In a post on Instagram, Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib announced that he was gay, making the 28-year-old the first active NFL player to come out as gay. Nassib also made an $100K donation to the Trevor Project, a foundation which provides “crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning (LGBTQ) young people under 25.”
Support for Nassib was wide spread:
“The NFL family is proud of Carl for courageously sharing his truth today,” commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. “Representation matters. We share his hope that someday soon statements like his will no longer be newsworthy as we march toward full equality for the LGBTQ+ community. We wish Carl the best of luck this coming season.”
“Our union supports Carl and his work with the Trevor Project is proof that he – like our membership – is about making his community and this world a better place not for themselves, but for others,” said NFL Players Association Executive Director DeMaurice Smith (via Twitter).
Raiders owner Mark Davis also showed his support for Nassib, noting that the announcement “doesn’t change my opinion of Carl as a man or as a Raider” (via Sam Farmer of the LA Times on Twitter).
Nassib joined the Raiders last offseason on a three-year, $25MM deal with $17MM guaranteed. He finished his first season in Las Vegas with 28 tackles, 2.5 sacks, and nine QB hits in 14 games (five starts).
More news from around the NFL:
- Vikings rookie defensive tackle Jaylen Twyman was shot four times today in Washington D.C., reports ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter). Fortunately, the Pitt product is expected to make a full recovery, with agent Drew Rosenhaus noting that there were “superficial, exit wounds” and that his client was simply in the “wrong place, wrong time.” Twyman does not need surgery and x-rays were negative. Minnesota drafted the defensive lineman in the sixth round (No. 199) in this past year’s draft.
- The Vikings also released a statement regarding the shooting: “We have been in direct contact with Jaylen and his family, and we are extremely thankful Jaylen is expected to make a full recovery. At this time we will defer any further comment to the proper authorities.”
- Earlier this month, we learned that Buccaneers rookie Cameron Kinley had been denied a waiver to delay his commission from the U.S. Navy. “Cameron Kinley is an exceptional young man and a shining example of the type of high-character individuals that make our nation’s military the most elite in the world,” the Buccaneers said in a statement (via Rick Stroud on Twitter). “We appreciate and support the United States Naval Academy’s position with regards to Cameron’s fulfillment of his post-graduate service commitment and remain hopeful that he will one day have an opportunity to also fulfill his dreams of playing professional football.”
- Earlier this month, former Chiefs coach Britt Reid pleaded not guilty to a DWI charge that stemmed from a crash that critically injured a young girl (per the AP). Reid was placed on administrative leave following the crash, and the team ultimately let his contract expire.
Michael Sam screams into the void.
Too bad he wasn’t good enough to make a roster
A guy being gay gets more print than someone getting shot 4 times. That the problem with this culture…
People get shot every day in America. I’m sure there’s a greater percentage of people who know a shooting victim than a out and proud gay person.
You want more press about shootings? What’s that gonna do?
Or is it you want less news about gay people? If so, would you like a participation trophy for assumably being straight?
If you want being gay normalized, than stop treating like it’s newsworthy
I know a ton of gay people. Openly gay people. More than a dozen for sure. I know no one who has been a shooting victim fortunately. Where do you live that you know more shooting victims than gay people?
Chicago
Ha!
Actually, I do not personally know a shooting victim but I do know several people who are out and proud gay people. Just sayin….
So…the problem with this culture is NOT someone getting shot 4 times…it’s that a gay guy got more attention (for a few hours on one night)?
I guess the solution is constantly oppose gay rights while being absolutist regarding gun rights…?
What exactly are “gay rights”? Are they different than human rights? Civil rights? Constitutional rights? And why would anyone oppose them, whatever they are…
It’s those rights ACTUALLY applying to gay people in actual reality.
Gay people could not get married a decade ago to name one easy and clear example.
As to why anyone would oppose them, I can’t say, have to ask them.
Nor can I say why anyone would want to feign ignorance regarding the reality.
So you’re on example of the “reality” is from 10 years ago that’s been corrected. How about one from that’s still in effect today that might actually help your point? From my experience taking a stance on something today because it happened in the past is pretty ridiculous. I take you thing we should abolish slavery as well?
Nor can I say why anyone would continually choose to intentionally be willfully ignorant.
If you want a list, you can find it on a non-football rumor website, that you choose not to do so and shrug “everything’s fine” seems to be a deliberate strategy of willful ignorance.
So nothing then. Good job. Seems like you just want to single this guy out because of his sexual orientation. That’s awful bigoted of you
One has nothing to do with the other. A player who comes out as gay while still playing is going to get some attention. If he was a figure skater, it probably wouldn’t make it on page six. It’s a first in a popular sport. By the way, Twyman being shot is also a top headline on ESPN.
Is being gay newsworthy? It’s no different than being straight, right?
He is the first openly gay actively playing in the sport that makes it newsworthy. How is that hard to understand?
Why is someone’s sexual preference newsworthy? I thought being gay is just as normal being straight, right? What’s news worthy about that? Unless you’re saying it’s not normal and that’s what makes it news worthy?
*not normal
It’s a first. Jesus, it’s like talking to a block of marble.
