Any guesses who it was?
Orville Peck, the South African country singer who’s known for wearing a mask and not showing his face publicly, dropped his fourth studio album today with the release of Mule. But he also dropped a bomb when he revealed that he had a relationship…or at least a hookup…with an NFL player.
Peck sings about the makeout with the unnamed NFL player on his song “Ring the Bell.”
“I love the Lakers, the Mets, and the Longhorns
Made out with a guy on the Raiders, I’ve seen him on TV
But the only sport I know how to play is staying up till half past three
It involves myself and an empty shelf and a glass trophy”
(The Lakers, Mets and Longhorns? That’s a heck of a sports fandom…)
Obviously the line that’s gotten the most attention, though, is the line about making out with a player on the Las Vegas Raiders – which Peck revealed during an interview with Variety is a true story. And as it turns out, he got permission from the player before including the line in the song:
“I’m going to preface this by saying that I did receive permission to sing that lyric from the subject in question and he was very thrilled. I told him, ‘Look, I’m gonna keep it sort of ambiguous and mysterious, but I would like to include this in this song.’ He was very, very honored.”
Peck says that he didn’t want to directly name the player, though he says that he doesn’t think he would have a problem with it:
“I would never have done it if it were somebody who was hiding or fearful of it coming out. This person would have probably allowed me to say their name if I wanted, but I didn’t think it was necessary. People can use their own common sense and discovery to try to figure out who it may be, but that’s all I’ll say.”
Of course the logical guess would be Carl Nassib, who became the first openly gay player in the NFL when he came out during pride month back in 2021, while playing for the Las Vegas Raiders. The defensive end who played college football at Penn State was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He spent two seasons in Cleveland before being picked up by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, ultimately signing a 3-year, $25-million contract with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2020.
After being released by the Raiders in 2022, Nassib would return to the Buccaneers for one final season before announcing his retirement in 2023.
He announced he was gay in a 2021 video posted to his Instagram:
“I just want to take a quick moment to say that I’m gay. 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.”
Prior to Nassib, Michael Sam was the first openly gay player to be drafted to the NFL when he was selected by the then-St. Louis Rams, though he ultimately never played in an NFL game.
Of course we don’t know for sure who Peck was talking about in his song, but it seems like Nassib would be the logical guess.
Unless Raiders owner Tom Brady has something he wants to tell us…
