Michael Sam Thanks Carl Nassib for 'Owning Your Truth' After Raiders DE Comes Out

Michael Sam, who became the first person to come out publicly and get drafted by an NFL team, praised Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib for coming out Monday. 

After Nassib announced on Instagram that he is gay, Sam congratulated him for "owning your truth" in a post on Twitter:

Nassib's announcement made him the first active NFL player to publicly come out as gay. 

"I just want to take a quick moment to say that I'm gay," he said in the video. "I've been meaning to do this for a while now, but I finally feel comfortable enough to get it off my chest. I really have the best life, I've got the best family, friends and job a guy could ask for."

Nassib also pledged to donate $100,000 to the Trevor Project as part of his stated desire to "cultivate a culture that's accepting, that's compassionate."

The Trevor Project is a nonprofit organization established in 1998 with a mission to provide crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ people under the age of 25. 

Sam publicly announced in February 2014 that he is gay. The former Missouri star was named SEC Defensive Player of the Year for the 2013 season and was selected in the seventh round by the Los Angeles Rams during the 2014 NFL draft. 

After spending time with the Rams, Dallas Cowboys and Montreal Alouettes in the Canadian Football League, Sam retired from professional football in August 2015. 

Nassib was a third-round draft pick by the Cleveland Browns in 2016. The 28-year-old spent two seasons in Cleveland and two seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before signing a three-year contract with the Raiders in March 2020.