Carl Nassib Is The First Active NFL Player To Come Out As Gay : NPR

Contents:

• MEET THE 16 OUT GAY AND BI FOOTBALL PLAYERS THE NFL’S 103-YEAR HISTORY
• CARL NASSIB, THE FIRST OPENLY GAY ACTIVE NFL PLAYER, ULD BE TURNG POT FOR MALE SPORTS
• CARL NASSIB OUT AS 1ST OPENLY GAY ACTIVE NFL PLAYER
• JAGUARS’ KEV MAXEN IS FIRST MALE ACH TO E OUT AS GAY US MEN’S PRO SPORTS
• NORTH AMERI’S FOUR BIGGT PRO SPORTS LEAGU HAVE BEEN AROUND A BED 398 YEARS. THEY’VE HAD TWO OPENLY GAY ACTIVE PLAYERS
• CARL NASSIB BE FIRST ACTIVE NFL PLAYER TO E OUT AS GAY
• CARL NASSIB IS THE FIRST ACTIVE NFL PLAYER TO COME OUT AS GAY
• JAGUARS ASSISTANT KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH MAJOR MEN'S PRO SPORTS TO INTIFY AS GAY
• BEFORE CARL NASSIB, MICHAEL SAM WAS THE NFL’S FIRST OPENLY GAY DRAFT PICK. HE NEVER PLAYED A REGULAR SEASON GAME.
• CARL NASSIB OF LAS VEGAS RAIRS IS FIRST ACTIVE NFL PLAYER TO ANNOUNCE HE IS GAY
• RAIRS’ CARL NASSIB ANNOUNC HE’S GAY, AN N.F.L. FIRST
• EXAMG MEDIA FRAMG OF OPENLY GAY NFL PLAYER CARL NASSIB
• GAY AND BI FORMER NFL PLAYERS EXCED TO SEE CARL NASSIB TAKE THE FIELD FOR RAIRS
• WHY THERE ARE FEW OPENLY GAY ATHLET IN MEN'S PROFSNAL SPORTS
• JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH AND NDNG ACH KEV MAXEN OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY
• JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS HAVE THE FIRST OPENLY GAY NFL COACH
• JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS’ KEV MAXEN COM OUT AS FIRST OPENLY GAY MALE COACH THE NFL

MEET THE 16 OUT GAY AND BI FOOTBALL PLAYERS THE NFL’S 103-YEAR HISTORY

He found a temporary home shortly thereafter when he signed a two-year ntract wh the Montreal Alouett 2015 and beme the first openly gay football player to play the Canadian Football League. “I jt want to take a quick moment to say that I’m gay, ” the fensive leman for the Las Vegas Rairs said a vio posted to his Instagram acunt Monday.

CARL NASSIB, THE FIRST OPENLY GAY ACTIVE NFL PLAYER, ULD BE TURNG POT FOR MALE SPORTS

And while someone g out 2021 might not feel like a big al, wh that simple statement, Nassib beme the first openly gay active player NFL that simple statement, Nassib beme the first openly gay active player NFL history.

Currently, there is only one openly gay player on a profsnal men’s team the “big five” Amerin sports: Soccer player Coll Mart of the USL Champnship League (Mart me out 2018 as a member of Major League Soccer’s Mnota Uned) NFL has existed for 101 years, and that time, there has never been a player on an active NFL roster who has publicly acknowledged his gayns. ” Davis remembers spendg $1, 500 at a strip club an attempt to nceal the fact that he was gay om his spe society’s evolvg attus, the sports world seems to be movg far slower to mornize and stigmatize. Jacksonville Jaguars associate strength ach Kev Maxen is believed to be the first openly gay male ach major North Amerin men's sports after g out publicly an terview wh Outsports.

" San Francis 49ers assistant Katie Sowers, a pneer among female ach the NFL, me out as the the league's first openly gay ach 2017, acrdg to Outsports. He add that he reached out last year for advice on g out om former Las Vegas Rairs lebacker Carl Nassib, who beme the first active openly gay player NFL history 2021. The Las Vegas Rairs fensive end is now jt one of two openly gay active players the history of the four biggt North Amerin sports leagu (the Natnal Football League, Natnal Basketball Associatn, Major League Baseball and the Natnal Hockey League).

