June 21, 2021
Watch: Las Vegas Raiders' Carl Nassib Comes Out as Gay, First Active Athlete in NFL
READ TIME: 3 MIN.
Las Vegas Raiders' defensive end Carl Nassib took to Instagram Monday to come out as gay for Pride month, effectively becoming the first active NFL player to be openly gay in the league's history, Uproxx reports.
"I just want to take a quick moment to say that I'm gay," Nassib, 28, said in his Instagram 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 doing this for attention, but I think representation matters," he added.
The athlete went on to announce he's donating $100,000 to the Trevor Project.
"For someone like me, who has been so lucky and cherishes every day, it brings me incredible sadness to think that our LGBTQ youth are at such an elevated risk for suicide," Nassib said.
NBC Sports writes: "No openly gay player has ever played in a regular-season NFL game. Michael Sam came out as gay before the 2014 NFL draft, was drafted by the Rams and played for them in the preseason, but he did not make a regular season roster. A handful of other players have come out after their playing careers ended."
Watch Nassib's video below.
