Carl Nassib reveals how losing his gay uncle empowered him to come out

Carl Nassib continues to inspire LGBTQ+ youth in sports.

Carl Nassib, who made NFL history in June 2021 as the first active player in the league to come out as gay, shared new details about his journey in a new interview on The Pivot Podcast posted on Tuesday, May 6.

Since retiring from professional football in September 2023, Nassib has been invited to speak in various panels around the world, continued to be an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, and has also focused on spearheading the company he founded, Rayze — an app that aims to connect businesses and individuals with organizations in need of funds, volunteers, and more.

Nassib got extremely candid during this new interview on The Pivot Podcast cohosted by Fred Taylor, Ryan Clark, and Channing Crowder — opening up and sharing details about his life story that make him an even more inspiring figure for LGBTQ+ youth who are struggling to navigate the world of sports.

Though the interview is certainly worth a full watch, here's a breakdown of standout quotes from Carl Nassib that led to his history-making decision to come out while still being a pro football player.

Carl Nassib explained the very touching reason why he came out as gay while still being in the NFL.

Carl Nassib, who came out in 2021, discussed the reasons why he took that step. Even though Nassib made history and was celebrated as the first-ever active NFL player to come out as gay, The Pivot Podcast cohost Ryan Clark acknowledged that Nassib could have hurt his football career if he chose to come out.

"I knew I wanted to do it for like years before that," Nassib replied. "[But] there were a few catalysts that really were like, 'Yo, you gotta do this.' Two big ones. First one was my uncle — my mom's youngest brother — who was gay."

Nassib explained that while he was already out to his parents, siblings, and close friends for years, his gay uncle — "Uncle Bill" — got very sick in 2019 after battling cancer for years. Toward the end of 2019, Uncle Bill passed away.

"I saw him on his deathbed, and he was in a really bad shape. So, you know, I came out to him," Nassib recalled. "We were from a huge family — 44 first cousins — and he was the only gay person in the entire family."

Nassib added, "When I came out to him, he and his husband were there, and he was like, 'This is the biggest weight off of my chest. I'm not the only one.'"

After hearing those words from his uncle, Nassib recognized how "many people out there feel the same way," adding that he "felt really charged after that [moment]" to officially come out to the world.

Five months after coming out to his uncle, Nassib "signed a great contract with the Raiders and had a bunch of guaranteed money. I felt like, 'Damn, now they can't touch me.'"

Why did Carl Nassib wait until 2021 to come out?

Nassib clarified in the interview that he had come out to his close friends and relatives after his uncle passed away toward the end of 2019. Considering that timeline, the NFL star was asked why he chose to wait until June 2021 to come out to the public.

He responded, "George Floyd got killed, and there was a lot of turmoil with the NFL, with social justice, and COVID. There was a lot going on. I actually read the room in 2020. I was like, 'This isn't the time, Carl. You don't need to add anything to this.' So I waited until 2021."

Moreover, Nassib wanted his coming-out story to be about bringing attention to The Trevor Project — an organization that the athlete has championed for many years and continues to do so. At the time, Nassib raised $100,000 for The Trevor Project, and the NFL matched his donation.

Carl Nassib has no regrets about his journey, but wishes he could've come out earlier in life.

Nassib doesn't "regret" coming out in June 2021 at 28 years old. However, the history-making athlete acknowledged that, "in a perfect world," he wishes he could've come out earlier to support his gay uncle.

"I've been gifted so many rights and so many freedoms that the previous generation in my community didn't have," the NFL alum explained. "I can't just sit on these and rake it in."

Did Carl Nassib bring up Taylor Swift to pretend that he was straight?

Nassib was also asked about whether he brought up Taylor Swift on the 2018 doc Hard Knocks — three years before he came out — as a tactic to "bring up a woman, or sort of phrase it [in a way that proved he] was straight." Without missing a beat, the Certified Swiftie set that record straight (Well… You know what we mean!)

on that topic as well. "First off, I gotta say I've been a Taylor Swift fan way longer than all these other bandwagon fans. Excuse me!" he teased. "Also, the closet door was made of glass. I mean, I was the biggest Taylor Swift fan my entire life. I don't know how anybody didn't see that."

On a more serious note, Nassib thought about the question and agreed that "there were probably some, or a ton, of things that I would say to curate a look of, 'Oh I was straight. Oh, I wasn't gay.'"

"I didn't have a guaranteed contract" with the NFL, he noted. "I was very worried about getting outed. I didn't want to have all the work that I put in at Penn State my entire life to be taken away."

You can watch Carl Nassib's full interview on The Pivot Podcast below.