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Sam was the first openly gay player to be drafted by an NFL team.

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CARL NASSIB, FIRST OPENLY GAY PLAYER NFL GAME, MAK HISTORY AND STARS THRILLG LAS VEGAS RAIRS W

Nassib beme the first openly gay NFL player to play a regular season game – and helped his team to a stunng victory. * nfl quarterback gay *

Las Vegas Rairs fensive end Carl Nassib ma history durg the team's opener agast the Baltimore Ravens on Monday night, beg the first openly gay NFL player to su up a regular season game. Nassib, who has played the NFL sce 2016, me out as gay earlier this year.

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. * nfl quarterback gay *

He's the first active, openly gay player to be on an NFL roster, but other players have paved the way.

Michael Sam beme the first openly gay player to be drafted by the NFL 2014, but was cut by the St.

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. Over the years, Outsports has known of a few other players who are gay but have never e out, even when retired.

FORMER NFL QUARTERBACK OPENS UP ABOUT RUMORS HE WAS GAY

The Rairs fensive end will make NFL history when he plays his first game sce g out as gay this offseason. * nfl quarterback gay *

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. The announcement today by former Patrts and Chiefs offensive leman Ryan O'Callaghan that he is gay brgs to seven the number of NFL known gay players NFL history who have played a regular season game. In addn, four other players who me out as gay were NFL trag mps, some playg preason gam.

THERE HAVE BEEN 11 KNOWN GAY PLAYERS NFL HISTORY

The 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. * nfl quarterback gay *

Kopay played wh two teammat who were gay: tight end Jerry Smh and nng back Ray McDonald.

Gay players have long been the NFL. Legendary Packers and Redsks ach Vce Lombardi — who had an openly gay brother — knew that some of his players were gay.

CARL NASSIB, THE FIRST OPENLY GAY N.F.L. PLAYER, HAS BEEN A FOOTBALL EVERYMAN

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. * nfl quarterback gay *

In the Outsports article on O’Callaghan g out, longtime NFL executive Stt Pli says he has unseled gay NFL players before. AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTCarl Nassib, the First Openly Gay N.

WHO IS CARL NASSIB? MEET THE NFL'S FIRST OPENLY GAY PLAYER

Players on 22 NFL teams have already had an out gay teammate, cludg six players wh the Arizona Cardals. * nfl quarterback gay *

He om a football fay, was a standout at Penn State and has tght his teammat about personal Miller/Getty ImagPublished June 22, 2021Updated June 25, 2021Las Vegas Rairs fensive leman Carl Nassib walked outsi his home Wt Chter, Pa., looked directly to his phone and did somethg that he said he hoped would one day no longer be a few brief sentenc, the 28-year-old Nassib me out as gay. Conversatns wh iends and fay ma possible, he said, for him to publicly say that he is gay.

ViotranscripttranscriptCarl Nassib Be First Openly Gay Active N. I jt want to take a quick moment to say that I’m gay.

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

Every day durg LGBTQ history month, we’ve told a story om our archive. We nclu our seri wh the NFL player who remas the most signifint out gay athlete of our lifetime: Dave Kopay. * nfl quarterback gay *

L., his ach and his peers the league for their rpect and acceptance, and acknowledged that many gay people before him did not receive that same support.

Player Jason Colls, who beme the first openly gay male athlete 2013.

CARL NASSIB OF LAS VEGAS RAIRS ANNOUNC HE IS GAY, PLEDG $100,000 TO TREVOR PROJECT

Aaron Rodgers went on his weekly rad show on Tuday and quashed a mor that he's gay. "I'm not gay. I really, really like women," Rodgers said. * nfl quarterback gay *

For the first time NFL history, an openly gay player will take the field a regular season game. Never the NFL's history has a player on the field a regular-season game after g out as gay. However, Nassib is not the first gay player to be on the field.

