Former Penn State star Carl Nassib announces retirement from football
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Former Penn State defensive end Carl Nassib, who in 2021 became the first active NFL player to announce he is gay, is hanging up his cleats.
Nassib announced Wednesday that he is retiring from football.
“It really feels like yesterday starting out as a walk-on at Penn State,” Nassib wrote on Instagram. “Football has given me more than I ever could have imagined. I can truly hang up my helmet for the last time knowing I gave it everything I had.”
Nassib played for Penn State from 2011 through 2015, joining as a walk-on from Malvern Prep in West Chester.
In 2015, Nassib set Penn State’s single-season sack record with 15½, was a consensus All-American and won the Lombardi Award, the Ted Hendricks Award and the Lott IMPACT Trophy. He was named the Big Ten defensive player of the year in 2015.
Nassib was selected in the third round of the 2016 NFL draft by the Cleveland Browns, where he spent two seasons before being waived. Nassib landed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a couple of seasons, joined the Oakland Raiders, then signed again with Tampa Bay in August 2022.
Nassib played 13 games for the Buccaneers last year, recording 3½ sacks and a fumble recovery.
Nassib announced he is gay in June 2021 while he was playing for the Raiders. He said during Oakland’s training camp in August: “I thought nobody would care. But it was just such a good feeling to have all that support. I was glad to do my part to help bring visibility and representation to my community.”
Nassib said he’s retiring to focus on his company, Rayze, an app he founded that connects people with nonprofit organizations looking for donations and volunteers.