Raiders President: As an organization, we’re very proud of Carl Nassib

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Carl Nassib has received widespread support since publicly coming out as gay on Monday, with his jersey becoming the NFL’s top seller across the Fanatics network.

Raiders owner Mark Davis expressed his personal support for the defensive end following the announcement, saying, “If he’s happy, I’m happy.” On Tuesday, team president Marc Badain reiterated that the team’s stance.

“Well look, as an organization, we’re very proud of him,” Badain said, via Cassie Soto of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “The organization has always sort of been built on a progressive mentality. Mr. [Al] Davis started that when he was with the team and some of the things he did with throughout the years in the 60s and 70s. And Mark has really continued that. And I think you can look at Mark’s words for how the organization feels. His first reaction was a genuine one — it’s 2021 and we’re still making a big deal out of this. But we really shouldn’t. I know it is. I know it will remain and we’ll look forward to the day when it’s not. The organization is fully behind him and very supportive and proud of what he did yesterday.

“Mark’s father used to say, ‘What makes a man different is what makes him great.’ And you heard coach Gruden echo those comments yesterday. That’s what our organization was built on and will continue to be.”

Nassib’s $100,000 donation to the Trevor Project, an organization focused on suicide prevention of LGBTQ youth, has been matched by the NFL.