Facts about NFL Pro Carl Nassib

Football is the Nassibs' family sport. Father Gilbert Nassib was an offensive player at the University of Delaware. His three sons all played or play football more or less successfully: John also at Delaware at the university, but as a defensive player. Also making it to the NFL was the oldest of the three Nassib boys, Ryan. The 31-year-old was a backup quarterback for the New York Giants. However, his career remained mildly successful, and he has since called it quits. Carl also has two sisters, but they were not active in professional sports. Thus, as of now, the 28-year-old Carl has the greatest sports career of the family.

It's possible that Carl Paul Nassib - his full name - could have had a career in other sports. In high school, he was also successful in track and basketball. In basketball, he even captained his team to the title. By the way, he graduated from college with a degree in biology - and despite his strong focus on sports within three and a half years, just as planned. However, in view of his successful professional career, he did not pursue his plans to study medicine afterwards.

Carl Nassib's career has dents, too. In 2016, he was selected by the Cleveland Browns only in the third round of the NFL draft. However, despite getting good playing time for two seasons, the team released him two years later in a roster reduction. However, Carl was able to turn the threat of a fall into a rise: He went on to play two strong seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccanneers, the second of which he captained.

Last year in March, Carl signed the most significant professional contract of his career to date after his successful time in Tampa Bay. He signed a three-year contract with the Las Vegas Raiders that is expected to pay him up to $25 million. The guaranteed salary is said to be $17 million. In short, Nassib will likely be set for life before he turns 30.

For the NFL, the outing may have paid off significantly financially. In the first two days after Nassib published his Instagram post, the sales figures for his jersey on the fanatics.com site went through the roof. And it wasn't a flash in the pan: even in the days that followed, the shirt, which retails for $119.99, remained the best-selling. Not only from his club Las Vegas Raiders, but from all NFL professionals.

Nassib simultaneously combined his outing with a touching monetary donation. He gave the Trevor Project 100,000 US dollars. On the one hand, this is of course financially helpful for the organization, but at the same time it also brought it a further boost in awareness. The Trevor Project is a non-profit organization that provides 24/7 crisis intervention, telephone counseling, and suicide prevention for LGBTQ youth throughout the United States. The name Trevor Project came from the 1994 Academy Award-winning short film "Trevor," which depicts the hardships of a teenage homosexual who attempts suicide under great social pressure. Trevor survived - and with the film's television premiere, the Trevor Project began.

Nassib is the first active NFL professional to come out as gay. But he's not the first player ever to do so. About 20 years ago, Esera Tuaolo caused quite a stir when he came out after his career ended. Tuaolo even played for the Super Bowl in 1998 with his Atlanta Falcons. After Nassib's outing, messages virtually exploded on his cell phone, Tualo recounted. "It's a wonderful feeling to have someone from the LGBTQ community in the NFL," the now community advocate ex-athlete said on NBC Sports. Now all the young LGBTQ athletes who want to be professional football players will have a role model, too, he added.