Carl Nassib details emotional talk with his dying uncle that inspired him to publicly come out as gay

In 2021, Carl Nassib decided to publicly come out as gay. In doing so, Nassib became the first openly gay active NFL player.

That decision took a lot of courage, and Nassib has admitted he battled nerves before finally sending his message out to the world.

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But Nassib also knew how much his coming out would help others in the same situation. During an appearance on Ryan Clark's "The Pivot" podcast, Nassib opened up about a conversation he had with his dying uncle, and how that played a role in Nassib's decision to come out publicly.

While Nassib was playing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he received a call from his mom informing him his uncle was on his deathbed due to cancer. Nassib briefly left the team to see his uncle — who was openly gay— in person.

Nassib — who was only out to his parents, close friends and siblings at the time — decided to come out to his uncle during that visit. His uncle's response played a major role in Nassib coming out publicly a few years later.

"I saw him on his deathbed and he was in a really bad shape and I came out to him. We're from a huge family — I have 44 first cousins — and he was the only gay guy, gay person, in the entire family.

When I came out to him, he and his husband were there, and he was like, 'This is the biggest weight off my chest.' He was like, 'I'm not the only one.'"

Nassib said those words led him to realize there were probably so many other people out there who felt like his uncle. Nassib's uncle died in 2019.

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Nassib didn't come out until 2021, though he considered making his announcement earlier. Nassib thought about coming out in 2020 — after he signed a guaranteed contract with the Raiders — but George Floyd's murder and the COVID-19 pandemic led to Nassib delaying that decision until the following year.

His announcement was met with plenty of support. The Las Vegas Raiders — Nassib's team at the time — sent out a tweet saying they were proud of Nassib. James Franklin, who coached Nassib at Penn State, and Saquon Barkley, who was one of Nassib's teammates at the school, also sent out supportive messages to the the defensive lineman.

Nassib played the 2021 season with the Raiders before going back to the Buccaneers in 2022. He retired from the NFL the following year. In seven seasons, Nassib registered 187 combined tackles and 25.5 sacks.

A part of Nassib's historic announcement will be preserved at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. The museum will display the jersey Nassib wore against the Baltimore Ravens in 2021. It was the first game in which Nassib appeared after announcing he was gay.