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Identity

NFL's first openly gay player shares hilarious moment he realized it was 'safe' to come out

Nassib himself made a gay joke, and the reaction from other players told him everything.

Erik Drost - CC BY 2.0 & Canva Photos

It took years and a lot of courage for Carl Nassib to come out. Now he's sharing the surprisingly funny story.

When Carl Nassib told the world he was gay, it was a huge moment for the NFL, sports, and the queer community. At the time, Nassib was a key defensive player for the Las Vegas Raiders, and his announcement made him the first openly gay active NFL player.

Before him, a few other players had come out after retiring. And there had also been the news and hype around Michael Sam a few years earlier, who was also openly gay. But unlike Nassib, Sam never saw NFL action in a regular-season game and was released before he could make a name for himself in the league. However, there was plenty of debate and rumors that Sam's open sexuality had contributed to his falling in the 2014 draft and ultimately washing out of the league. Though Sam was a good first step forward for the sports world, his experience didn't exactly leave the door wide open for the next person.

Nassib didn't let that stop him. He made his announcement in June of 2021, during the offseason, and on the opening Monday Night Football game of the next season, he made the key defensive play in front of an audience of millions to essentially win the game for his team.


@abcnews

#CarlNassib makes history by coming out as first openly gay active NFL player: “I’ve been meaning to do this for a while now.” #news #sports

Nassib was recently interviewed on The Pivot podcast and gave new insight into his decision to come out. One funny story, in particular, stuck out in his memory.

Former players Ryan Clark and Channing Crowder, hosts of the podcast, asked Nassib if he had any stories about his time in the league worth sharing. "I don't want a bad story because everybody thinks football players are these big meatheads who don't understand anything," Crowder said. "I got funny stories," Nassib replied.

Nassib said that during a game against Cleveland in 2020, he was annoyed that the Browns kept running a play called a "bootleg" away from him, which meant he had to expend a lot of energy sprinting full speed across the field to catch up. "I was so mad," he says.

"Stop with these gay ass bootlegs!" he yelled at the opposing team, admitting later in the interview that his own use of the word was pretty ignorant at the time. And that's when the entire opposing offensive line turned around and told him "You can't say that!"

"Oh man, the league is ready for this," Nassib recalls thinking. "They are ready for me. We got some allies here. ...I was like, 'This is so funny. The guy about to come out, saying the word gay, getting shut down by five massive dudes."

Watch the whole podcast exchange here:


Of course, there was more to it than that one funny moment. Later in the interview, Nassib went on to explain that the death of his uncle, who was also gay, had a huge impact on his decision.

Nassib grew up in a huge family, and his uncle was the only one of the whole bunch of 44 cousins who was open about being gay. On his Uncle Bill's deathbed in 2019, Nassib came out to him privately, and his uncle was so relieved not to be the only one. It inspired Nassib that he could do that for even more people around the world.

"When I came out to him, he was like, 'This is the biggest weight off my chest. I'm not the only one." Nassib remembers thinking, "Man, there's probably so many people out there that are going to feel that same way." Nassib had been wanting to come out publicly for years, but that moment with his uncle was one of the main catalysts that gave him the courage to finally go through with it.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Though Nassib is now retired from pro football, he leaves behind a powerful legacy. There have been no new players to follow in his footsteps per se, but young people all over the world have been quietly following his example ever since.

Nassib and his family still regularly hear from teenagers and their parents that his video gave them the courage to come out, or to participate in sports despite their fears of rejection. He continues to work closely with the Trevor Project and other organizations that aim to make the world safer for LGBTQ youth. And to think, it all may not have happened if those beefy Browns players hadn't called him out on the field!

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Pop Culture

Pentatonix nailing the national anthem in perfect 5-part harmony is a must-watch

WOW. Absolute chills.

Credit: Ben P L from Provo, USA

Pentatonix performing at the USANA Amphitheatre in 2018.

"The Star-Spangled Banner," better known as the American national anthem, is one of the most notoriously difficult songs to sing, and there's no shortage of not-stellar performances to prove it. One of the reasons it's so difficult is that it requires a wide vocal range, with high notes meant to be sung loudly as the song climaxes. Another reason is that it's almost always sung live in front of a large audience, usually at sporting events where the crowd is particularly amped up, which adds pressure to deliver a perfect performance.

