Metro Weekly

NFL’s Carl Nassib Confirms Olympic Swimmer Boyfriend

Couple posts photo of them together on Instagram, showing swimmer Søren Dahl wearing a Nassib NFL jersey.

Soren Dahl (left) and Carl Nassib – Photo: Instagram.

Carl Nassib, the first NFL player to make a 53-man regular-season roster as an out gay man, has confirmed he is in a relationship with Danish Olympic swimmer Søren Dahl.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker and edge rusher shared a photo of himself on Instagram with his arm around Dahl, writing: “Kicking off 2023 with my man and a trip to the playoffs.”

Dahl is wearing a Nassib jersey in the photo. 

Nassib, who was let go by the Las Vegas Raiders last year in order to allow the team to save about $8 million in order to avoid exceeding the salary cap, signed with the Buccaneers in August, just prior to the 2022-2023 season, on a $1.035 million contract, with a $152,500 signing bonus. Due to the Bucs winning the NFC South division, they are now headed to the playoffs, facing off against the Dallas Cowboys in the first round.

Speculation over Nassib’s dating life has increased over the past year, ever since Nassib began posting photos of him with Dahl on his social media. Fans identified Dahl as a former Danish Olympian, who competed in the men’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Toward the end of the year, Dahl posted a photo on Instagram showing the couple together, with the caption: “Weekend 11/10,” accompanied by a heart emoji. Nassib later reposted the story, appearing to signal that the two were romantically involved.

In June 2021, Nassib came out as gay via an Instagram reel, saying he’d been meaning to come out but finally felt comfortable doing so.

“I really have the best life,” he said at the time. “I’ve got the best family, friends and job a guy could ask for. I’m a pretty private person, so I hope you guys know I’m not doing this for attention, but I think representation matters.”

He also donated $100,000 to The Trevor Project, the nation’s top suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ youth, saying he wated to “cultivate a culture that’s accepting and compassionate” for those struggling with their identity. That donation was subsequently matched by the NFL, and, eventually, by the Raiders as well. 

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