Raiders' Carl Nassib Becomes First Active NFL Player to Say He's Gay

Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib has become the first NFL player to publicly announce that he is gay. Nassib made the announcement in an Instagram video on Monday afternoon.

ESPN NFL reporter Adam Schefter quoted the post and shared it Monday afternoon:

Nassib continued, “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.”

Several former NFL players have said that they are gay. However, almost all of them have waited until their playing days were over before coming out as gay. Michael Sam came out as gay before the 2014 NFL Draft, though he never made an NFL roster.

“The 28-year-old Nassib was a third-round draft pick of the Browns in 2016 who has also played for the Buccaneers,” Pro Football Talk reports. “He was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year at Penn State in 2015.”