Las Vegas Raiders defensive lineman Carl Nassib made history on Monday when he became the first active NFL player to come out as gay. Nassib made the announcement on his Instagram account and revealed that he will also be donating $100,000 to The Trevor Project, which is a crisis support service for LGBTQ youth.
Nassib follows in the footsteps of former St. Louis Rams defensive lineman Michael Sam. Sam was the first openly gay player drafted when the Rams selected him in the 2014 NFL Draft. However, Sam never played in a regular-season game in the NFL.
“Just wanted to take a quick moment to say that I’m gay,” Nassib said in his announcement video. “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 really doing this for attention. I just think that representation and visibility are so important. I actually hope that one day videos like this and the whole coming out process are just not necessary. But until then, I’m going to do my best and do my part to cultivate a culture that’s accepting, that’s compassionate.”
Following Nassib’s groundbreaking announcement, current and former NFL players coaches, as well as athletes from other sports, took to social media to express their support for the defensive lineman.
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