A handful of anthem performances have gained legendary status (hello, Whitney Houston), and now an acapella version from Pentatonix is giving those iconic moments a run for their money. At the NFL game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Houston Texans on Christmas Day, the quintet of singers started with one solo voice, then added layer after layer of pitch-perfect harmonies. The effect is stunningly powerful. Absolutely the best kind of chills.

Watch:

People were completely bowled over by it, with comments like:

"I want this on the radio/spotify etc. asap! I’ve never heard a rendition of The Star Spangled Banner other than Whitney Houston, that I wanted to listen to over and over!!! Incredible!"

"The last 'wave!!!' Y'all this was fire. Favorite version ever."

"Best anthem ever! We rewinded bc it was too good to only hear once! 🤍"

"Pretty sure this is the best version of our national anthem that I have ever heard!!!"

"I'm Brazilian but I couldn't hold some tears after that 😍 AMAZING!!!"

"Crushed it! One of the all time best. Needs to be Super Bowl anthem every year!!! 🇺🇸👏🔥❤️"

Lots of people are vying for Pentatonix to sing the anthem at the Super Bowl in February, which is when most of the best-loved anthem performances have taken place. (Grammy award-winning singer Jon Batiste is already lined up to sing the anthem at the 2025 Super Bowl.)

And in case you hadn't noticed, Kirstin Maldonado, the lone female in the group, is pregnant with her second child, which means she belted out those high notes with a growing baby pushing on her diaphragm. Talk about next level skills.

Pentatonix actually started as a trio, with Kirstin Maldonado, Scott Hoying, and Mitch Grassi forming a singing group together in high school in Arlington, Texas. They added beatboxer Matt Olusola and bass singer Avi Kaplan to round out their sound, forming Pentatonix in 2011 and winning the show The Sing-Off that same year. After some internal drama, Kaplan left the group in 2017 and Matt Sallee came on in his place. The group has its own

What is it that makes their sound so satisfying? Part of it is that they are individually talented singers, from pitch to power. Putting five talented people into an acapella group isn't a guarantee of success, but their voices blend beautifully and they perform like a well-oiled machine. Having a skilled beatboxer gives the group a percussive element and a low bass makes for a rich sound. Mitch Grassi being a countertenor—a male singer who can sing in a full female vocal range in addition to a male range—adds a surprising element as sometimes it's hard to discern whether he or Kirstin are singing the high notes.

Our brains love musical harmony, but what makes certain combinations of tones pleasing or displeasing to our ears has long been a mystery. While we might assume that harmony is a universal thing, but it's not. Some research has shown that what we find harmonious is culturally relative and learned. As a 2019 study states, "Even though it is one of the most important components in music, and possibly the most widely studied, the definition of harmony differs vastly across time, genre, and individuals, reflecting how little is understood about it."

Our experiences with music may be different, but we know when we hear a harmony that hits just right. Music has a profound effect on our emotional states, which is why music therapy has gained traction as a field of study in recent decades. We may not have a study showing that the feelings evoked by the national anthem are heightened by perfect 5-part harmony, but that certainly seems to be the experience of countless people who watched Pentatonix totally nail it.

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Family

Man has a 'word of advice' for all the dads mad about Taylor Swift being at NFL games

Swift's name has become synonymous with the Kansas city Chiefs. Some dads can't get on board with it.

@curmudge_john2.0/TikTok

One dad is encouraging oterh dads to "embrace" the Taylor Swift NFL phenomenon,

Since Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chief player Travis Kelce began dating, the pop star has become a football staple.

You’d be hard pressed to go online and not see some kind of chatter about her game appearances—from the jewelry she’s wearing to the faces she makes to what she might be saying to friends during the match…it’s all the topic of conversation.

But not everyone seems to be pleased with Taylor’s version of the game. Specifically, “annoyed” men who seem to feel her very presence has ruined football as a “sanctuary from femininity.” Or the “dads, Brads and Chads” of the world, as Swift likes to call them.