THE 39 CURRENT NFL PLAYERS HAVE ALL PLAYED WH AN OUT GAY TEAMMATE

* nfl quarterback gay *

Acrdg to Outsports, there have been 16 gay or bisexual NFL players to e out publicly. He did not play his first two seasons, but appeared double-dig gam as a redshirt sophomore and junr before gettg the startg assignment as a senr. AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTRairs’ Carl Nassib Announc He’s Gay, an N.

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. Player to publicly clare that he is gay.

“I jt want to take a quick moment to say that I’m gay, ” Nassib said a vio posted to his Instagram acunt. 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.

PACKERS QB AARON RODGERS ADDRS MOR THAT HE'S GAY

Jacksonville Jaguars’ assistant ach Kev Maxen has ma history by beg the first male ach profsnal sports the U.S. to publicly e out as gay. * nfl quarterback gay *

L., and mak him the first openly gay active player the league’s 101-year history. “Sports are, many ways, one of the last bastns of a place where homophobia n thrive, ” said Cathy Renna, a spokwoman for the Natnal L.

”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.

MICHAEL SAM, FIRST OPENLY GAY PLAYER, RETIR FOR MENTAL HEALTH REASONS

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.

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

Players had prevly announced publicly that they were gay, but all after their playg reers were over. David Kopay beme the first pro football player to publicly e out as gay 1975, three years after he retired.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* NFL QUARTERBACK GAY

