NFL players show love, support for Carl Nassib coming out as gay

Carl Nassib became the first active NFL player to come out as gay on Monday and the league reacting with a widespread showing of love and support. 

Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib made NFL history on Monday with an Instagram post featuring a statement that was him coming out publicly as gay, making him the first active NFL player to do so.

Despite how historic the moment was, Nassib’s assumption of the moment was beautifully understated and courageous. He stated that he’d wanted to do this for a long time but finally felt comfortable enough to do so. Moreover, doing so in the middle of Pride Month and as he also announced a $100,000 donation to The Trevor Project also spoke volumes.

In the wake of his announcement, the NFL reacted to the monumental news. Current and former players, teammates, the Raiders organization and many more took to social media or otherwise to voice their love and support for Nassib.

Past and present NFL players, figures came out to support Carl Nassib

Among the first to react to Nassib’s decision to publicly come out was NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who released a statement saying that the league was “proud” of Nassib for “sharing his truth”:

The Raiders also shared a full statement from Nassib with a simple message that they were proud of their defensive lineman:

Nassib’s fellow Las Vegas defensive end, Clelin Ferrell, and other Raiders teammates and coaches also offered his support via a quote to Vic Tafur of The Athletic (subscription required):

Fellow NFL players such as Saquon Barkley, JJ Watt and Tae Davis all offered their respect, support and love for Nassib’s decision to come out publicly:

Several other former NFL players, most notably Julian Edelman and Ryan Clark, also chimed in to voice their support for Nassib in this moment:

Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon offered possibly the most profound show of support, noting that he new of several teammates and peers when he played that ultimately could not make the same courageous decision Nassib did:

And one of the more touching responses came from Nassib’s former coach at Penn State, James Franklin, who offered a heartfelt show of support to his former player:

Obviously, there were more than just these reactions from throughout the league and otherwise. However, the overwhelming sentiment appears to be that of supporting Nassib’s courage and decision to come out publicly.