West Chester native Carl Nassib recently became the first active NFL player to publicly identify as gay, but his path to America’s most popular sports league was anything but common – or guaranteed, writes Andrew Beaton for The Wall Street Journal.

The defensive end for the Las Vegas Raiders never started a high school game at Malvern Prep. He was a walk-on at Penn State, but did not make his first start until he was a senior. He first had to gain weight, because his 215 pounds were nowhere enough to play defensive end in the Big Ten.

He dominated the opposition as a senior at Penn State, and he later became a valuable player in the NFL.

His decision to come out was historic and still a rarity among male athletes in the four major sports.

“I’ve been meaning to do this for a while now,” Nassib said on Instagram, “but I finally feel comfortable enough to get it off my chest.”

Read more about Carl Nassib in The Wall Street Journal.