The first openly gay, active American football player Carl Nassib has revealed what contributed to his decision to publicly come out.
Speaking on The Pivot podcast, Nassib reflected on a conversation he had with a gay uncle who was dying of cancer.
“I saw him on his deathbed and he was in a really bad shape and I came out to him,” he recalled to the podcast host, Ryan Clark. “We’re from a huge family … he was the only gay guy, gay person, in the entire family.”
While Nassib had already come out to his parents, close friends and siblings, he didn’t publicly come out till 2021.
Nassib added, “When I came out to [my uncle], he and his husband were there, and he was like, ‘This is the biggest weight off of my chest. I’m not the only one.'”
On 21 June, 2021, during Pride Month, Nassib released a statement on his Instagram account stating that he is gay, becoming the first active NFL player to come out publicly. In the statement, he pledged to donate $100,000 to The Trevor Project, a crisis intervention and suicide prevention organization for LGBTQ+ youth, and to continue to champion their work.
Nassib wrote at the time: “What’s up, people. I’m Carl Nassib. I’m at my house here in West Chester, Pennsylvania. I just wanted to take a quick moment to say that I’m gay,” the video began.
“I’ve been meaning to do this for a while now, but I finally feel comfortable enough to get it off my chest.”
Nassib told his followers that he hoped that people would not have to make similar videos in the future, adding: “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,” he said at the time.
“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.”
In an online written message, Nassib said he had “agonised over this moment for the last 15 years” and decided to go public with the support of his family and friends.
