Linebacker Carl Nassib of the Las Vegas Raiders came out as gay last week, the first active NFL player ever to do so. He did just about everything about his coming out right, except for waiting until immediately after my deadline for last week's cartoon. But we'll let that pass.
His video announcement had a somewhat matter-of-fact air; there was no sense of any personal crisis or I've Been Trying So Hard To Live A Lie, no apologies, no regrets. Perhaps most importantly, he didn't make the announcement purely about himself, instead pledging $100,000 to the Trevor Project.
“They’re an incredible organization, they’re the number one suicide-prevention service for LGBTQ youth in America and they’re truly doing incredible things. I’m very excited to be a part of it and help in any way that I can and I’m really pumped to see what the future holds.”
As part of a determined show of support for Nassib, the NFL has matched his pledge; the publicity also sparked a 100% increase in on-line donations in the first week after Nassib's announcement.
Meanwhile, teammates, coaches, and many others around the league have expressed moral support for Nassib, and we're just not hearing the sort of qualified tolerance or even homophobia that would have greeted such a statement twenty or thirty years ago. (Or just eight.)
Oh, no doubt that antipathy is out there, muttered sotto voce. We just aren't hearing it.
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