Back in June, Carl Nassib made LGBTQ+ history as the first active NFL player to come out as gay. Two months after his monumental announcement, the 28-year-old became the first out player to be signed and play in a regular-season game.
But according to Smith, gay athletes have always been present within the NFL. In an interview with TMZ Sports, Smith praised Nassib for coming out before and revealed that he had gay teammates during his time with the Buffalo Bills. “I want to commend Carl for having the courage to come out and share with the world that this is who he is,” he said. “We had a gay player in our locker room,” he explained. “I think it was the mid to late 90s and I think we might have had [two] but that wasn’t what we were focused