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Raiders' Carl Nassib to Wear Rainbow Cleats vs. WFT to Support LGBTQ+ Community
December 3, 2021
Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib, the first active NFL player to publicly come out as gay, announced he'll wear rainbow cleats in Sunday's game against the Washington Football Team to support The Trevor Project.
Week 13 is the league's annual "My Cause, My Cleats" event, where players can wear specially designed cleats to support a cause of their choice.
TMZ Sports reported Friday that Nassib's footwear will also include The Trevor Project logo, the phrase "protect LGBTQ+ lives" and the phone number for the organization's suicide prevention lifeline for young LGBTQ+ people, 1-866-488-7386.
Cleveland Browns fullback Johnny Stanton is also going to wear rainbow cleats with benefits going to the Athlete Ally foundation:
Johnny Stanton @johnnystantoniv.<a href="https://twitter.com/sq_customs?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@sq_customs</a> did an amazing job with my MCMC cleats. After our week 14 game against the Ravens, these cleats will go up for auction, all benefits going towards <a href="https://twitter.com/AthleteAlly?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AthleteAlly</a> and their fight for LGBTQIA+ equality in sports. <a href="https://t.co/pPRgkWKQfx">pic.twitter.com/pPRgkWKQfx</a>
As for Nassib, when he publicly came out in June, he also announced a $100,000 donation to The Trevor Project:
"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 really have the best life, I've got the best family, friends and job a guy could ask for.
"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 like 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 and I'm going to start by donating $100,000 to The Trevor Project."
The Trevor Project is a nonprofit group that describes itself as the "world's largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ young people."
Nassib has recorded 18 total tackles, 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble across 11 appearances for the Raiders in his sixth NFL season.
Sunday's game against Washington is scheduled for a 4:05 p.m. ET kickoff on Fox.