CARL NASSIB OUT AS 1ST OPENLY GAY ACTIVE NFL PLAYER

Homophobic language is still a regular feature of playg on a boys’ sports team the US and abroad, Denison’s rearch shows – one of his studi found that more than half of the ice hockey and gby players he terviewed said they’d ed slurs. Regular exposure to slurs or stereotyp eventually rerc among players that their succs as an athlete is tied to an ia of masculy that exclus gay men, he said. Denison scribed what he lls a “cycle of excln” that begs when a boy hears ach or olr players e homophobic language and observ a “posive rponse” to that behavr – maybe they lgh at each other, or the ach don’t challenge them, he said.

JAGUARS’ KEV MAXEN IS FIRST MALE ACH TO E OUT AS GAY US MEN’S PRO SPORTS

As a child, before Davis unrstood what meant to be LGBTQ, he was already absorbg the norms beg set around him durg practice – that “beg gay those walls was unsafe, that [he] would be danger. Almost 50 years earlier, there was Glenn Burke, a buddg Los Angel Dodgers star whose reer was cut short by homophobia the 1970s, argu Andrew Maraniss, an thor and special projects ordator wh Vanrbilt Universy Athletics, his book on Burke.

“He was a phenomenal athlete at the time when majory of straight sports fans the untry assumed that there’s no way there uld even be a gay player the game, let alone the most popular player on his team, ” Maraniss said. ”The print and CEO of the Gay & Lbian Alliance Agast Defamatn (GLAAD), Sarah Kate Ellis, also spoke out support wh a statement that clared Nassib’s g out a “historic reflectn of the growg state of LGBTQ visibily and cln the world of profsnal sports. ”“As an acplished athlete who is now the first out gay active player the NFL, ” Ellis said, “Carl Nassib’s story will not only have a profound impact on the future of LGBTQ visibily and acceptance sports, but sends a strong msage to so many LGBTQ people, pecially youth, that they too n one day grow up to be and succeed as a profsnal athlete like him.

Nassib signed a three-year al wh the Rairs March 2020 and last year started five of the 14 gam he Nassib would bee the first openly gay player to play an NFL game, he is not the first high-level football player or active profsnal athlete to e 2013, Major League Soccer player Robbie Rogers revealed he is gay, and later that year NBA center Jason Colls did as well. Sam did not play an NFL snap — he was cut by the Rams before the start of his rookie season and was on the Dallas Cowboys’ practice squad for a month — but he beme the first openly gay player the Canadian Football League, wh the Montreal Alouett announced June of that year that he was steppg away om profsnal football for mental health reasons. Carl Nassib Is The First Active NFL Player To Come Out As Gay "I jt want to take a quick moment to say that I'm gay, " he said an Instagram vio.

NORTH AMERI’S FOUR BIGGT PRO SPORTS LEAGU HAVE BEEN AROUND A BED 398 YEARS. THEY’VE HAD TWO OPENLY GAY ACTIVE PLAYERS

Rairs fensive end Carl Nassib said on Monday that he would not have been able to publicly e out as gay whout the support of the NFL and his teammat. " Nassib is by no means the first gay football player the NFL, but he is the first openly gay active player the league to play the regular season. Michael Sam me out as gay followg his succsful llege reer and before the 2014 NFL draft, makg him the first publicly gay player to be drafted the NFL.

Former NBA center Jason Colls, who me out 2013 and beme the first openly gay athlete any of the four major US sports leagu, wrote that he was “very proud” of Nassib. Seven years before Las Vegas Rairs fensive end Carl Nassib beme the first active NFL player to e out as gay on Monday, an all-Amerin om the Universy of Missouri risked a promisg reer wh a public claratn.

