Jump to content
This topic is 845 days old and is no longer open for new replies.  Replies are automatically disabled after two years of inactivity.  Please create a new topic instead of posting here.  

Recommended Posts

Posted (edited)

Las Vegas Raiders player Carl Nassib came out as gay today. I for one applaud his effort of showing his pride and inclusivity. He also announced a $100K donation to the Trevor Project. It's definitely been a long-time coming but so glad to see this milestone finally happen. Carl is also as handsome as he is generous. If he has a partner, he is a lucky man! Cheers to Mr. Nassib!

Edited by keroscenefire
fixed city name for Raiders
Posted (edited)

 

Define "Out". Holding a press conference?

The pioneers were here in DC at the Redskins. 

Jerry Smith never had a press conference to annouce it (it may have been against a contract for publicity) but he owned a gay bar and died of AIDS and his lover Dave Kopay came out just after retiring from football This was from 1967 to 1975. I was 18 and out every night at Jerry's Plus One. DC's first big modern gay nightclub. Indeed, why should it matter 50 years later? I'm sure no one was dense enough to ever ask Jerry or Dave if they were gay.

There's much controversy as to Jerry Smith never making it into the Hall of Fame... yet. 

""Smith's 60 career touchdowns was an NFL record for tight ends that stood for 26 years. Despite his record-setting career, Smith has never come close to making the Hall of Fame.""

https://www.projectq.us/espn-explores-nfl-jocks-forbidden-gay-sex/

 http://gayinfluence.blogspot.com/2011/09/dave-kopay-jerry-smith-nfl-team-love.html

https://www.washingtonfootball.com/news/jerry-smith-hall-of-fame-debate-reignited-17341842

spacer.pngspacer.pngspacer.pngspacer.png

Edited by tassojunior
Posted
58 minutes ago, tassojunior said:

The pioneers were here in DC at the Redskins. 

Jerry Smith was technically "in the closet" even though he owned a gay bar and died of AIDS but his lover Dave Kopay came out just after retiring from football This was from 1967 to 1975. I was 18 and out every night at Jerry's Plus One. DC's first big modern gay nightclub. There's much controversy as to Jerry Smith never making it into the Hall of Fame... yet. 

""Smith's 60 career touchdowns was an NFL record for tight ends that stood for 26 years. Despite his record-setting career, Smith has never come close to making the Hall of Fame.""

 

 

Interesting history. Thanks for sharing!

Posted

Wow, it finally happened, an openly gay active NFL player.  Some players have come out after retirement (like David Kopay) or after getting signed (like Michael Sam, but he was cut before ever playing an NFL game), but Nassib is the first active player to come out.  I liked his statement and greatly appreciate his generous donation to the Trevor Project.

I don't know if an active player has come out yet in baseball, basketball, or hockey.  To the fans of those sports, can you tell us?

Posted (edited)
22 hours ago, BSR said:

Wow, it finally happened, an openly gay active NFL player.  Some players have come out after retirement (like David Kopay) or after getting signed (like Michael Sam, but he was cut before ever playing an NFL game), but Nassib is the first active player to come out.  I liked his statement and greatly appreciate his generous donation to the Trevor Project.

I don't know if an active player has come out yet in baseball, basketball, or hockey.  To the fans of those sports, can you tell us?

Jason Collins was the first active NBA player to come out as gay back in 2013. Jason even had a nice tweet of support for Carl. I don't know about the other two sports though.

Edited by keroscenefire
Posted (edited)

Jerry Smith and Dave Kopay hardly needed to formally announce being gay and it might have violated their contracts about creating personal publicity, they just opened a gay bar, went to bed with a thousand guys including several other Redskins working for Vince Lombardi, and spent a lot of time at the Club Baths. Jerry was a power bottom and an early AIDS death. To me that was really out, 50 years ago or today either one. 

Another problem Nassib won't have as a defensive player is officially being a Tight End like Jerry Smith as a profession. 

 

 

spacer.pngspacer.pngspacer.png

 

Edited by tassojunior
Posted
16 minutes ago, keroscenefire said:

Jason Collins was the first active NBA player to come out as gay back in 2013. Jason even had a nice tween of support for Carl. I don't know about the other two sports though.

Thanks for the info.  I don't follow the NBA much & mistakenly thought that Collins came out only after retirement.  Wow, it turns out that Collins was the first out active player in all four major sports leagues (MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL).

I'm still waiting for a male player to come out on the ATP (tennis) tour.  Plenty of women (Martina Navratilova, Amelie Mauresmo) have come out, but no guys yet.  Tennis journalists like Jon Wertheim are a bit puzzled that no one has since they're pretty sure the first out ATPer would be very much welcomed in the sport.

Posted
30 minutes ago, tassojunior said:

Jerry Smith and Dave Kopay didn't "officially" make an announcement until after they retired as it might have violated their contracts about creating personal publicity, they just opened a gay bar, went to bed with a thousand guys including several other Redskins working for Vince Lombardi, and spent a lot of time at the Club Baths. Jerry was a power bottom and an early AIDS death. To me that was really out, 50 years ago or today either one. 

Another problem Nassib won't have as a burden is officially being a Tight End as a profession. 

spacer.pngspacer.pngspacer.png

 

Thanks for the info about Smith & Kopay.  Wow, those two were about as subtle as a sledgehammer, LOL.  Not to trivialize Nassib's act, but it seems he is the first active player to come out via official press release.  Smith & Kopay were about as OUT as you can be.

Posted

Cute kid. Happy for him. Great to see he has so much support from his family, his team, and his league.  He'll need it, as some idiot(s) will try to make his life miserable.  On another topic UEFA, the governing body of European soccer, is prohibiting the main stadium in Munich for lighting up in a rainbow. Hailed as the "right decision" by some East European governments, Hungary for example, it is a reminder that, as bad as it can be for some people here, hate is officially sanctioned in many places.

