The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ signing of defensive end Carl Naseeb – football’s first openly gay, active player – brought him back to where he had two of his most productive seasons, officials said on Tuesday.
That time the Las Vegas Raiders’ luck came out a little more than a year ago and made one of the NFL’s most memorable early season plays, sacking the Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson and forcing a rout in a dramatic Monday Night Football victory. did. silver Black.
This will be Luck’s seventh season in the NFL and his second stint at Tampa Bay, where he played in 2018 and 2019, recording 6.5 and 6 sacks respectively.
In 1990s, locker rooms were very different places – Carl Nassib
When gay athletes temporarily started coming out in the early ’90s, I asked several then-Tampa Bay Buccaneers how they felt about gay teammates. The answers were not surprising.
One player, who would not be named, told me he didn’t want a gay partner in the locker room. Later he came to me and asked me not to quote him for the story. He had not changed his mind, but he did not want his sincere feelings to be publicly broadcast based on his religious background.
He didn’t know there was already a gay player in that locker room. A gay friend of mine admitted that he was dating her. I asked if the player would talk about it – even without identifying him – and what he was doing in that joking, homophobic environment. It never happened.
Have things changed after 30 years? Scholars have documented an increasing trend toward openly gay athletes in high school and collegiate level sports, but not professionals.
Naseeb came out in an Instagram post in June 2021. “I wanted to take a quick moment to say that I am gay,” Naseeb said in the video. “I’ve been meaning to do this for a while, but finally feel comfortable getting it off my chest. I really have the best life, the best family, friends and job a man could ask for. The Raiders responded to an NFL post about luck coming out with a series of hearts.
According to OutSports, at the time of his departure, none of the rowers had ever played in the game. In addition to Luck, 15 players have come out after playing professional football or, along with Michael Sam, were drafted but never made the roster. (That person may have more to do with homophobia.)
Before officially signing with the team, Bowles is delighted to have Nasib back after losing reserve outside linebacker Cam Gill. Gill suffered a Lisfranc injury in the Bux’s presidential opener on Saturday, so the Books need luck.
“Carl’s tough to race. When he played, when he was here with us, he’s a very good pass-rusher on the outside, and he can play inside in some nickel situations,” Bowles said. “He has a lot of versatility, he brings in a lot of energy, a lot of rigor, and he understands the system. He was comfortable with it. We look forward to his coming here.”
“The Books first got [Karl Naseeb] a gem of an exemption claim from Brown in 2018 — 6.5 sacks that year, then 6.0 in Todd Bowles’ defense in 2019. Las Vegas didn’t have the same success, four sacks total. Two years in, but now 29 years old to help out deep in Tampa Bay,” tweeted Greg Aumann of The Athletic.
“Every locker room culture is different,” said Jenna Laine. “But what was most telling to me about the one in Tampa was that the Bux were the players who told me after Carl Nasib came out that he suspected/knew he was gay, and he Not only respected that secret but fully supported him.”
