Carl Nassib’s jersey is NFL’s top seller within 24 hours of him becoming first active player to come out as gay
The top-selling jersey in the NFL belonged to Carl Nassib within 24 hours of him becoming the league’s first active player to come out as gay.
The Las Vegas Raiders defensive end’s #94 jersey was the most purchased among NFL players from the sports apparel retailer Fanatics on both Monday and Tuesday, ESPN reported.
Nassib, 28, announced he is gay in a video shared Monday on social media.
“I’ve been meaning to do this for a while now but I finally feel comfortable enough to get it off my chest,” Nassib said in the video.
“I really have the best life. I’ve got the best family, friends and job a guy could ask for,” he continued. “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. I actually hope that one day, videos like this and the whole coming out process are just not necessary. But until then, I’m going to do my best and do my part to cultivate a culture that’s accepting, that’s compassionate.”
Fanatics has not released the specific data for how many Nassib jerseys have sold.
A former third-round pick out of Penn State, Nassib has played five NFL seasons, recording a total of 143 tackles and 20.5 sacks.
Last year was his first with the Raiders after playing two seasons apiece for the Cleveland Browns and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Nassib said Monday that he is donating $100,000 to the nonprofit Trevor Project, which supports the LGBTQ community and is devoted to suicide prevention. The NFL is reportedly matching his donation to the nonprofit as well.
