It’s been a whirlwind 24 hours for Raiders DE Carl Nassib. The 28 year old officially came out to the world on Monday via Instagram where he said “I just want to take a quick moment to say that I’m gay. 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 that I’m really not doing this for attention. I just think that representation and visibility are so important.”
Since then, there’s been an outpouring of support from current and former NFLers, and even commissioner Roger Goodell:
As part of his announcement, Nassib pledged a $100,000 donation to The Trevor Project which provides crisis and suicide prevention services to the LGBTQ+ community. On Tuesday, the NFL told the press that they would be matching Carl’s donation to the organization as well.
Nassib becomes the first active NFL player to announce that he is gay. Carl, who led the nation in sacks while at Penn State, was a 3rd round selection (65th overall) of the Cleveland Browns in 2016.
Some may remember Missouri DE Michael Sam, who in 2014 became the first openly gay NFL player to be drafted in the league’s history when he was taken in the 7th round by the Rams. Despite posting 11 tackles and 3 sacks in only 4 preseason games, the Rams ultimately cut Sam from their opening day roster. Sam would go on to have brief stints with the Dallas Cowboys and attend the Veteran Combine in 2015, before signing a 2 year deal with the Montreal Alouettes.
The former SEC defensive player of the year would make his professional debut on Aug 7th 2015 against the Ottawa RedBlacks. Unfortunately, only a week later Sam would announce he was retiring from pro-football due to mental health reasons.
Where Sam broke down barriers (and likely saw his draft stock plummet as a result of his coming out), Nassib hopes to continue advancing LGBTQ+ awareness and visibility in the league with Vegas this season. More than a dozen NFL players have come out as openly gay after their careers were over.
Nassib is currently a 6 year pro with 20.5 sacks in 73 career games. He played in 14 games with the Raiders in 2020, with 5 starts. Carl is currently in the midst of a 3 year $25.25M contract with Vegas, with $16.75M in guaranteed money. He will become an unrestricted free agent in 2023.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner