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Robbie Rogers, who's played 18 games with the U.S. national team, will join the LA Galaxy. (USATSI)

Robbie Rogers will join the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday, becoming the first openly gay MLS player in history. 

Rogers, 26 and a former member of the U.S. national team, announced his retirement in February. It was also the same day that he publicly came out in a blog post titled, “The Next Chapter.”

But Rogers said the outpouring of support from fans, former teammates and Galaxy star Landon Donovan, in particular, helped assuage his fears of coming back to soccer.

“I don’t know what I was so afraid of,” he told the AP. “It’s been such a positive experience for me. The one thing I’ve learned from all of this is that being gay is not that big of a deal to people,” he said.

Rogers’ decision comes on the heels of NBA free-agent Jason Collins’ recent announcement that he is gay. Other famous athletes who’ve come out recently include former Baylor women's basketball star Brittney Griner, now with the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury, and U.S. women’s national soccer team star Megan Rapinoe. 

“People are just really growing and accepting and loving,” Rogers said. “Those other things are just not that important to them. I think as the younger get older and the generations come and go, I think times are just becoming more accepting.” 

For more, follow Mike Singer on Twitter @RealMikeSinger.