Carl Nassib, a former NFL defensive end and the league’s first openly active gay player, will have his jersey displayed at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.
The museum will display Nassib’s Raiders jersey, according to reports.
In 2021, Nassib posted a video to Instagram in which he came out as the NFL’s first active gay player.
“What’s up people,” Nassib posted on Instagram. “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.”
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In an interview with Newsweek, Nassib said the reality of being honored by the Smithsonian had still not set in.
“It is one of the coolest things I’ve ever experienced. I love it. And I wish I had some, you know, prophetic answer [about its significance]”, Nassib told Newsweek. “But I just feel maybe like, down the line, I’ll appreciate the importance of it a little bit more. Sometimes I feel like when you’re in it, you’re just super excited, and you don’t really get the full impact of it. And that’s kind of how I felt with football when I was playing, and I was just having fun.
“And now looking back, I was like, ‘Oh, wait, that was really, really incredible.’ But to have my jersey in the Smithsonian is something I never expected, something I never really worked for, wasn’t really a goal of mine.
“It’s just something that came up, and I’m super thankful for. I think it’s an homage to all the people in my community that came before me that put me in a position to be able to come out and be able to play the sport that I love and be who I was all day every day.”
Nassib played for the Buccaneers, Raiders, and Browns in his seven-year career.. During his career, he racked up 25.5 sacks and 187 tackles.
