NFL player Carl Nassib has for the
first time publicly discussed his recent coming out.
In late June, Nassib came out gay on
social media, making him the first active NFL player to do so. At the
time, he asked the media to give him “some space.”
At a press conference last week,
Nassib, who plays for the Las Vegas Raiders, said that reaction to
his coming out was “incredible.”
“I was definitely surprised by the
big reaction. It was incredible,” Nassib said. “I thought nobody
would care. But it was such a good feeling to have all the support. I
was glad I could do my part to help bring visibility and
representation to my community.”
He said that “very few” people in
football knew about his sexuality.
Nassib also explained how he prepared
for the announcement.
“I went to the coaches, made sure
that they – I wanted to give them a chance to kind of digest, help
me in the process. Then I went home, [because I] felt like I wanted
to be around family and friends at home to make the announcement.”
He added that he had “zero stress”
about how his teammates would react.
“It’s been great. I knew it was
gonna be good, I had zero stress about that. Absolutely no worries
about it,” he said. “I’ve got a great locker room, great
teammates. I’ve been met with nothing but love and support. It’s
been incredible. … Football players get a bad rap, but we’re
humble, hard-working, accepting people, and this was a great example
of that, definitely.”