In a recent interview with TMZ, Buffalo Bills Hall of Fame defensive end Bruce Smith commended Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib, who became the first active NFL player to come out as gay in an Instagram video last week.
Smith praised Nassib’s courage and said it’s not breaking news to players who have played in the league.
There was a gay player on the Bills in the mid- to late-90s, Smith said in the interview.
“We had a gay player in our locker room,” Smith said. “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 on. We were focused on winning games. And each and every person that was in that locker room was contributing to the goal at hand, which was winning football games. None of that other stuff mattered. This was about winning football games and trying to be a good person.”
The Bills went to four straight Super Bowl games in the 1990s, famously failing to win a single trip. Smith and quarterback Jim Kelly, running back Thurman Thomas, receiver Andre Reed and head coach Marv Levy have all since been elected into the Hall of Fame.
In Nassib’s announcement, he said that he hopes one day that video announcements and the entire coming out process are unnecessary as the sports world continues to evolve. Smith shared that sentiment and said that inclusion and embracing those that are different is so important.
“I always been a believer in live and let live, and obviously that’s what Carl is trying to do,” Smith said. “Judge me by my character and judge me by the way I treat people. If we show a little bit more love and compassion in the world, this will be a much better place.”
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