"The Truth About Gays In The NFL...

Michael Sam Says Other Gay Players In The NFL Have Reached Out To Him

'There’s a lot of us out there. I’m not the only one. I’m just the only one who’s open'

Greg Hernandez
December 24, 2014

We don't know their names and we don't know how many there are, but gay men are playing in the NFL right now, according to Michael Sam - the first openly gay man to be drafted by an NFL team.

'A very few reached out to me and pretty much just told me their gratitude and how thankful they were that I had the courage (to come out),' Sam says in an interview with Oprah Winfrey to air on OWN on Saturday (27 December).

'They wished that they had the courage to come out.'

Staying closeted may be seen to some as job security in a sports league that had never had an openly gay player until Sam this year.

But he was cut by the St. Louis Rams just before the regular season began. He was then signed to the Dallas Cowboys’ practice squad but then cut by them in October.

Sam, a star defensive player at the University of Missouri, is still determined to have a career in the NFL. But he has not yet been signed by another team.

If Sam does play next season, he knows he won't be the only gay man on the field or in the locker room.

'There’s a lot of us out there,' he tells Winfrey. 'I’m not the only one. I’m just the only one who’s open.'

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"Fear Eats the Soul"