After 12 years of working for a Tennessee-based NFL team, a massage therapist was let go. While he was given an explanation he found to be reasonable, a subsequent string of events, including the rehiring of his team, led him to believe he lost his job because he’s gay.
Blake Mundell, the massage therapist in question, shared his story on TikTok. He is a content creator who often shares lifestyle posts, videos of himself singing, and clips of the podcasts he hosts. The post regarding the end of his stint at an NFL team went viral, garnering nearly 400,000 views, 46,300 likes, and more than 1,100 comments.
The Tennessee man said he began working as a contractor and massage therapist for the Tennessee Titans in 2014. Working full-time hours, Blake’s team eventually grew as massage demand increased. He brought in multiple licensed massage therapists (LMTs), some of them his former students, and everything was going great.
Five years later, in 2019, Blake came out as gay. He talked with the head of the medical staff and told him about it, fearing for his job. Blake was reassured that, as long as his boss remained employed, he would, too. In 2025, his boss retired, and in February 2026, Blake and all of the contractors were let go.
Mundell said the decision initially didn’t surprise him because the Titans had undergone another coaching change, and he understood that staffing changes can accompany a new regime.
Coworkers Rehired, Radio Silence
Blake didn’t think much of it at first. However, he later found out that the previous contractors, the ones he had brought in before, were rehired. He was the only one who didn’t return to the Titans, he said. Furthermore, in June, many of his former coworkers went “radio silent” on him.
The Tennessee man reached out to his boss and tried to get an explanation. Blake was told that there was nothing he could’ve done differently, and that the team was only looking for fresh faces, which turned out not to be so fresh after all. He concluded, therefore, that the reason for his layoff was possibly an aspect of his personhood, which included his politics and sexuality.
Blake explained that he had been more “visibly queer” during the last year of his working relationship with the Titans. He said he heard more homophobia and slurs than during the previous 11 years of his employment combined, and added that Mundell also pointed to other changes he viewed as potentially political, including what he described as a ban on seed oils. However, he acknowledged that he does not know whether his political views or sexuality played any role in the Titans’ decision not to bring him back.
Reactions
Most viewers found Blake’s story heartbreaking and upsetting. One said, “So the Titans are losers on AND off the field, got it.” Another one commented, “I hope they go 0-17.”
Others criticized Blake’s coworkers’ behavior. One wrote, “Your former/rehired coworkers are absolute COWARDS.” Some told him he should take the legal route, with one saying, “You should speak to an employment attorney regarding your dismissal.”
Mundell acknowledged that he cannot say for certain that his sexuality or political views played any role in the Titans’ decision not to bring him back. For now, he said he is still searching for an explanation: “I would like to know what happened.”