Posted
8 hours ago, jjkrkwood said:

 

I agree with his comment that he longed for the day that a "coming out" story was no longer newsworthy....  Gays are still looked at as aberrations in sports, as most do their jobs in secrecy to avoid scrutiny and criticism.

I don't see it as a complete secret.  Even going back to David Kopay, in his account, there were NFL team members that knew.   It just isn't a topic of conversation, though.   I don't know Nassib's story, but hope he has been able to be out to family and been able to date men all these years.  He is past 28 years old.  

Nassib's approach was awesome.   Doing it on his own terms was way better than having network news cameras capturing it.

Posted

Nassib played football for Penn State and may be a registered Republican. Lordy. 

That doesn't mean he's Trump fan, and  his very generous gay charity contribution suggest more in line with Pennsylvania moderate GOP, like Senator Pat Toomey can

Posted

...and Joy Behar of The View makes jokes about "penetration in the end zone."  HaHa Joy.  Funny girl.  That's a good one.  Add her to the pile of excrement exuding out of that waste of a show. No, Joy, I kid.  I should be like you and joke about rape. Wouldn't that be funny?   Joy?   

Posted
9 hours ago, Becket said:

Cute kid. Happy for him. Great to see he has so much support from his family, his team, and his league.  He'll need it, as some idiot(s) will try to make his life miserable.  On another topic UEFA, the governing body of European soccer, is prohibiting the main stadium in Munich for lighting up in a rainbow. Hailed as the "right decision" by some East European governments, Hungary for example, it is a reminder that, as bad as it can be for some people here, hate is officially sanctioned in many places.

I don't follow soccer, nor do I understand the dynamics at play with the governing bodies.  FIFA, the sport's international governing body, sanctioned the Mexican team by fining it $65,000 and not allowing any fans to attend its next 2 home matches because Mexican fans repeatedly chanted a homophobic slur at the opposing team.  Absolutely, that was the right thing to do.  Yet FIFA gave the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal, punishable by a fine & up to 3 years in prison.  So according to FIFA, calling an LGBT person mean names is unacceptable & will not be tolerated, but throwing them in prison for the "crime" of being gay is OK.

Posted
1 hour ago, marylander1940 said:

If he's a Republican let's hope he at least didn't support Bush in 2004 (gay marriage amendment) and he's grateful for all the things activist judges voted by democrats have given him making his life easier. 

It's 2021 now, he was a child when Bush was in office

Posted (edited)

In Australia footballers do publicity to appeal to gay fans and highlight gay players. Now that gay is "in" in the US, the NFL is cashing in on the potential market too with this staged press conference. In reality there's hundreds of gay players in the NFL and openly-gay athletes have been a part of our history for 100 years. Remember, years ago homosexual acts were illegal many or most places and that and clauses against "immorality" and "negative publicity" would have prevented openly gay NFL players from holding press conferences to announce being gay, even if they were openly gay. Here's an article from an ESPN series done on gay athletes in 1998-99.  http://www.espn.com/otl/world/timeline.html

Bill Tilden in 1920 was probably the first major US athlete out and Mr. Universe, Bob Paris was probably the most famous.

spacer.png

Edited by tassojunior
Posted
13 minutes ago, Charlie said:

Tilden was outed against his will; he didn't come out. He was jailed for having sex with teenage boys.

From everything I've read Tilden flaunted his gayness pretty openly in an Oscar Wilde sort of way. (I'm not sure if Oscar Wilde ever had a press conference to announce being gay either lol). Unfortunately he also flaunted his fondness for teenage boys which was not smart. 

spacer.pngspacer.png

Posted

Tilden publicly presented himself as a "mentor" to teenage boys, like Dennis Hastert, at a time when homosexual acts were illegal. Even today, when it is possible to announce that oneself is "gay," no adult male is going to hold a press conference to explain specifically to whom he is sexually attracted, especially not teenage boys. It's still only okay to claim to be gay, just as long as you let people assume it means that that you are only interested in having sex with consenting gay male peers while looking for the "right one" with whom to marry and settle down.

Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Charlie said:

Tilden publicly presented himself as a "mentor" to teenage boys, like Dennis Hastert, at a time when homosexual acts were illegal. Even today, when it is possible to announce that oneself is "gay," no adult male is going to hold a press conference to explain specifically to whom he is sexually attracted, especially not teenage boys. It's still only okay to claim to be gay, just as long as you let people assume it means that that you are only interested in having sex with consenting gay male peers while looking for the "right one" with whom to marry and settle down.

But a press conference announcement today sells out your jerseys which you get a hefty royalty from (am i being too cynical?) 

I guess it's a major accomplishment that being gay is a staged marketing tactic now. The struggles !

Edited by tassojunior
Posted

Back to soccer, nice to see the German players making a ❤️ sign with their hands after scoring a goal. They played in Munich where the stadium wanted to light up in rainbow, but were prohibited by UEFA.  The players had the last word.  BTW, that is the most gorgeous bunch of athletes I've seen in a long dam time.  Faces of angels, bodies of gods. WOOSH!!!

Posted (edited)
On 6/22/2021 at 5:03 PM, WilliamM said:

Nassib played football for Penn State and may be a registered Republican. Lordy. 

That doesn't mean he's Trump fan, and  his very generous gay charity contribution suggest more in line with Pennsylvania moderate GOP, like Senator Pat Toomey can

Social media, or just some elementary aspects, may assume Carl Naddib donated one hundred thousand dollars to the Trevor Project as a tax right (sic) off.

But, there's no evidence so far Mr. Naddib has hired Allen Weissemberg who has handled former President Trump's financial life for decades.

Edited by WilliamM
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...