“I am an openly proud gay man, ” Michael Sam, a 24-year-old fensive end, told ESPN and the New York Tim Febary announcement followed a surprisg 12-2 season for Missouri, which won the SEC East and then the Cotton Bowl as Sam was named the SEC fensive player of the year. On Tuday, Sam thanked Nassib for jog the ranks of LGBTQ football players, payg special tribute to the donatn Nassib ma to the Trevor Project, a nonprof foced on suici Vegas Rairs fensive end Carl Nassib announced June 21 on Instagram that he is gay, makg him the first active NFL player to e out. The NFL particular had faced cricism for allegedly askg prospects about their sexual orientatn and had been acced of hamperg players who spoke out favor of gay many profsnal athlet around the world, cludg several retired NFL players, had e out by 2014, no one who was still playg football had dared to make that move before story rurfaced on Monday when the 28-year-old Nassib, who was drafted by the Cleveland Browns 2016 and now plays for the Rairs, announced that he is gay a vio on Instagram.

CARL NASSIB BE FIRST ACTIVE NFL PLAYER TO E OUT AS GAY

“Here’s the tth: Everyone ow Michael Sam such a b of gratu, ” Wa Davis, a former NFL rnerback who me out as gay 2012, told The Washgton Post on Monday. He wasn’t the only gay man who stggled to fd a place the NFL after g retired NFL players have publicly intified as gay, begng wh Dave Kopay, who me out 1975, three years after leavg the sport. “As an acplished athlete who is now the first out gay active player the NFL, Carl Nassib’s story will not only have a profound impact on the future of LGBTQ visibily and acceptance sports, but sends a strong msage to so many LGBTQ people, pecially youth, that they too n one day grow up to be and succeed as a profsnal athlete like him, ” the statement said.

Pro Football Hall of Famer Warren Moon add to the chos of people proud of him, and the former NFL and CFL quarterback add that he played wh some guys who were gay but didn’t feel fortable g out.

CARL NASSIB IS THE FIRST ACTIVE NFL PLAYER TO COME OUT AS GAY

FirstThe Rairs fensive leman me out a statement posted to his Instagram acunt on Monday, beg the first active player the league to publicly intify as gay. I actually hope that like one day vios like this and the whole g-out procs are jt not necsary, but until then I’m gog to do my bt and my part to cultivate a culture that’s acceptg, that’s passnate, ” before addg that he would donate $100, 000 to The Trevor Project, a nonprof group that foc on suici preventn efforts among lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, queer and qutng youth.

JAGUARS ASSISTANT KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH MAJOR MEN'S PRO SPORTS TO INTIFY AS GAY

”Michael Sam, an all-Amerin fensive leman at Missouri, had been viewed as the most likely to acquire that distctn when he announced he is gay before he beg chosen by the Rams the seventh round of the 2014 N. The Dallas Cowboys signed Sam to their practice squad, but he never played a regular season Otero/Associated PrsSam’s draft stat was seen as a barometer of whether the climate of men’s pro sports was beg more acceptg of gay athlet, particularly bee Febary 2014 the N. Had jt bee the first of the four tradnal major Amerin men’s sports leagu to have an openly gay active player when Jason Colls joed the Sam left the N.

He played for ne seasons wh the San Francis 49ers and four other teams the 1960s and 1970s, and has sce bee an activist and an ambassador for the Gay Gam, a quadrennial sportg Simmons was the send former player to announce that he was gay, dog so 1992 after his reer wh the Giants and Washgton Football Team had end.

”In recent years, the league has publicly supported Pri Month through promotnal efforts like changg official social media avatars to clu rabows and supportg the You Can Play Project, which provis rourc to enurage clivy youth sports, even as some players have ma rogatory statements about gay people wh ltle penalty or supported groups that oppose gay Wewerka for The New York TimIn 2013, Chris Culliver of the San Francis 49ers and Chris Clemons of the Seattle Seahawks ma offensive ments when asked about the prospect of havg a gay teammate. Purpose: Media have historilly amed the NFL as a gged, mascule sport, but media have also been supportive of the few former profsnal athlet who me out as gay or bisexual.

