everyone meet michael sam.
he is a pre baller wolf who plays for university of missouri annnnnnnnnd…
he just came out the closet.
yup.
i got an alert from one of my fav f-bi just now.
i had to get out of bed to post this…
As Michael Sam, a defensive lineman, began to speak, he balled up a piece of paper in his hands. “I’m gay,” he said. With that, Mr. Sam set himself on a path to become the first publicly gay player in the National Football League.
“I looked in their eyes, and they just started shaking their heads — like, finally, he came out,” Mr. Sam said Sunday in an interview with The New York Times, the first time he spoke publicly about his sexual orientation.
Mr. Sam, a 6-foot-2, 260-pound senior, went on to a stellar season for Missouri, which finished 12-2 and won the Cotton Bowl. He was named a first-team all-American. He was the defensive player of the year in the Southeastern Conference, widely considered the top league in college football. Teammates voted him Missouri’s most valuable player.
Now Mr. Sam enters an uncharted area of the sports landscape. He is making his public declaration before he is drafted, to the potential detriment to his professional career. And he is doing so as he prepares to enter a league with an overtly macho culture, where controversies over homophobia have attracted recent attention.
As the pace of the gay rights movement has accelerated drastically in recent years, the sports industry has seen relatively little change, with no publicly gay male athletes in the N.F.L., the N.B.A., the N.H.L. or Major League Baseball. Against this backdrop, Mr. Sam could become a symbol for the country’s gay rights movement or a flashpoint in a football culture war — or both.
Mr. Sam, 24, is projected to be chosen in the early rounds of the N.F.L. draft in May, ordinarily an invitation to a prosperous professional career. He said he decided to come out publicly now because he sensed that rumors were circulating.
“I just want to make sure I could tell my story the way I want to tell it,” said Mr. Sam, who also spoke with ESPN on Sunday. “I just want to own my truth.”
well very nice michael.
when i have more energy i can give him a full foxtail salute.
lets hope things work out for him once he gets to the nfl.
i’ll keep my nose in this story as it develops.
read and see video here: NY TIMES
admire his courage
Sometimes things happen in life that catch you so off guard and turn everything you thought about something totally on its head and this is one of those moments. I couldnt even comment about it last night. I have been watching this young man on ESPN and nearly every other station now. I really dont even know what to say. This young man made me feel so many emotions. I was happy for him, sad for him and everything in between. Michael Sam may be the person to kick the closet door all the way down. He is so regular, so relate-able to so many people that I actually believe that his transition will not be that bad, talk about the boy next door. He is so open and honest about who he is, that even people who dont agree with the gay lifestyle will have to respect him. He is a hell of a football player but it seems like he is also a hell of a man. I hope he has a good team around him and dont get caught up in the hype of trying to be a poster boy for the gay community, hopefully he will be a great success on the field and will show that their are regular gay men who work, love sports, love their family and friends and are proud positive contributors to society. I dont kid myself that he is not going to have a hard fought road but I hope he knows that he literally has millions of people who are pulling for him and supporting him to the utmost when the haters come for him, which I am sure they are going to do.
Michael Sam is one brave individual who did step out from behind a shadow to present himself to the world. Like it has been stated that there are homosexual and gay guys in the league now that is afraid that if they do come out they would loose their jobs. People must realize that we are human and he is a man who has endure this sport for years plus he has proven himself that he can hang with the best of the best, because the SEC is the most dominating conference it is. I am happy for him and I hope his success for the next days, weeks, and years to come will be great!
Brave man – I admire him for doing this at the beginning of his pro career and not waiting until the end or the aftermath like Ameche and Jason Collins in the NBA. Good luck to him. As fast as things are moving in five years people will be saying “big deal” when this happens again in the NFL. In the meanwhile I recently had a conversation with a former college football player I hook up with (read my blog for more). He said if all the gay people in professional sports stood up people would be shocked!
P.S. Jamari thanks for being so quick to post this — I totally missed it until this morning and knew I could come to your blog to get the tea. I am praying you keep your spirits up as well!10245
The Dallas Cowboys are going to take him. Yea I believe so. I do not watch college sports, so I had to do some research on Michael. He is a defensive end who is also a good pass rusher. The “Boys” are in need of defensive help, and they need a lot of it, bad.
You know the Cowboys love attention, and Jerry Jones would love to make this happen lol.
Then cowgirls have ware on the end and a pretty deicent line so that’s not a problem. He might go to the Vikings
Why do people think coming out the closet means a nigga is at peace? I’m in the closet and happy as shit. I hate how important coming out the closet is suppose to be for a nigga. GROAN AWAY!!!
Well, I am a sports buff, and I respect the fact that this guy has allowed himself to be out on the forefront as the NFL Columbines and Draft seasons approaches. Besides, he played college ball for a RED STATE that unlike it’s neighbors to the north and us to it’s Northeast, has not gotten on board with full acceptance. The litmus test for him now begins as he prepares himself for the months ahead.
Sorry, I meant combines. A Senior Moment at the tender age of 32 LOL 🙂
I totally feel your comment people just don’t understand the south is not ready for that yet. And had he would have went to lsu or bama we would be looking at a whole different story….. But I still give him props for wanting to be the first
It takes a real man to do what Sam has done. Although coming out now could cost him in the short term – in the long term his mind will be at peace.
Good for him. We’ll see “what Hell hath the NFL wrought” for him, if any, soon.
Interesting article about him at Outsports.com back story about his family.Also his teammates very supportive he took some to Gay clubs in Dallas during Cotton Bowl also to Gay Pride in St Louis.
Good for him but again with this announcing you’re gay thing.It has to stop.What he should’ve done was just show up to the draft holding a dude’s hand.People would be like “???WTF!!!???.”
No disrespect but who is getting all of that MAN MEAT right there!!!!
More power to him! Congrats! Let’s see how this plays out! *no pun intended*
You know what this is really nice and I’m happy for him. But I don’t care because football is not my thing and I already know his boyfriend is going to be white, so God bless him.
Hey he is from my hometown Missouri lol I’ll have to find him and lock em down
I just e-mailed this to you. Watch he don’t get drafted but in happy he out now
I know Blacks make up 65% of NFL but I wonder why it seems like 99% of the NFL pre ballers,former ballers that have come out as Gay have been Black.
Congrats to Michael he was SEC Defensive Player of the Year so if he doesn’t get drafted now we will know why.
I admire his courage plus he’s cute.
J! He’s from my school! And I’m proud of him. It’s uncharted waters and for him to make this move means so much, for so many.
This shocks me. I am going to be keeping a close eye on this.
I flipped the channel back to ESPN by accident while I was watching the housewives and I was like wtf lol.
It will be interesting to see when he is drafted, if at all and by whom.
^that was my first thought jake.
ok back to bed unless another something goes down.