I thought sam was the first?
Sam was drafted but was cut. This is an active player. I think there have been players that came out after retirement, but this is the first active out player.
Who was the first heterosexual to publicly announce they’re sexual preference in the NFL? I don’t remember any stories on him…
The first player to play in the NFL
How do you know? Did he announce his sexual preference? I hope you’re not assuming his sexual preference, because certainly you have no idea, right?
You just don’t get it. All you see is gay and you can’t let it go. It’s a first. There is a first black player. There is a first Muslim player. There is a first female player. A first. Say it over and over again. A first. It’s obvious what your issue is. Maybe work on that.
So again I ask, who was the first heterosexual player? And since you brought it up, who was the first Muslim player? Who was the first pansexual player?
To be fair, if you watched his video he does specifically say he hopes someday things like being gay aren’t a news story.
Also, a guy being shot should be a bigger deal too, but people still aren’t ready for a real conversation about guns (nor is this the appropriate forum for such discussion).
Not sure why this hasn’t been commented yet, but congrats Carl.
“I didn’t kill my wife.”
“I don’t care!”
Demi Lovato screams for attention.
Richie Incognito tugs on his collar.
Britt Reid is such a wretched piece of vermin.
Not guilty?
More like “OK, everyone knows I’m guilty and what I did was awful and it was my tenth big screw up and I almost killed a little girl but my dad is rich and famous and I’ve never had a moment of accountability in my life and I’m sure as heck not going start now, your honor.”
Between his kids and his players, it’s clear that Andy Reid is a either a failed man…or just a bad man. Maybe the glasses and mustache hide his dark soul.
Both a failed and bad man. The main question nobody seems to ask is why did the chiefs let him drink alcohol at the team facility
I really think that fact that he looks like Wilford Brimley has let him go relatively unquestioned regarding a LONG track record of enabling terrible behavior that lead(s) to awful real world outcomes.
I don’t like Britt Reid either but that’s a whole boatload of assumptions in that post. Knowing nothing about Andy Reid personally, it’s a bit disingenuous to make assumptions about his character from the comments section of a football site.
Huh? Make assumptions based on comment sections?
His kids are disasters and his players commit lots of crime. No assumptions needed. These are known facts in the real world.
Okay, but he personally hasn’t done any of that. I’m far from a Chiefs fan, but guilt by association is not the same as actual guilt. You can suppose all you like, and suspect all you like, but making definitive statements about someone’s character based on the character of others is flat out wrong. Britt Reid is an adult who makes his own choices. Unless Andy Reid comes out and says, “Yeah, sure, I don’t give a crap that my kid almost killed someone due to his selfishness” then everything Britt Reid does is on one person-Britt Reid.
Unless of course you want to condemn every parent for every poor child that’s ever existed, then your logic is flawed and influenced by personal bias. Would you say the same things about Kellen Winslow? Or Pat Bowlen? Their kids’ character, by all accounts, are much worse than their parents’. Vince Wilfork’s son stole hundreds of thousands in jewelry from him. Is he as guilty as Reid? Parents raise kids. They don’t control them.
Never heard of Carl Nassib… good luck cutting him now Raiders… well played kid, well played
To be fair I thought the same thing with Michael Sam came out. Figured there was no way St Louis would cut him, but they did.
Nassib is a much better player than Sam, and one without work ethic questions. Case and point being Nassib’s selection place in the draft versus Sam’s, and Nassib’s being signed as a free agent. There was also a great deal of speculation that the Rams were pressured by the league to take Sam, who by that point had occupied headlines for quite some time.
Honestly, I was surprised that Sam washed out. I really liked him at Missouri, way before any of the news came out about his sexuality. I thought even afterward that he’d make the roster at least, and that his size would affect his draft status. Between the questions about his work ethic and the frequent media interactions he did, I suppose the Rams decided that he wasn’t worth it. All I know is that he did not look the same on the field in the NFL as he did at Missouri, which was much worse than I expected.
In his big season at Missouri he looked very good in 2 games against inferior opponents. He had size and speed concerns for his position. One way to prove the NFL wrong is to light it up in the CFL and then get them in a bidding war. Instead he went up there and bombed out, proving them right.
Good for Carl that he’s able to be himself. Now he has to produce on the field. He didn’t live up to his contract at all.
Does anyone really care who he performs with off the field? A fan tunes in to watch the games NOT THE GAMES!
Since last entry disappeared I’ll try another approach!
Thank you Carl for being such a brave little trooper and coming out to tell the world your personal preferences at home. Thank you too Roger for being proud of Carl for being proud of his sexuality to the degree he wants to yell it from a mountain top.
Before it gets sent off to the couch…..I’m not a “phobe” anything. I’m just curious why we need to know what a person does in the privacy of his home? This Nation gets upset when a person infringes on personal business as it relates to criminal activity, medical information or any personal information?
Some people get their skirts blown up if the law enforcement execute a search warrant on a bomb makers home, seize property, obtain phone records of a terrorist but we get to hear what this guy likes to have inserted into his tailpipe for FREE?????
No one cares anymore, and probably not in the past 20 years. This is mostly an issue for the press, and no one else.