Karl Nessib, the first gay active player in the NFL, is set to join the Buccaneers

In a video he shared online, Nassib said, “I am a very private person so I hope you guys know I am not doing this for the sake of attention. I just think acting and seeing are very important.”

Many NFL players saluted him at the time, as did a number of league officials and advocates for LGBTQ issues. In a letter to Nessib and Kumi Yokoyama, the National Women’s Football League player who came out as a transgender man, President Biden Wrote: “I am so proud of your courage. Because of you, countless children around the world see themselves in a new light today.”

Another defensive end, Michael Sam, had made his way through the exit before the 2014 NFL Draft. He was later selected in the seventh round by the St. Louis Rams but was released preseason and never played a regular season in the NFL. Then Sam became the first openly gay player in the Canadian Football League when he was took the field In August 2015 for Montreal Aloette.

Nassib said earlier this summer that he felt some dread about taking the step of sharing his video last year.

“I stared at the phone for an hour, like, just looking at it, trying to get me excited,” said the 29-year-old Pennsylvania nativegood morning americaReporter Michael Strahan, former NFL star, in July. “The last thing I said was, ‘You know what – to the kids. and pressed another one.

Nassib added that after he went out to his friends and family years ago, he decided to announce last year “to own the story and make sure I did it on my terms.”

By the time Nesib made these comments last month, he had already done so chest by Raiders, after his two-year stint coincided with a turbulent period in Las Vegas. Technical Director John Gruden step down In October 2021 after his emails were revealed that contained racist, misogynistic and homophobic language.

In the wake of the Gruden scandal, Nesib has been excused from team activities for Take a personal day.

“He just said he had a lot to deal with,” then-general manager Mike Mayock said of his brother-in-law at the time. “There is a lot that has happened in the past few days. And of course, we support that.”

Gruden was replaced on a temporary basis by Rich Bisaccia before Josh McDaniels rented in january To be the team’s new coach. Meanwhile, the Raiders brought in a new General Manager, Dave Ziegler, after they ousted Mayock earlier in the month.

Now Nesib is set to meet general manager Jason Licht, who has held the position on the Buccaneers since 2014, and Bowles, who was the team’s defensive coordinator for three years prior to that. Replacing former coach Bruce Ariane in March.

After starting his NFL journey with the Cleveland Browns, with whom he spent two seasons, Nassib enjoyed some of his most productive moments with the Buccaneers. for him 22 Job sacks, 12.5 came in in the Tampa Bay uniform, as did 25 of the 53 quarterback strokes.

Bowles praised Nesib on Tuesday as a strong defender who can be employed in various ways in the coach’s plan.

“He’s a very good outside passer, and he can also play inside in some nickel situations,” Bowles told reporters. “He has a lot of variety, he brings in a lot of energy, he brings in a lot of durability and he understands the system. He was comfortable in it. [in his previous stint]. “