BEFORE CARL NASSIB, MICHAEL SAM WAS THE NFL’S FIRST OPENLY GAY DRAFT PICK. HE NEVER PLAYED A REGULAR SEASON GAME.

Applitns Sport: Media will be supportive of the vast majory of openly gay athlet who e sport as a platform to reveal their sexual orientatn, and th ach and sport anizatns should not fear players g out. An openly gay athlete the NFL would have been unthkable to many until recently bee hegemonic masculy has historilly flourished men’s team sports wh open homosexualy almost non-existent, pecially sports socially amed as more mascule nature (22).

Basketball player Jason Colls beme the first openly gay athlete to participate a regular-season game 2014 one of the four most popular Amerin profsnal team sport leagu: MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL.

CARL NASSIB OF LAS VEGAS RAIRS IS FIRST ACTIVE NFL PLAYER TO ANNOUNCE HE IS GAY

No active NFL player had prevly revealed their homosexualy before Nassib, and all former NFL players who me out publicly as gay did so well after their reers were over (15). In addn, cg prsn and mental-health issu, Sam chose to forego his fledgg reer the Canadian Football League which may have terred other openly gay football players om g out publicly (30).

Whereas the Supreme Court allowed for legal gay marriage all 50 stat 2015, was not until 2021 that 70% of Amerins approved of gay marriage Gallup pollg, cludg for the first time a majory (i. A survey of more than 800 gay high school and llege male-team sport athlet showed that 72% of rponnts who me out publicly reported wi acceptance om their teammat and ach (5). A recent study (4) found that roughly one-third of rponnts om a major llege football team had negative attus toward gay men, wh the more relig players ls supportive of homosexualy.

Acrdgly is unclear if mastream media will posively ame an openly gay, active NFL player, bee sport media plays a primary role the gged, ialized form of masculy historilly amed verage of profsnal football players the Uned Stat (3, 31). Kopay, who played for five different NFL anchis om 1964-1972, was one of jt eight former NFL players who had e out publicly or had their sexual orientatn publicized as gay and/or bisexual before Nassib’s recent public revelatn. Dpe the NBA’s reputatn as a socially progrsive and gay-iendly major sports anizatn, John Amaechi is the only former NBA player bis Colls to e out of the closet and his 2007 announcement was met by vrl by several former players, cludg former superstar pot guard Tim Hardaway who was quoted followg Amaechi’s announcement as havg said, “I hate gay people, so I let be known.

RAIRS’ CARL NASSIB ANNOUNC HE’S GAY, AN N.F.L. FIRST

Near the bottom of the hegemonic mascule social hierarchy are openly gay men, who by their mere sexual preference challenge tradnal notns of masculy, which is why gay men have often steered away om anized team sports (1).

Boys ( sport) learn early that to be gay, to be spected of beg gay, or even to be unable to prove one’s heterosexual stat is not acceptable” (22, p. However, more recent rearch has monstrated that athlet, sport ach and leagu, and even sports fans have creasgly bee more acceptg of gays and lbians (5, 11).

Both (15, 16) found that media amed Amaechi’s announcement as a posive for society and sport, but nclud that locker rooms were not ready for an openly gay athlete. The thors nclud that although both announcements were celebrated mastream media ntent, homophobic d language was ed to pare gay athlet wh heterosexual athlet (25). A study on Brish media found they largely praised diver Tom Daley for g out, but ntuoly labeled him as gay even though Daley actually me out as a bisexual who said he was also attracted to women (21).

EXAMG MEDIA FRAMG OF OPENLY GAY NFL PLAYER CARL NASSIB

LGBT = Lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenrNFL = Natnal Football LeagueMLB = Major League BaseballNBA = Natnal Basketball AssociatnNHL = Natnal Hockey League. Includ below are specific exampl of ntent om articl and lumns exactly as prted that are anized to four primary them emergg om the data: (1) Historic news; (2) Nassib go public to help at-risk youths; (3) Overwhelmg public support om NFL admistrators, players, and ach; (4) An observatn: While ’s great there’s no overt homophobia, why are most players MIA?

