On Monday, Las Vegas Raiders defensive lineman Carl Nassib became the first active NFL player to publicly announce that he's gay.
The five-year veteran shared the message in a video posted to his Instagram account, saying, "I've been meaning to do this for a while now, but I finally feel comfortable enough to get it off my chest. I really have the best life, I've got the best family, friends, and job a guy could ask for..."
During Tuesday's show, Tiki and Tierney reacted to Nassib's announcement, and voiced their support.
"When you hear that a celebrity or someone you may be familiar with has come out, it's almost like, 'Yeah, congrats! That's awesome. Good. You need anything? Let me know,'" Tiki said. "I'm so glad the NFL is at this point where that's the reaction, where all of his friends -- Saquon Barkley, who played with him at Penn State -- J.J. Watt, a bunch of other NFL luminaries, the NFL itself, the Las Vegas Raiders showed him support. That's great, and I love that...
"In 1997, when I first came into the league, what would the reaction have been? It probably still would've been harsh. But by the time I finished during the 2006 season, I'm pretty sure it was getting pretty close to being acceptable... Most people have become completely comfortable with it, especially if you've been exposed to the culture and not just hear it from clichés that may have existed in media or television or whatnot."
Tierney echoed Tiki's sentiments, and hopes that more professional athletes will be inspired to come out, share their stories, and impact the future of LGBTQ+ visibility and acceptance in society and sports.
"Even if you haven't been exposed to it, I guarantee that -- whether you grew up in the '70s, the '80s, the 90s, or the early 2000s, you had posters on your wall of athletes who have not yet come out who are gay," Tierney said. "I wish the superstar would feel empowered and comfortable. You've got to do it on your own timeline. Society can't speed it up for you, they can't tell you when to do it.
"Carl Nassib, yesterday for whatever reason, the timing was right and he seemed and sounded so at ease. Great for him, the reception was awesome. And everybody moves on and we wish him well and we hope he has a great life because he's a human being... The bottom line is -- and this is all that matters in all of this -- the less we react to this, the more centered we're becoming. That's the bottom line. Good for Carl Nassib, good for him. Live a good life, go get it."
Nassib also announced in his video message that he's donating $100,000 to The Trevor Project, an organization that provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to the LGBTQ+ community.
The entire conversation between Tiki and Tierney can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow the Tiki and Tierney Show on Twitter @TikiAndTierney and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.