We’re learning more about Carl Nassib every day.
The 29-year-old pro athlete became the first active NFL player to come out last year after speaking his truth in an Instagram video. Now he’s speaking a different sort of truth: Nassib is a “hardcore, card-carrying Swiftie.”
Nassib’s Swiftie cred runs so deep, he recently chatted with Interview Magazine exclusively about Taylor Swift and his longtime connection to her music, which started when he was in high school.
The first album of hers he heard was 2010’s Speak Now, and it was love at first listen. So he went to the Speak Now tour, naturally… and then the Red tour… and then the Reputation tour. It’s unclear why he missed the 1989 tour, but we’re going to give him the benefit of the doubt and not report it to the Swiftie Board of Directors.
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Related: Carl Nassib’s new app isn’t just for jocks
As for Swift’s much-discussed new album, Midnights, Nassib’s review is in and he says it’s “perfection.”
“I think she just hit the nail on the head. It’s the perfect amount of pop,” he said, adding that, “I wasn’t expecting full pop, but I wasn’t expecting it to be slow, either. Somewhere in the middle, and I think she hit the nail on the head.”
Picking a favorite song proved to be too much of a Sophie’s choice, so Nassib named his top three — “Midnight Rain” is his most-played track, but he also loves “Karma” and “Maroon.”
Naming his top album proved similarly challenging, though he ultimately landed on Folklore, Swift’s eighth studio album released in 2020 that ventured away from high-energy pop and into mellow, indie-inspired territory.
“I listen to her all day, every day. I can’t remember the last day of my life where I didn’t listen to her. It’s every morning on the way to work. Every workout that I do on my own. Yeah, she’s my favorite artist of all time,” the Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker said of his relationship to her music.
And while the cat’s certainly out of the bag, eagle-eyed fans have been noticing Nasib’s Swiftie status for a while now.
There was, of course, this Instagram story admitting “The grip this chick has on me is relentless,” posted the day Swift announced her latest album:
And this 2018 photo bomb of an elated-looking Nassib at Swift’s Redemption tour:
My girlfriend went through photos of us at Taylor Swift and spotted an excited Carl Nassib in one of them ? pic.twitter.com/r2bhHUb6tS
— Jonathan Peterlin (@JPeterlin) August 11, 2018
But Nassib’s first public mention of his #1 artist came from an unlikely source: A 2018 episode of HBO’s Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Cleveland Browns in which he explains the concept of compound interest.
“I don’t spend money on stupid sh*t,” he said at the time, emphasizing the importance of saving. “I met Taylor Swift, and before the concert I was like, ‘I need to buy a Rollie [Rolex Watch]’ so she knows I got it. And I didn’t because of this.”
We can only imagine the self discipline that required.
The moment comes at the 1:10 mark:
Even back then, if you knew, you knew:
Favorite part of Hard Knocks episode 1 was Carl Nassib's fascination with Taylor Swift and his lesson on compound interest ? #Cleveland #TrainingCamp #DroppingKnowledge pic.twitter.com/y1lGgXfjQ0
— Lara Saavedra (@larasaavedra) August 9, 2018
abfab
After the first three songs on side one I thought my head was going to explode. Female solo artist…. Kate Bush for me. The tops.
Chris
Yes, for me it’s been Kate since 1978. I don’t understand gay men that have such atrocious taste in music who go bonkers over Katy Perry or Carly Rae Jepsen (or country music).
Maybe because I’m older and grew up with icons and people with actual talent.
ZzBomb
I mean what good gay doesn’t like Swift? That said I’m getting total platform energy from him.
charlesbright
This one doesn’t, but then again I never really thought of myself as a “good gay.” lol
bachy
Taylor is a legitimate singer-songwriter in a pop landscape studded with punks, posers, pretenders and p*ssy-poppers.
CatholicXXX
I thought you were finally going to call him a “hardcore trump supporter.”
Apollo222
Right, like he’s known to be a trump supporter yet queerty talks about him like he’s hot and unproblematic . The writer must have a boner for this guy. There’s tons of guys way hotter than this guy.
RyanMBecker
I can’t say that I’m a Swift fan but her twinkie baby bro Austin is cute though. The two lived close to me when they were in NYC. My guess is that he’s gay. Taylor commented a few years ago that something happened in her life that made her gay-positive. A lot of people think that she was referring to Austin coming out.
RyanMBecker
I was never a Swiftie but she accomplished something unprecedented this week that made me take notice. For the first time, an artist occupied every position in the Billboard Top 10. Yes, every spot from #1-#10 is a song from her current album. Furthermore, the songs debuted in their current positions, meaning they didn’t even have to climb the chart. What’s more, about 5 other Taylor Swift songs also occupy the #11-#40 position.
Normal albums will have a few hits and the other songs are unmemorable filler. In this case, every song is already a Top 10 hit. Basically, her latest album is a Best Of album in itself.
Okay, here’s the gay stuff, and I’m not talking about her rumored-to-be-gay twinkle brother, Austin. This is her 11th #1 album, tying her with gay icon, Barbra Streisand. Also on that list are homo-friendly Bruce Springsteen and Drake. They are all #3 in terms of the most #1 albums. Jay-Z is #2 with 14 and the Beatles are easy ahead with 19.
Speaking of Drake, it was his record that Swift broke. He had previously simultaneously occupied 9 of the Top 10 spots. For those who don’t know, Drake (Aubrey Graham) played Jimmy in Degrassi: The Next Generation. Jimmy was the supportive friend of the gay character, Marcos. When Marcos came out, all his friends abandoned him, except for Jimmy. In fact, Jimmy admonished their other friends, equating homophobia with racism. The scene where Jimmy hugs Marcos after he got gaybashed is iconic.
But I digress. I also like Drake because he’s one of the few rappers who can actually sing. I remember watching a Degrassi where a teenaged Graham said that he was making career switch to music. I thought for sure that he’ll fail. I mean, what are the chances that a half-white/Jewish Canadian would make it in hip-hop? Well, I was very very wrong.
Jon in Canada
He’s still a republican voting Trump ass licker and nothing, nothing can mitigate that hardcore reality.
To be gay and conservative is to admit to being a Kapo, a Collaborator and mentally ill.