The journalists and lumnists who wrote the articl overwhelmgly amed Nassib’s g out the Uned Stat’ most popular sports league as a huge moment for sport, football, and lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) dividuals. Sports, long-time NFL reporter Mike Freeman pared Nassib’s revelatn to the likely many gay NFL players who kept their sexual orientatn private throughout their reers:. To fully unrstand jt how brave, how stunng, how historic is for Rairs fensive leman Carl Nassib to e out as gay, the first active NFL player to do so, you have to go back history.

GAY AND BI FORMER NFL PLAYERS EXCED TO SEE CARL NASSIB TAKE THE FIELD FOR RAIRS

The Trevor Project is a non-prof chary that provis crisis and suici preventn servic to lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, queer, and qutng young adults. None of the articl examed this rearch, however, lved to Nassib’s endorsement potential as an openly gay athlete or speculated on ulterr motiv for his announcement.

The most ced sourc the articl, however, were om those the NFL higher-ranks, cludg official statements of support om the Rairs anizatn, other anchis, the NFL Players Associatn, and pecially om NFL missner Roger Gooll who an article published Sports Illtrated noted “ed to beat up kids who teased his gay brother” and has been an LGBT “ally for s” (20, para. Wh only three exceptns, all articl unr this theme addrsg a lack of overt homophobia foced entirely on the posiv of Nassib g out, wh many notg the public support he received afterward om the NFL.

WHY THERE ARE FEW OPENLY GAY ATHLET IN MEN'S PROFSNAL SPORTS

This was important for journalists to emphasize—and they did so multiple articl—bee scholarships showed that earlier gay athlet who me out had their motiv for dog so directly qutned by some, particularly Amaechi whose public revelatn cid wh the release of his tobgraphy (17). This mimal reactn supports recent scholarship fdg that roughly a third of players on a major llege football roster were unfortable wh gay men, even though the team intified that study was loted the more gay-iendly Wt ast of the Uned Stat (4). In this heightened era of polil rrectns and creasgly overall societal acceptance of gays and lbians, however, current NFL athlet and their agents did not want to be amed as homophobic.

As Sports Illtrated’s Jimmy Traa noted, though, the fact that so few current NFL players publicly offered support for Nassib on social media likely shows that there is still some level of disfort wh gay men football by at least some players, although all have been traed and learned not to publicly say anythg that uld be nsted as homophobic or even sensive to LGBT.

Historilly, sport admistrators and ach exprsed ncern about how an openly gay male athlete their locker room would be accepted by teammat, opponents, and fans, g the perceived fears as a ratnale for gay athlet to stay the closet (17, 21). “It will be emotnal, hugely emotnal, ” Kopay, 79, said of what he’s expectg Monday night as he ss at his home Los Angel watchg Nassib take the field for the Las Vegas Rairs as the first openly gay player NFL history on an active roster.

JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH AND NDNG ACH KEV MAXEN OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY

“Although this story is historil and important to all of the LBGTQ muny … I agree wh Carl that the bt days are still to e when a human beg beg gay no matter what they do...

When Nashville Predators prospect Le Prokop me out this week, was the first time an active player unr ntract to an NHL team had ever publicly acknowledged they were gay.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS HAVE THE FIRST OPENLY GAY NFL COACH

Overnight, Prokop's announcement doubled the number of out gay athlet currently playg the untry's four major men's sports — football, basketball, baseball and hockey. Gay male athlet face cultural barriers Part of the reason for the lack of out gay players men's profsnal sports uld be that there are jt fewer of them the game.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS’ KEV MAXEN COM OUT AS FIRST OPENLY GAY MALE COACH THE NFL

"Gay men are a fe rource, so they n't exist great numbers every quarter, " Magrath told "Gay men are overreprented some areas, and as a nsequence are gog to be unrreprented sports. Magrath helped thor a study that found that male athlet who me out as gay while still playg sports were largely met wh acceptance by their teammat. NBA player Jason Colls, who me out 2013 while he was still playg the league, later told NPR " went great" when he scribed the perd after announcg he was gay.