Outside the Lines<\/a> stating that he was gay and that his teammates at Missouri had known since August.<\/p>\n“I am an openly, proud gay man.” said Sam.<\/p>\n
“I understand how big this is,” he said. “It’s a big deal. No one has done this before. And it’s kind of a nervous process, but I know what I want to be … I want to be a football player in the NFL.”<\/p>\n
Sam will be in the 2014 NFL Draft and wanted to make sure he got to tell his story.<\/p>\n
“I didn’t realize how many people actually knew, and I was afraid that someone would tell or leak something out about me,” he said. “I want to own my truth. … No one else should tell my story but me.”<\/p>\n
“Coaches just wanted to know a little about ourselves, our majors, where we’re from, and something that no one knows about you,” Sam said. “And I used that opportunity just to tell them that I was gay. And their reaction was like, ‘Michael Sam finally told us.’ ”<\/p>\n
“I knew from a young age that I was attracted to guys,” he said, “I didn’t know if it was a phase … I didn’t want to say, ‘Hey, I might be gay. I might be bi.’ I just didn’t know … I wanted to find who I was and make sure I knew what was comfortable. So I didn’t tell anyone growing up.”<\/p>\n
![\"michaelsam\"](\"http:\/\/tireball.com\/ncaafb\/files\/2014\/02\/michaelsam.jpg\")
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