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data-activy-map="social-share-lks-article-top" data-ttid="social-share-menu"><li data-ttid="social-share-facebook" class="styl_em__b5A78 styl_facebook__bOW_X"><a href=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="styl_lk__RsJVU"><span class="in in-share-facebook"></span></a></li><li data-ttid="social-share-twter" class="styl_em__b5A78 styl_twter__ww7sF"><a href=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="styl_lk__RsJVU"><span class="in in-twter"></span></a></li><li data-ttid="social-share-ptert" class="styl_em__b5A78 styl_ptert__CaMm1"><a href=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="styl_lk__RsJVU"><span class="in in-share-ptert"></span></a></li><li data-ttid="social-share-email" class="styl_em__b5A78"><a href="mailto:?subject=NFL's reactn to Carl Nassib g out is 'huge,' says Hall of Famer Warren Moon& target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="styl_lk__RsJVU"><span class="in in-share-email"></span></a></li><li data-ttid="social-share-py" class="styl_em__b5A78 styl_py__RACZ3"><button type="button" class="styl_button__b3sx_"><span class="in in-lk"></span></button><div class="styl_pyTooltip__Ut_t1"><span class="in in-alt-check"></span></div></li><li data-ttid="social-share-sms" class="styl_em__b5A78 styl_sms__Vohh6"><a href="sms:?&body=NFL's reactn to Carl Nassib g out is 'huge,' says Hall of Famer Warren Moon via nbews - target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="styl_lk__RsJVU"><span class="in in-sms"></span></a></li><li data-ttid="social-share-prt" class="styl_prt__cw6Gn"><button type="button" class="styl_button__b3sx_"><span class="in in-share-prt styl_in__P3XZT"></span><span class="styl_text___8iNX">Prt</span></button></li><li data-ttid="social-share-save" class="styl_save__ILVuj"></li></ul></div><div class="article-body__date-source"><time class="relative z-1" dateTime="2021-06-23T02:03:00.000Z" ntent="2021-06-23T02:03:00.000Z">June 23, 2021, 2:03 AM UTC</time></div><div class="article-le-byle" data-activy-map="le-byle-article-top">By <span class="byle-name">Christian Red</span></div></sectn><div class="article-body__ntent article-body-font--loadg"><p class="">Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon says he thks the reason several teammat of his did not e out as gay publicly durg his NFL reer had as much to do wh the age-old "mentaly" of the sport as did wh the era which Moon starred for the Hoton Oilers, and later the Mnota Vikgs, Seattle Seahawks and Kansas Cy durg a 17-year reer.</p><p class="">"We've had guys e forward other sports, but never a sport that’s so macho y macho, like profsnal football," Moon told NBC News a day after Las Vegas Rairs fensive end <a href=" target="_blank">Carl Nassib, 28, beme the first active NFL player to publicly announce he's gay</a>.</p><figure class="styl_leImage__yAWZ0 styl_medium__OMa6x"><picture class="styl_image__1qciH"><source media="(m-width: 1000px)" srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><source srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><img src=" alt="Image: Kansas Cy Chiefs vs San Diego Chargers" height="1655" width="2500"/></picture><figptn class="ptn styl_ptn__Pe5JC"><span class="ptn__ntaer">Warren Moon #1, Quarterback for the Kansas Cy Chiefs plays durg the Amerin Football Conference Wt game agast the San Diego Chargers at the Qualm Stadium, San Diego, Calif., on Nov. 26, 2000.</span><span class="ptn__source">Stephen Dunn / Getty Imag file</span></figptn></figure><p class="">"You're tght at a very young age, as far back as Pop Warner, 'Don’t show weakns. Don’t show juri.' If you were ever to say you were gay (when Moon played), that’d be like you were nsired soft. I unrstand why guys wouldn’t e forward, jt bee of the mentaly of the sport that they’ve been tght for so long."</p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100"></div></div><div id="taboolaReadMoreBelow"></div><p class="">Moon played the league om 1984 to 2000.</p><p class="">Nassib's social media announcement — <a href=" target="_blank">he posted a vio on his Instagram acunt</a>, which boasts 254,000 followers — received wispread praise and support om all rners of the NFL, cludg a statement om Commissner Roger Gooll that said part, "The NFL fay is proud of Carl for urageoly sharg his tth today."</p><figure class="styl_leImage__yAWZ0 styl_medium__OMa6x"><picture class="styl_image__1qciH"><source media="(m-width: 1000px)" srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><source srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><img loadg="lazy" src=" alt="Image: Kansas Cy Chiefs v Las Vegas Rairs" height="1664" width="2500"/></picture><figptn class="ptn styl_ptn__Pe5JC"><span class="ptn__ntaer">Defensive end Carl Nassib #94 and fensive end Maxx Crosby #98 of the Las Vegas Rairs greet each other on the field before a game agast the Kansas Cy Chiefs at Allegiant Stadium Las Vegas, on Nov. 22, 2020.