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Carl Nassib feels love from the Raider organization after coming out as gay

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Carl Nassib
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Of all the worries Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib held about becoming the first active NFL player to come out as gay this summer, the response from his teammates was the least of them.

The 28-year-old, six-year NFL veteran out of Penn State says he was almost certain everyone would still accept him going into his second year with the team. And it’s gone even smoother than Nassib expected—he says he has felt nothing but welcome since the team convened for training camp in late July.

“We’ve got a great locker room, great teammates,” Nassib said at a recent news conference. “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.”

Nassib came out publicly in June, by way of an Instagram post in which he pledged $100,000 to the Trevor Project, a suicide prevention organization focusing on the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. Nassib drew national headlines but says he dreams of a day when a similar announcement from another player won’t be as big of a deal.

He says he believed coming out was important from a visibility standpoint for the LGBT community and discussed his intentions ahead of time with the Raiders’ coaching staff, getting a show of support from head coach Jon Gruden. None of Nassib’s teammates knew his sexuality, but he says they quickly rallied around him.

It was particularly meaningful to Nassib when quarterback and team captain Derek Carr pledged to have his back.

“From my point of view, his locker is just a few down from mine, and I want to make sure that he knows that we just want him to play as hard as he can so we can win a Super Bowl,” Carr said. “That’s what we’re here to do, whether someone agrees or disagrees with what he does off the field. We’re still a family when we come in this building, [and] we better treat him like such.”

Nassib has turned down a flood of media opportunities in the wake of his announcement, emphasizing that he wants to concentrate on football and hopefully help the gay community in the process.

“It was definitely stressful growing up and being in the closet and doing all that,” Nassib said. “It’s very stressful; I can speak from experience. But it’s been a weight off my shoulders. I’ve been out to family and friends for years at this point, so it’s good to not have to lie when I come into work every day.”

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Case Keefer has spent more than a decade covering his passions at Greenspun Media Group. He's written about and supervised ...

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