On Sept. 6, openly gay free agent defensive end Carl Nassib announced his retirement from the NFL after seven seasons, Sports Illustrated reported.
Nassib—who played for the Cleveland Browns, the Las Vegas Raiders and twice for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and who played college football at Penn State—said on Instagram (with the caption "Next chapter") that he could "hang up his helmet for the last time" knowing that he gave the sport everything he had.
He was the first openly gay active NFL player after he came out in 2021, per Yahoo! Sports. Nassib said in a 2022 interview he stared at his phone for "like, an hour" to hype himself up before he announced to the world he was gay.
Nassib stated on Instagram that he's leaving the sport to focus on his philanthropy-centered company, Rayze. adding, "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."
Among those he thanked were "God, my family and my friends for always being there for me even when I didn't realize it." He also expressed his gratitude to agent Brian Ayrault as well as Tampa Bay General Manager Jason Licht and Tampa Bay Assistant General Manager John Spytek; and "all my coaches, teammates, trainers and staff throughout the years."
Nassib also commented that he wanted to work with the NFL on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the future.
—Andrew Davis