Well, one man has a “word of advice” for all the dads out there threatened by the NFL’s Swift Era, especially girl dads: embrace it.

“A word of advice for all the dads out there, especially all the girl dads, the dads of teenage girls,” John R. says in a now-viral video. “This whole thing with Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift. You need to embrace it. You really do. Stop fighting it. Stop being a jerk about it. Stop saying that she's a distraction. All of that. Embrace it.”

For John, the reason behind this thinking is simple. “It's gonna be good for your relationship with your daughter.”

That was certainly the case for him. John shared how his own teenage daughters suddenly took an interest in the game after Swift got involved, which created more opportunities for bonding.

“This past Monday, I went to a playoff game in single-degree weather, sitting on a pile of snow with our feet in ice. Our toes were red when we left, but I had the time of my life with my teenage daughter at a football game,” he said. And he even had the happy photos to prove it.

“Do you think that happens without Taylor Swift? You need to embrace it. Do it.”

@curmudge_john2.0 #greenscreen ♬ original sound - John R (Taylor's Version)

“My wife and daughter have watched more Chief games with me this year than all other years combined. Been married 16 years and my kid is 11,” one wrote

Another echoed, “My 20/17 yr old daughters now actively watch the games with me and ask questions. I’ll walk into traffic for Tayvis!!!”

A few even commented on how this was a chance for dads to show their daughters a world in which their own interests are respected.

“I’m so happy it’s made something that dads and their girls can enjoy together. Dads show their daughters how they should be treated. It’s important,” one person said.

Granted, not every man getting mad about the Swift/NFL phenomenon is a dad, and therefore might be unaffected by John and many others opinions. But on a certain level we can probably all agree that when people who are important to us suddenly take a genuine interest in our own passions…it’s a wonderful feeling.

As John so eloquently put it in a follow-up video, “I now have this thing that I love that I can share with the person I love more than anybody else on this planet. And it's amazing. It's one of the coolest things in the world.”

Yep, it doesn’t get much simpler than that.

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Joy

'Sandlot' star Patrick Renna is now a dancing dad viral sensation on TikTok

Just when we thought "The Sandlot" couldn't give us anymore joy.

@patrickrenna/TikTok

He's always had moves.

You could say that Patrick Renna has found his niche in lighthearted sports humor.

Back in the 90s, the actor played the forever quotable character Ham in "The Sandlot,” followed by his role of a scene-stealing goalie in “The Big Green.”

And now, at the age of 44 and a father of two, Renna is still bringing a little laughter to the sports world…one dance move at a time.

Back in 2022, Renna and his two best friends —brothers Caige and Cru Moore—went viral for their interpretive NFL theme song dance, based on choreography created by other social media sensations Austin and Marideth Telenko (better known as Cost n' Mayor).

@patrickrenna Are you ready for some football??? 🏈 dc: @Cost n’ Mayor #football #dance #fypシ ♬ Best NFL Themes - DabKid99


The clip was so popular that the NFL on Prime Video’s official account reached out to ask why their theme song wasn’t included. Renna and the gang were ready to right the wrong.


According to an interview with Good Morning America, dancing on TikTok had been a suggestion of one of Renna’s Gen Z friends. Knowing he would never do something like that alone, he enlisted the help of Caige and Cru to make their “Chubby Ginger” dance crew.

They also get some choreography help from more dance inclined friends, of course. Like Renna’s childhood friends and actress Lynsey Moore, who “dumbs down” the moves and “yells at [them] for an hour straight to get it together and be in sync,” he told GMA.

Sometimes they even get help from mega pop stars like….I dunno… LIZZO.

That’s right. After the group’s "About Damn Time" routine got 10.7 million views, the singer reached out herself and offered to give them a hand on nailing some of the moves.

@patrickrenna Dreams really do come true #dance#aboutdamntime #fypシ ♬ About Damn Time - Lizzo

And hey, if you prefer to just bask in nostalgia, Renna also has a few videos reliving some of those fan favorite movie moments.

It’s always nice to see when the kid actors from our beloved childhood movies grow up to live healthy, wholesome lives. And Renna certainly seems to be one of those, happy to do whatever dance people throw his way…except maybe the truffle shuffle.

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