Colton Underwood, star of season 23 of "The Bachelor," was a football tight end at Illinois State and signed to the San Diego Chargers in 2014. He was on the practice squad for the Oakland Raiders and Philadelphia Eagles.

After his football career ended, he became a contestant on the 14 season of "The Bachelorette." He was sent home during this season by Becca Kufrin. The next year he became the bachelor on the 23rd season of "The Bachelor."

In 2021, the former "Bachelor" star came out as gay in an exclusive interview with Robin Roberts on "Good Morning America." Underwood said he finally got to a place where he could be honest with himself after 2020, the year that turned everyone's lives upside down, and made people "look at themselves in the mirror and figure out who they are and what they've been running from or what they've been putting off in their lives." Underwood is currently in production on an unscripted series for the streaming service Netflix.

Underwood has many philanthropic ventures as well. He founded the Colton Underwood Legacy Foundation to raise money for cystic fibrosis research and equipment.

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