(Reuters) – Las Vegas Raiders’ defensive end Carl Nassib said on Monday he was gay, making him the first active National Football League player to come out publicly.
“I just wanted to take a quick moment to say that I’m gay,” Nassib, 28, said in a video he posted to Instagram. “I’ve been meaning to do this for a while now but I finally feel comfortable enough to get it off my chest,” he said.
Nassib added: “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 hope that one day videos like this and the whole coming out process are just not necessary.”
In an effort to cultivate a more accepting and compassionate culture, he said he was donating $100,000 to the Trevor Project, a suicide prevention service for LGBT+ youth in the United States.
Nassib played at Penn State before being drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the third round of the 2016 draft. He played for the Browns and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before signing with the Raiders ahead of the 2020 season.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Peter Cooney)
