First Out NFL Player, Carl Nassib, Announces Retirement
He holds the distinction of being the first active NFL player to come out as gay and actually play in a game. Now, 30-year-old Carl Nassib has announced he is retiring from football. In his typical fashion, Nassib made the announcement with a post to Instagram.
“This is a bittersweet moment for me but after seven seasons and just over 100 NFL games I am officially retiring from football to focus on my company Rayze,” the post read in part. “It really feels like just yesterday starting out as a walk-on at Penn State. Football has given me more than I ever could have imagined. I can truly hang up my helmet for the last time knowing I gave it everything I had.”
Nassib became the first NFL player to come out while playing in much the same manner, with a post to Instagram during Pride month in 2021.
"What's up people," Nassib said in the Instagram video. "I'm at my house in West Chester, Pennsylvania. I just wanted to take a quick moment to say that I'm gay. I've been meaning to do this for a while now but finally feel comfortable getting it off my chest. I really have the best life, the best family, friends, and job a guy can ask for."
Nassib’s company, Rayze, is an app that links people to each other as well as to nonprofits close to them that match their volunteer interests. “If we’re hanging around on a Saturday afternoon and we’ve got time to kill, we can get on our phones and within 10 seconds, we can find something in our neighborhood to do to give back,” Nassib told the Associated Press last year.
“Growing up I loved how fun football was,” Nassib wrote in his retirement post. “I loved the pursuit of perfection. … It was always my dream to play in the NFL, even as a walk-on, and I really feel like the luckiest guy on the planet.”
Read More
As Megan Rapinoe Announces Her Retirement, 7 Other LGBTQ+ Athletes Who Have Changed the Game
As women’s soccer star Megan Rapinoe gets set to retire from Seattle’s OL Reign, Pride Source is taking a look back at some other LGBTQ+ athletes [...]
‘I Saw the TV Glow’ Actor Justice Smith Talks Finding Refuge in Fandom and His Advice for Struggling Queer Youth
For struggling queer kids, pop culture can be a life-saving escape when faced with an unimaginable reality. This is true for two suburban teenagers who find [...]
How David Archuleta Left Behind the Mormon Church and Is Now Flourishing As An Openly Queer Person
When David Archuleta returned to the “American Idol” stage on April 22, he knew that singing his latest single, “Hell Together,” which [...]
Stand Up Against Book Banning, See the 'Reality Gays' Podcast Tour, Attend a Gender-Affirming Beauty Workshop
It's time for some spring cleaning. Whether that means weeding out the negative Nancys clogging up your social media feed, literally cleaning up your homestead [...]
Everything You Need to Know About the New Queer Bar Coming to Ann Arbor
The rumors are true — there’s a new queer bar coming to Ann Arbor later this year, and Pride Source sat down with co-founder Saharsh Hajela to [...]
Why a Local Academic Is Fostering Queer Discussion and Community Through an Old-Fashioned Book Club
Queer books on public library shelves have come under fire across the country in recent years, but you wouldn’t know it at the Ypsilanti District Library [...]
