Players on 22 NFL teams have already had an out gay teammate, cludg six players wh the Arizona Cardals.
Contents:
- MEET THE 16 OUT GAY AND BI FOOTBALL PLAYERS THE NFL’S 103-YEAR HISTORY
- FORMER NFL QUARTERBACK OPENS UP ABOUT RUMORS HE WAS GAY
- CARL NASSIB OF LAS VEGAS RAIRS ANNOUNC HE IS GAY, PLEDG $100,000 TO TREVOR PROJECT
- MICHAEL SAM, FIRST OPENLY GAY PLAYER, RETIR FOR MENTAL HEALTH REASONS
- THE 39 CURRENT NFL PLAYERS HAVE ALL PLAYED WH AN OUT GAY TEAMMATE
- NFL COACH COM OUT AS GAY HISTORIC ANNOUNCEMENT
- WHO IS CARL NASSIB, THE NFL'S FIRST OPENLY GAY ACTIVE PLAYER?
- CARL NASSIB OF LAS VEGAS RAIRS IS FIRST ACTIVE NFL PLAYER TO ANNOUNCE HE IS GAY
MEET THE 16 OUT GAY AND BI FOOTBALL PLAYERS THE NFL’S 103-YEAR HISTORY
Carl Nassib is the first to ever play a down as openly gay, but the rt are still trailblazers. * openly gay quarterback *
The NFL has played for more than 100 years and there have been 16 gay or bi players to e out publicly. 16 and the first one to e out as gay while on an active roster.
FORMER NFL QUARTERBACK OPENS UP ABOUT RUMORS HE WAS GAY
Rairs DE Carl Nassib beme the first active NFL player to e out as gay, announcg the news an Instagram post Monday while pledgg $100,000 to the Trevor Project. * openly gay quarterback *
Over the years, Outsports has known of a few other players who are gay but have never e out, even when retired.
CARL NASSIB OF LAS VEGAS RAIRS ANNOUNC HE IS GAY, PLEDG $100,000 TO TREVOR PROJECT
Sam was the first openly gay player to be drafted by an NFL team. * openly gay quarterback *
The NFL Network produced a documentary on Smh beg gay. Jenks is gay and this was the the first time he wily discsed his sexual orientatn. In June, Carl Nassib of the Rairs me out as gay.
Stewart, who is not gay, said he felt attacked by the cy of Ptsburgh for the mor, which he said the Steelers found was started by an dividual lol police officer. I jt want to take a quick moment to say that I'm gay.
MICHAEL SAM, FIRST OPENLY GAY PLAYER, RETIR FOR MENTAL HEALTH REASONS
* openly gay quarterback *
He me to natnal attentn as a star of the Browns' "Hard Knocks" appearance 2018, givg fancial advice to teammat and offerg his take on the existence of Missouri lebacker Michael Sam beme the first openly gay player to be drafted NFL history 2014, when the Rams took him 249th overall.
Michael Sam, who 2014 beme the first openly gay player to be drafted by an NFL team, announced on Twter Friday eveng that he is walkg away om football for mental health reasons.
THE 39 CURRENT NFL PLAYERS HAVE ALL PLAYED WH AN OUT GAY TEAMMATE
After he failed to fd a al wh an NFL team, Sam signed wh the Montreal Alouett of the Canadian Football League, at which pot he beme the CFL's first openly gay player. 7, he beme the first openly gay player to play a regular season CFL game, though he did not register any tackl or sacks his appearanc.
From late April 2013 to early May 2014, gay and lbian athlet weled breakthrough after breakthrough the historilly closeted world of sports. Journeyman basketball center Jason Colls me out as gay and later signed a ntract wh the Brooklyn Nets, makg him the first openly gay player to get to a regular-season game the NBA, NFL, NHL or MLB. More gay athlet tellg their stori.
Sce was found 1999 by journalists Jim Buzski and Cyd Zeigler, the webse Outsports has been an outlet for gay sports fans and athlet to share their personal stori or simply chat about their favore teams. “It was jt basilly jt two guys who liked sports who happened to be gay, ” he said.
NFL COACH COM OUT AS GAY HISTORIC ANNOUNCEMENT
They clu a high school football player om Texas who played for his team durg the game and performed wh the drill squad at halftime, and a sprter who attempted suici twice before g to terms wh himself as an out, gay man. And yet, as the number of openly gay players grows at the high school and llege levels (not to mentn the WNBA, where stars such as Brtney Grer, Diana Trasi and Ellena Delle Donne all have e out), some qutns rema: Why aren’t male athlet at the profsnal level g out?
I ran several search of the NewsBank database to try to gge whether g-out stori about gay and lbian athlet were beg more or ls equent. Each search ed the terms “gay or lbian” and “athlete or player” and “g out” on U.
Some people still believe that the NFL is a “homophobic” monolh where ’s “dangero” to be gay. Dpe Outsports chroniclg lerally dozens of piec of evince to the ntrary, there’s a ntued belief amongst some that NFL players would overwhelmgly reject a gay player if he me out.
WHO IS CARL NASSIB, THE NFL'S FIRST OPENLY GAY ACTIVE PLAYER?
So we set out to figure out how many current NFL players have already played on the same team wh an out gay teammate. We found 39 current NFL players, who were on a roster for the 2020 season, who have already had an out gay teammate. In addn, dozens of other players have played agast an opponent they knew to be gay.
CARL NASSIB OF LAS VEGAS RAIRS IS FIRST ACTIVE NFL PLAYER TO ANNOUNCE HE IS GAY
Those gay athlet are all still alive today.
The 39 current NFL players have played wh at least five gay or bisexual men who were out to their team while they were on the same team. The Arizona Cardals have the most players we know have played wh an out gay teammate. At least six of the players on the Cardals’ 2020 roster — about 10% of the team, — has already had a gay teammate they knew of.
And they have llectively played llege wh all five out gay players.