</span><span class="ptn__source">Chris Unger / Getty Imag file</span></figptn></figure><p class="">Moon, 64, lled Gooll's support "huge" and said that the league, and the untry, have progrsed a long way, even sce 2014, when openly gay football player Michael Sam was drafted by the St. Louis Rams the seventh round. Sam never end up playg the NFL.</p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100"></div></div><p class="">"I thk the league still wasn’t ready at that time. You uld tell by where (Sam) was drafted (249th overall pick), based upon what he acplished llege," Moon said of the former Universy of Missouri standout. "Sam uldn’t make an NFL roster. So, thgs have taken a big change our untry. I'm glad to see that. I'm glad (Nassib) was urageo enough to e out."</p><p class="">Former NFL fensive end Marv Washgton overlapped wh Moon's reer for more than a , and Washgton says he played wh gay teammat at each stop his reer, begng wh the Jets 1989. He also played for the 49ers and won a Super Bowl rg wh the 1998 Denver Brons.</p><p class="">"If you played one game NFL, you played wh a gay teammate," says Washgton, 55, who transned to the nnabis dtry after his football reer and is the founr of Isosport, a CBD sports performance pany. "But jt thk about the time when Warren and I played. What was the acceptance of gays like society then? It's a totally different time now. It would have been different to e out 25 or 30 years ago. It would have been different wh teammat, anizatns, wh society general."</p><figure class="styl_leImage__yAWZ0 styl_medium__OMa6x"><picture class="styl_image__1qciH"><source media="(m-width: 1000px)" srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><source srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><img loadg="lazy" src=" alt="Image: Esera Tuaolo mov to stop Hostetler" height="1677" width="2500"/></picture><figptn class="ptn styl_ptn__Pe5JC"><span class="ptn__ntaer">Defensive tackle Esera Tuaolo #98 of the Mnota Vikgs mov to stop quarterback Jeff Hostetler #15 of the L.A. Rairs durg the NFL game at the Los Angel Colism, Los Angel, on Sept. 5, 1993.</span><span class="ptn__source">Stephen Dunn / Getty Imag file</span></figptn></figure><p class="">Moon says one of his former teammat, Esera Tuaolo, me out after retirg, but that when they were together on the Vikgs, Moon knew Tuaolo was gay.</p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100"></div></div><p class="">"He was a really good player, and a great teammate, wh an fect personaly. It was never a problem," says Moon. "The guy uld play."</p><p class="">Moon says that he learned about his former teammat' sexual inty "anilly," through nversatns si and outsi the locker room. Whether the NFL at that time was aware that gay players were on team rosters, Moon says he don't know. But bee he was one of the few Black quarterbacks of his era, Moon says he faced discrimatn and nontg that adversy helped him velop a strong "passn and unrstandg for people beg judged differently."</p><div class="remend-tersectn-ref" data-activy-map="remend-article-body-remend"></div><div class="remend-tersectn-ref" data-activy-map="remend-article-body-remend"></div><p class="">"I felt my own discrimatn durg the time when I was tryg to be an Ain Amerin quarterback. People were g that agast me," says Moon. "I felt like I was different. There weren’t a lot of Black people dog what I was tryg to do. Gay people have been discrimated agast for a long time, and I’ve had my discrimatn issu, too. That lend me to be more unrstandg of their plight.</p><p class="">"Nassib’s announcement is gog to make him a better player, by eeg up his md," Moon says. "That's one ls secret that he has to keep om teammat. Now they know exactly who he is. It's hard to be a lear if you’re not te to who you are. Now, he's shown that he’s te to who he is by lettg everybody know that. He’ll be a better lear and a better player."</p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100"></div></div><p class="">Cyd Zeigler, the -founr of , says that a generatn ago, very few people society, let alone sports, felt fortable g out and that even though Sam gettg drafted by an NFL team was momento, " jt wasn't the endg we all wanted" when Sam never end up playg an NFL down. Nassib's stature as a tenured Rair unrsr the impact of his announcement.</p><p class="">"Nassib has a guaranteed ntract," says Zeigler. "He's not gog anywhere. I thk the league has been hopg this would happen for a long time."</p><p class="">But even Sam Rapoport, the NFL's senr director of diversy, equy and cln, and who is gay, says that spe the overwhelmgly posive rponse to Nassib's announcement, there is still much progrs to be ma wh the LGBTQ+ muny, both sports and society. Rapoport says was years after 2003, when she started workg for the NFL, that she fally me out. And was the prence of Gooll at a party. She says Gooll was nothg but welg.