Musician and actor Orville Peck has revealed a dalliance he’s had with a Las Vegas Raiders football player – but is keeping his identity a secret.
Peck released his new album ‘Mule’ on Friday – the fourth studio album for the South African country singer.
But fans perked their ears up when the openly gay singer crooned a line in the song ‘Ring the Bell’ that revealed a snogging session with a football star.
The lyric he sang was: ‘I love the Lakers, the Mets and the Longhorns, made out with a guy on the Raiders.’
Speaking to Variety on Thursday, Peck revealed he got permission from the player in question to include the lyric – but declined to specifically name them.
Peck says the athlete was ‘very, very honored’ to be featured in the lyrics.
South African musician Orville Peck perked fans’ ears with a line about kissing an NFL player
Peck sang about how he ‘made out with a guy on the Raiders’ but didn’t reveal any names
Peck didn’t confirm if the player was Carl Nassib, the first openly gay man to play in an NFL game. However, Peck said ‘people can use their own common sense’ to identify the man.
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‘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,’ the singer said.
He recalled telling the player: ‘Look, I’m gonna keep it sort of ambiguous and mysterious, but I would like to include this in this song.’
Peck, who is known for wearing a mask on stage, added: ‘This person would have probably allowed me to say their name if I wanted, but I didn’t think it was necessary.’
The singer also stressed he ‘would never have done it if it were somebody who was hiding or fearful of it coming out.’
When asked by the magazine if the athlete was Carl Nassib, a former Raiders defensive end who became the first actively gay NFL player to take part in a regular season game, Peck did not confirm or deny his identity.
Peck said: ‘People can use their own common sense and discovery to try and figure out who it may be, but that’s all I’ll say.’
Nassib has not made any statement regarding the lyrics that would support the suspicions of fans.
The Pennsylvania native came out as gay in 2021 and made history in the season opener against Baltimore. He added to history by becoming the first openly gay player in an NFL playoff game when the Raiders faced the Cincinnati Bengals.
