NFL Player Becomes The First In History To Come Out As Gay While Playing

NFL player Carl Nassib has become the sport's first ever active player to come out as gay.

The defensive linebacker for the Las Vegas Raiders has taken to Instagram during Pride Month to open up to his followers.

He said: "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.

"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 organisation, they're the number one suicide-prevention service for LGBTQ youth in America and they're truly doing incredible things. I'm very excited to be a part of it and help in any way that I can and I'm really pumped to see what the future holds."

PA

Carl explained how he had 'agonised' over this moment for the past 15 years after realising he wasn't straight.

He said he wouldn't have been able to do this without the support of his closest mates and his family.

The linebacker has become the first player in the NFL to ever come out as LGBTQIA+ while still playing.

He's now asked everyone for some privacy as he deals with coming out publicly but he wanted to make sure other closeted people out there had some hope.

The 28-year-old defensive end was a third-round pick in the 2016 draft and has previously played for the Cleveland Browns and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Last year, he signed a three-year, $25 million deal with the Raiders.

The former Penn State walk-on has played in 73 games in the past five NFL seasons. He's been on the starting team for 37 of those games and has landed 20.5 sacks, 143 career tackles, and one interception.

Topics: American Football, LGBTQ, LGBTQIA+, NFL, Australia

Max Sherry

Max Sherry is a journalist for SPORTbible Australia. After migrating Down Under from London as a teenager, he instantly fell in love with Aussie sport and its culture. From NRL to AFL, cricket to rugby — you name it, Max watches it (with a beer in hand, of course). During his time at Fox Sports, he worked in the football department covering the Premier League, A-League, Socceroos and Matildas. Born a stone's throw away from West Ham's training ground, Max is obviously a die-hard Liverpool fan.

@maxysherry