</p><p class="">"The untry and the world weren't ready for . No one felt fortable g out," says Rapoport of her early years at the NFL. "Gay marriage was still not legal. Part of why Carl Nassib g out is so impactful, I thk, is tak the first active player to e out and that will talyze that movement. They'll see that the waters are warmer than we thought. I see that happeng the near future bee of Carl's bravery, Michael Sam's bravery and several other athlet who chose to take a risk while they were playg."</p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100"></div></div><p class="endmark"><strong>CORRECTION</strong> (June 23, 2021 8:58 a.m.): An earlier versn of this article misspelled the name of the -founr of <a href=" target="_blank"></a>. He is Cyd Zeigler, not Ziegler.</p></div><div class="article-body__ntent article-body-font--loadg"><div class="expand-byle-ntributors articleByleContaer"><div class="expand-byle article-expand-byle" data-activy-map="expand-byle-article-bottom"><span class="byle-thumbnail byle-thumbnail--no-image expand-byle__thumbnail"></span><span class="byle-name expand-byle__name">Christian Red</span><span class="byle-social expand-byle__social"></span><div class="expand-byle__b-wrapper"><p class="byle-b expand-byle__b">Christian Red is a eelance reporter who was prevly part of the New York Daily News sports vtigative team. </p></div></div></div></div></div><div class="article-body--right-rail-ntaer"><div class="article-body__right-rail layout-grid-em grid-l-4_5-l grid-l-3_5-xl grid-l-ph-half-xl"><div class="ad article-body__right-rail--ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer dn-prt"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxrail" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[[300,250],[360,360]]],[[758,1],[]],[[0,0],[]]]" data-offset="10" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te"></div></div></div></div></div><div class="body-bottom-remend"><div class="ad ad--midrponsive ad-ntaer dn-prt"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="midrponsive" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[[700,1],[5,5]]],[[758,1],[]],[[0,0],[]]]" data-offset="300" data-reh-terval="0" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te"></div></div></div></div></div></article></div></div><div id="hfs-footer" class="dn-prt" data-activy-map="hfs-footer"><footer class="hfsf" ><div class="ner"><div class="logo"><a href="><svg class="peack" viewBox="578 62 67 39" xmlns=" fill="currentColor"><g fill-le="evenodd"><path d="M579.074 90.58c1.717-4.494 6.472-6.08 10.697-3.37l18.29 12.754h-22.18c-4.62 0-8.252-4.23-6.8-9.385"></path><path class="feather" d="M579.074 90.58c1.717-4.494 6.472-6.08 10.697-3.37l18.29 12.754h-22.18c-4.62 0-8.252-4.23-6.8-9.385"></path><path class="feather" d="M597.563 75.863l9.442 21.613-19.478-13.35c-4.887-3.24-3.896-8.79-1.19-11.237 3.83-3.24 9.245-2.12 11.226 2.97"></path><path class="feather" d="M610.57 70.93l-3.433 24.19-9.772-23c-2.113-5.75 2.64-9.516 5.81-9.583 3.632-.396 8.188 2.38 7.396 8.394"></path><path class="feather" d="M625.494 72.103l-9.707 23.067-3.102-20.82c-.265-3.17 1.716-3.237 2.443-3.832-.133-.463-1.124-.463-1.124-.463h-1.848c-.198-5.42 4.028-7.8 7.462-7.535 3.697.132 7.856 4.428 5.876 9.583"></path><path class="feather" d="M635.338 84.167L615.86 97.584l9.177-21.348c2.775-6.742 9.245-5.42 11.556-2.842 2.51 2.51 3.235 7.6-1.255 10.773"></path><path class="feather" d="M637.448 99.9h-22.515l18.29-12.756c4.49-2.975 9.244-.266 10.498 3.635 1.327 4.36-1.65 9.12-6.27 9.12"></path></g></svg></a></div><nav class="lks"><ul class="lks__wrap" data-l-2="14" data-l-3=15><li><a href=" target="_self">About</a></li><li><a href=" target="_self">Contact</a></li><li><a href=">Help</a></li><li><a href=">Careers</a></li><li><a href=" target="_blank" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ad Choic</a></li><li><a href=" target="_blank" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Privacy Policy</a></li><li><a href=" target="_blank" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Do Not Sell My Personal Informatn</a></li><li><a href=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CA Notice</a></li><li><a href=">Terms of Service (Updated JULY 7, 2023)</a></li><li><a href=">NBC News Semap</a></li><li><a href=">Advertise</a></li><li><a href=" target="_self">Select Shoppg</a></li><li><a href=" target="_self">Select Personal Fance</a></li></ul></nav><div class="py"><p>© 2023 NBC UNIVERSAL</p><div class="brands"><a href="><svg viewBox="0 0 120 20" fill="none" xmlns=" aria-labelledby="nbc_news_logo"><tle class="nbc_news_logo">NBC News Logo .

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