College Football Star Comes Out; Likely To Become 1st Openly Gay NFL Player

Michael Sam has become the first player expected to be in the NFL draft to come out as openly gay. Sam, 24, graduated from the University of Missouri last December and was named the 2013 SEC Defensive Player of the Year. He is 6-foot-3 and 260 pounds.

Sam led the SEC with 11.5 sacks, and 19 tackles for a loss. Most NFL draft projections see him as a likely mid-round pick, with some saying Sam could go as high as the third round, with a possible position switch to outside linebacker. He is rated as the 12th-best outside pass rusher in the draft by ESPN Scouts Inc.

"I just want to go to the team who drafts me," he said, "because that team knows about me, knows that I'm gay, and also knows that I work hard. That's the team I want to go to."

Sam said that despite some comments from current players, he doesn't anticipate difficulty gaining acceptance in an NFL locker room.

"Hopefully it will be the same like my locker room," he said. "It's a workplace. if you've ever been in a Division I or pro locker room, it's a business place. You want to act professional."

Sam rejects the appalling slanders that sometimes have been hurled at gay men.

"I mean, people will talk about the stereotype of gays being in the locker room ... to me, I think that it's a little stereotyped that gay people are predators. It's just very offensive."

The New York Times has a video interview with Sam:


Sam apparently came out to his teammates last year and there were no issues. This will probably become a pretty big news story in the next few days and weeks! OutSports has more coverage of the story.
Hat/tip to Joe.My.God