Earlier this week on Monday, Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib announced on Instagram that he is gay. This made Nassib the first openly gay ACTIVE NFL player, and while that is certainly momentous news, perhaps equally momentous and encouraging is the fact that the reaction was a wave of acceptance from inside the league and, as best I could tell, a complete absence of "How will he fit into the locker room now?" conjecture.

Here was Nassib's post on Instagram:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Carl Nassib (@carlnassib)

Here is the transcript of Nassib's message, which included a generous donation to the Trevor Project, a suicide prevention service that specifically assists the LGBTQ+ community:

"What's up people?" Nassib posted. "I'm at my house here in West Chester, Pennsylvania. I just want to take a quick moment to say that I'm gay. I've been meaning to do this for a while now, but I finally feel comfortable enough to get it off my chest. 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 that I'm really not doing this for attention. I just think that representation and visibility are so important. I actually hope that like one day, videos like this and the whole coming-out process are just not necessary. But until then, I'm going to do my best and do my part to cultivate a culture that's accepting, that's compassionate and I'm going to start by donating $100,000 to the Trevor Project."

Reaction to Nassib's announcement was immediate throughout the NFL and the sports world, including the Raiders themselves and commissioner Roger Goodell:

Proud of you, Carl ???? pic.twitter.com/R9aJxYFefW

— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) June 21, 2021

From Commissioner Goodell: pic.twitter.com/MbgGt6AuGs

— NFL345 (@NFL345) June 21, 2021

The ability to live an authentic life is so important.

Sending love and support to Carl Nassib of the @Raiders, who has bravely made history as the 1st active NFL player to come out. He has also donated $100K to @TrevorProject.

Representation and visibility matter! ?????????? https://t.co/E6hSOeIioW

— Billie Jean King (@BillieJeanKing) June 21, 2021

Very proud of Carl Nassib! Incredibly happy for him and can’t wait to watch him play this upcoming season! ???????????????? https://t.co/kFaTF2EIcR

— Jason Collins (@jasoncollins98) June 21, 2021

Nassib joined the Raiders last season, signing a three-year, $25 million deal in free agency, after playing two seasons in Tampa Bay. Prior to that, he was a third round pick of the Cleveland Browns in 2016 out of Penn State, and may have been bets known for this segment of "Hard Knocks" in 2018, in which he gave financial advice to his teammates:


Football fans will probably remember Michael Sam, the former Missouri linebacker, who became the first openly gay player to be drafted in NFL history in 2014, when the Rams took him in the seventh round of the draft. However, he was cut by the Rams in training camp, and never played a down in the league.

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