Hey listeners, over the holiday break, the What Next Feed is bringing you some of our best episodes from 2021.

We are taking you back to the stories and the people that helped define our year.

And today, we're taking you back to the summer.

That's when a defensive end for the Las Vegas Raiders,

Carl Nassib, came out as gay. He became the first openly gay, active NFL player ever.

When I talked with L.A. Times columnist, L. Z. Granderson, he told me he had been waiting for this day,

for years. And while he felt joy for finally reaching this milestone,

he was also acutely aware of how hard it was going to be for the NFL to put some real muscle

into supporting Carl and its other closeted players. Also, quick heads up here. This episode includes

some offensive language.

What's all people? I'm Carl Nassiv. I'm at my house here in Westchester, Pennsylvania.

Last week, NFL defensive end, Carl Nassib, put out this video on Instagram. In it, he is holding the camera selfie style. You can see a bright green lawn behind him. And in the most understated way possible, he says,

I just want to take a quick moment to say that I'm gay. I've been meaning to do this for a while

now, but I finally feel comfortable enough to get it off my chest.

I'm a pretty private person, so I hope you guys know that I'm really not doing this for attention. I just think that representation and visibility are so important.

This video is so understated that it might be hard to imagine why it's a big deal at all. To understand that,

you need to know that no other active NFL player has said this out loud before, ever.

But retired football players, they have come out.

Did you see how handsome he is? I mean, he would attract anybody. You know what I mean?

Dave Copay is one of those retired football players. He's 78 now.

I was the first ball player in all sports to come out. And not just in the United States,

but in the world. Dave loved watching this video from Carl Nassib.

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