Raiders' Carl Nassib Becomes First Active NFL Player To Be Openly Gay

Carl Nassib, defensive end for Las Vegas Raiders, announced on social media Monday that he was gay.

What Happened: In a video posted on the Twitter account of the National Football League, Nassib said he wanted to “take a quick moment to say” that he’s gay.

“I’ve been meaning to do this for a while now, but I finally feel comfortable enough to get it off my chest,” said Nassib.

“I’m a pretty private person, so I hope you guys know that I’m really not doing this for attention.”

.@Raiders DE Carl Nassib announced today that he’s gay. He also shared he's donating $100,000 to the @TrevorProject, a suicide prevention organization for LGBTQ youth.

The NFL family is proud of you, Carl.  pic.twitter.com/HXbcBuLg2X

— NFL (@NFL) June 21, 2021

Why It Matters: Nassib has become the first active player for the NFL to come out as gay, CNN reported.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said that the “NFL family is proud of Carl for courageously sharing his truth today,” as per CNN.

Nassib also announced he was donating $100,000 to The Trevor Project, a crisis intervention and suicide prevention organization that works with LGBTQ youth.

Photo by Erik Drost on Wikimedia