[Op-Ed] Raiders openly gay defensive end granted a day off, highlighting NFL’s hypocrisy

Seth Udinski, FISM News

To date, there is one openly gay NFL player in the league, and he happens to play for the team that just fired its head coach after the league dug up decade-old emails with alleged homophobic slurs.

Carl Nassib, defensive lineman for the Las Vegas Raiders, announced earlier this year via Twitter that he is gay, much to the praise of the sports world and the liberal media. On Wednesday, reports surfaced from the Raiders’ clubhouse that Nassib had requested and been granted a day off to “process his feelings” after his former head coach Jon Gruden announced his resignation from the team due to anti-gay and racist comments he made in a chain of emails ten year earlier.

#Raiders GM Mike Mayock says Carl Nassib requested and was granted a personal day today because he has “a lot to process” following the Jon Gruden email situation.

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) October 13, 2021

This is a curious development, especially from a Christian worldview. On one hand, Gruden should not be praised or defended for using cruel or unloving language. Christians should never defend the actions of a man if those actions bring shame to the name of Christ.

On the other hand, we recognize that Carl Nassib, a player many are calling a hero for “dealing with” the Gruden situation in this way, is living in open, unrepentant sin. He is no hero for living in a way that displeases the heart of God.

Additionally, this further highlights the NFL’s incessant push to fall in line with the liberal agenda. The league forced Gruden out for the comments that he made years ago in a private email conversation, yet it has constantly turned a blind eye to abuse. Gruden’s comments, albeit cruel and wrong, do not add up to previous NFL rulings on issues of physical violence and abuse.

The NFL has allowed countless big-name players, including running back Kareem Hunt and likely Hall of Fame wide receiver Tyreek Hill, to keep their jobs after evidence broke that these men had abused women and children. Additionally, the league offered a rather pathetic punishment against the Washington Football Team for reports of a widespread culture of toxicity and abuse in the organization, but made sure the team abandoned its former nickname “Redskins.”

Bringing the conversation back to Nassib’s personal day, the question needs to be asked – Would the league, or a team such as the Raiders, have given an openly Christian player the day off if he needed time to “process his feelings” after allegations broke of a coach using anti-Christian language?

We may not know for sure until the opportunity arises, but we do know the way the NFL media bashed Tim Tebow for his openly Christian beliefs. Christians would likely not be given the same benefit that the league and the Raiders gave Carl Nassib. As for Gruden, many ESPN analysts, Gruden’s former co-workers, claim he will never have a job in the NFL again. With the league’s habit of picking and choosing certain crimes to punish and certain crimes to ignore, it’s highly likely Gruden will be barred from the NFL.

The Raiders, without Gruden for the first time since 2017, will travel to Denver on Sunday to take on their division rival Denver Broncos at 4:25 EST.