The Las Vegas Raiders drew praise for most of their offseason moves, but the real headlines came when Carl Nassib became the first openly gay player in the NFL.
It was a momentous occasion for Nassib and the sport of football when he made his announcement, and the news was received well among players, the staff, and the fans. Nassib’s jersey quickly became one of the top-selling jerseys in the NFL, clearly indicating his supporters.
Derek Carr is also another person who came out and supported Nassib, and he believes the reception of the defensive end has been good in the Raiders locker room.
“Yeah, like I said, whether you agree or disagree with someone, like we talk about all the time, in this country if you disagree with someone you automatically hate them,” Carr said. “I’m like that couldn’t be farther from the truth. I know a lot of people that disagree with me, or I disagree with them, and they are some of my best friends. When he came in, I just like to watch and not one person from my point of view has treated him any different. He may have a different story, but I don’t know what his story is. But from my point of view, his locker is just a few down from mine, and I want to make sure that he knows that we just want him to play as hard as he can so we can win a Super Bowl. Like that’s what we’re here to do, whether someone agrees or disagrees with what he does off the field, that’s everybody’s opinion and leave it like that. But we’re still a family when we come in this building. We better treat him like such, and so from my point of view it’s been good. But I don’t know if Carl would say the same, I don’t know. From what I’ve seen, it’s been good.”
It would be easy for athletes to look at someone like Nassib and have their reservations, but it seems as though Carr and the rest of the roster have been in Nassib’s corner and have so far had no issues. With no distractions, the Raiders are poised to play the 2021 season without a hitch.
