Las Vegas Raiders defensive lineman Carl Nassib has become the first active NFL player in history to announce that he is gay.<\/p>\n
"I just wanted to take a quick moment to say that I'm gay," the Raiders star said in a video posted to Instagram. "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.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
"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."<\/p>\n
Nassib's announcement holds weight because no openly gay player has ever played in a regular-season NFL game. <\/p>\n
Michael Sam announced he was gay before the 2014 NFL draft and was drafted by the Rams. Sam played for them in the preseason, but he did not make a regular season roster. <\/p>\n
A handful of other players have come out after their playing careers ended.<\/p>\n
Nassib was a third-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft and goes into his second season with the Raiders.<\/p>\n
In 14 games last season, Nassib recorded 28 tackles, 2.5 sacks, nine quarterback hits and an interception.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"