we believe in a second chance in our religion. Anybody here who's not a sinner, raise their hand," he said Monday night at a fundraiser in Okoboji. "We believe in redemption, should the law allow people a second chance." But that's about as deep as Paul waded into social issues during the trip. He didn't talk about abortion, contraception or same-sex marriage until audience members asked him about the issues at one of his final events. Asked whether he supported a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, Paul said he "favors the concept" of traditional marriage but argued the federal government should stay out marriage entirely. "I don't want to register my guns in Washington or my marriage," he said. The previous past two winners of Iowa caucuses, Santorum and Mike Huckabee, both ran on a vocal platform with regard to social issues. Goldford said if Paul doesn't devote more attention to those topics, someone else will step in to fill in the void. "To function in Iowa he's going to have to address the concerns of conservative evangelicals because Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz are going to do that," he said. Paul left Iowa before this weekend's annual summit hosted by the Family Leader, a group that's influential with social conservatives in the state. Guest speakers include Cruz, Huckabee, Santorum, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal. Paul said he couldn't make it due to a scheduling conflict. But he indicated he'd be back. "You have to meet people four, five, six times in Iowa because they expect a real personal touch, and I think it's actually one of the good things about the process," he told reporters, before needlessly adding: "if I decide to do this."
Rand Paul made a high-profile trip to Iowa this week .
Iowa is a magnet for presidential hopefuls .
Paul made headlines for changing his tune on foreign aid .
Experts say the controversy isn't a deal breaker, but he still needs social conservatives .

(CNN) -- The inaugural addresses of the presidents are, for the most part, a wasteland of howling rhetoric and dried-out inspiration. History has little noted, nor has it long remembered, more than a handful of them. Lincoln's two inaugural addresses stand (of course) as the great exception. Franklin Roosevelt's addresses in 1933 and 1937 remain alive, as does the sonorous rhetoric of John F. Kennedy's address in 1961. We continue to quote a single sentence from Thomas Jefferson's first inaugural, a sentence from Ronald Reagan's first and a two-word phrase from Lyndon Johnson's. After that ... After that, you get a lot of this: . "Liberty -- liberty within the law -- and civilization are inseparable, and though both were threatened, we find them now secure; and there comes to Americans the profound assurance that our representative government is the highest expression and surest guaranty of both." Who said that? It could have been any one of 20 presidents. (In this case, the speaker happens to be Warren G. Harding.) Writing a great inaugural speech must be very hard, since even many strong and important presidents failed to do it. Theodore Roosevelt failed. Dwight Eisenhower failed. Barack Obama failed the first time, and since second inaugural addresses are almost always even worse than firsts, it seems almost certain he'll fail again on Monday. Why do inaugural addresses fail? They fail for two reasons: One subject to the speaker's control; the other, not. They fail, first, because the grandeur of the occasion inspires new presidents and their teams to overblown rhetoric, even as their political advisers steer them away from too specific commitments. Grand language wrapped around a thin message produces only vapid blather. Consider, for example, this passage from Obama's first inaugural address: . "On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics. We remain a young nation. But in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history ...." Unfortunately for Obama, those words were false as description and therefore inaccurate as prediction. You might say that the line "we come to proclaim an end to ... false promises" was itself a false promise. Good writing can never come from bad thinking. Zelizer: Learning from Lincoln, Wilson, FDR . But there's another source of failure, one not so easily corrected. Inaugural addresses can fail even when the ideas are clear, even when the writing is fine, if the addresses make commitments that the ensuing presidency cannot deliver. Listen to this inspiring passage: . "The elevation of the negro race from slavery to the full rights of citizenship is the most important political change we have known since the adoption of the Constitution of 1787. No thoughtful man can fail to appreciate its beneficent effect upon our institutions and people. It has freed us from the perpetual danger of war and dissolution. It has added immensely to the moral and industrial forces of our people. It has liberated the master as well as the slave from a relation which wronged and enfeebled both. "It has surrendered to their own guardianship the manhood of more than 5,000,000 people, and has opened to each one of them a career of freedom and usefulness. It has given new inspiration to the power of self-help in both races by making labor more honorable to the one and more necessary to the other. The influence of this force will grow greater and bear richer fruit with the coming years." "No doubt this great change has caused serious disturbance to our Southern communities. This is to be deplored, though it was perhaps unavoidable. But those who resisted the change should remember that under our institutions there was no middle ground for the negro race between slavery and equal citizenship." Those were the words of James A. Garfield. Between Lincoln and Lyndon Johnson, no president expressed a stronger personal commitment to equal rights for black Americans than Garfield in 1881. Yet this commitment is remembered today only by historians. Garfield was assassinated in September 1881, serving barely six months in office. Even had Garfield served a full term, his efforts would almost certainly have failed. Federal enforcement of the voting rights of Southern blacks; federal funding of equal education for black children -- to become reality, these aspirations of Garfield's required support from courts, Congress and public opinion. None would have been forthcoming. Garfield's aspirations were doomed to fail by forces of opposition too strong for him to overcome. Garfield's noble summons went unheeded at the time and therefore inspires little interest now. An inaugural address is a plan for what is to come. Even a good president can deliver a bad speech. In fact, they usually do. But however beautifully written, a speech can only be made great by the presidency that follows. An inaugural address is a plan, and the test of a plan is the result. A speech can fail all by itself. Its ideas can be weak, its language can be foggy. But even if the ideas are clear and the words crisp, an inaugural address can be deemed "great" only if it is followed by actions that make good on its lofty words. This is why we still remember the mighty words of Lincoln and FDR and why we forget almost all the others. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of David Frum.

David Frum: Most inaugural speeches are full of rhetoric, lack real inspiration .
He says they tend to promise great things but are vague on specific commitments .
There are noble speeches that get undermined by lack of accomplishment, Frum says .
Frum: We remember great speeches of Lincoln, FDR because of their great deeds .