  In
the movie Airplane a woman requests "some light reading" and
is handed a pamphlet called "Famous Jewish Sports Legends." Well
now we finally have one, Ben Cohen. Actually, according to Wikipedia he is no longer
Jewish as his grandfather married a gentile. Oops.
This gorgeous 6'2"
British rugby player is the tenth highest scorer in English rugby history. According
to Wikipedia for a period of time (2002-2004) Cohen was the most feared or wing
player in the world. His physique, power and attitude coupled with a ferocious turn
of pace made him virtually unstoppable inside his opponents half. Do you know
what that means? I don't!
Cohen was born in Northampton. He was
educated at Kingsthorpe Upper School.(Kingsthorpe College as known
today) This was not a rugby playing school and at age 2 he first
started playing with Northampton Old Scouts RFC Regarding his
background, Cohen has stated, �My family�s not formally Jewish... but a
couple of generations back they were. I think it was my great
grandfather that married a non-Jewish girl and he broke with the
tradition.�
In November 2000, Cohen's father Peter Cohen,
brother of English World Cup winning football player George Cohen, was
fatally injured while protecting an attack victim at the Eternity
nightclub in Northampton which Peter Cohen managed. He died a month
later from head injuries sustained in the assault. Three men were found
guilty of violent conduct. Cohen is married to Abbie Cohen (Blayney),
with twin daughters Harriette and Isabelle (born 2008). He is clinically
deaf, with about 30 to 33 percent hearing loss in each ear, and has been
involved in efforts to make rugby more accessible to the hard of
hearing, especially young deaf players.
Off the field he is
considered a gay icon, and often speaks favourably of his gay following.
Ben appeared on the covers of Attitude (magazine) in October 2009,
the cover of Compete Magazine July 20 issue and the cover of Out
(magazine) in August 2011. On 8 June 2013, Ben Cohen was named as one
of the initial inductees to the National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of
Fame newly established in Chicago, Illinois. During March 2011 High and
Mighty, the big and tall menswear specialist, appointed Cohen as the new
face of the brand for 2011. In 2010, Cohen donated a signed jockstrap to
support GMFA, a British charity addressing gay men's health issues,
which was sold at auction at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern. He also featured
on the front cover and in an interview section of GMFA's printed FS
Magazine. Among other Ben Cohen merchandise, he has
released calendars since 2009 in which he is often shirtless. He ousted
David Beckham as Gay Times' sports personality of the year in 2008, and
came second as their sexiest man of the year. Cohen founded The Ben
Cohen StandUp Foundation to combat bullying, and he has specifically
noted homophobia as one of the bullying problems on the StandUp agenda.
Cohen has often made appearances at the gay retail store Prowler in Soho
to sign calendars and other merchandise for fans.
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