Raiders’ Carl Nassib Becomes First Active NFL Player To Come Out As Gay

Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib took to Instagram Monday to announce he is gay. Nassib becomes the first openly gay active player in NFL history. Former University of Missouri star Michael Sam, who was drafted by the Rams in 2014, was the first openly gay player to be drafted, but he never appeared in a game.

In his Instagram video, Nassib said the following: “What’s up people? I’m at my house in West Chester, Pennsylvania. I just wanted to take a quick moment to say that I’m gay. I’ve been meaning to do this for a while now but finally feel comfortable getting it off my chest. I really have the best life, the best family, friends and job a guy can ask for.”

Nassib,  former third-round pick out of Penn State, continued discussing his decision to come out and announced a large donation to a suicide-prevention service: “I’m a pretty private person, so I hope you guys know that I’m not 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 not necessary, but until then I will do my best and my part to cultivate a culture that’s accepting and compassionate and I’m going to start by donating $100,000 to the Trevor Project. They’re an incredible organization, they’re the number one suicide-prevention service for LGBTQ youth in America.”

The Raiders immediately took to Twitter to support their defensive end.

Nassib is entering his sixth season in the NFL and his second with the Raiders. He has also played for Cleveland and Tampa Bay and has tallied 20.5 sacks.