Early Monday afternoon, Raiders DE Carl Nassib rewrote the history books.
“What’s up people,” Nassib said in a video posted to Instagram. “Just wanted to take a quick moment to say that I’m gay.”
Nassib is the first active player in N.F.L history to publicly declare his sexuality as gay.
No openly gay player has ever played a snap in an NFL regular-season game. Michael Sam made headlines as the first openly gay man to be drafted in 2014 when he was drafted by the then-St. Louis Rams, but failed to make the team.
Nassib, a defensive end, has previously played for the Cleveland Browns and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In 2020, with the Las Vegas Raiders, Nassib totaled 27 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 5 passes defended, as well as his first career interception. Over five seasons, Nassib has accumulated 20.5 sacks.
Nassib inked a contract to remain with the Raiders in March 2020 and is under contract until 2022.
In addition to the video, Nassib included a letter, as well as a pledge to donate $100,000 to The Trevor Project, an organization that works to provide suicide prevention services to the LGBTQIA+ community.
“I’ve been meaning to do this for a while now but I finally feel comfortable enough to get it off my chest. I really have the best life. I’ve got the best family, friends, and job a guy could ask for. I’m a pretty private person, so I hope you guys know I’m not doing this for attention, but I think representation matters,” Nassib said.
