Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib, who came out as gay in late June and became the first active NFL player in history to do so, said he has been welcomed and supported to training camp since he made the announcement.
"It has been great," Nassib said Friday in his first news conference since he came out. "I knew it was going to be good. I had zero stress about that, absolutely no worries about it. We've got a great locker room, great teammates. I've been met with nothing but love and support. It has been incredible. Football players get a bad wrap. But we're humble, hard-working, accepting people. This was a great example of that."
Nassib, who made the announcement in an Instagram video, is competing for snaps on the Raiders defensive line, which added some pieces over the offseason, including defensive end Yannick Ngakoue.
Nassib said that he is in a much better mental place now after having come out publicly, but he said that the first few days of practice when training camp opened were a challenge.
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"The first couple of days, being out and being the only out player, my body felt like Jell-O. I was very anxious. But now I wanted to get this over with," Nassib said, speaking of the news conference, "I wanted to move on and I just wanted to have a lot of clarity. I feel better today. I feel better than I did yesterday and the day before that. So I'm looking forward to the future."
Nassib said that very few friends of his around the league knew about his being gay, but he said he did approach Raiders coaches before making the announcement public.
"I was definitely surprised by the big reaction," Nassib said. "It was incredible. I thought nobody would care. It was a good feeling to have all the support. I was glad I could do my part to help bring visibility and representation to my community."
Nassib, 28, is entering his sixth season in the NFL after stints with the Cleveland Browns and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He played in 14 games last year with the Raiders, starting five, and collected 28 tackles and 2 1⁄2 sacks and one interception.
"It was definitely stressful growing up and being in the closet and doing all that," Nassib said. "It has been a great weight off my shoulders. I've been out to my family and friends to this point for years, so it has been good to not have to lie when I come to work every day. It has been good."
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