Michael Sam Comments on Gay Players in the NFL

Michael Sam's NFL future is very much in question, but the former seventh-round pick of the St. Louis Rams claims that gay athletes play in the league whether he's a part of it or not.

In an interview with Charean Williams of the Star-Telegram, the former Dallas Cowboys practice squad member declared that he knows of multiple NFL players who are gay:

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I am not the only gay person in the NFL. I'm just saying there is a lot of us. I respect the players that did reach out to me and had the courage to tell me that they were also gay, but they do not have the same courage as I do to come out before I even played a down in the NFL.

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Sam also claims that players came out to him in confidence following last year's draft, and he made it clear that he will continue to respect their anonymity.

"The players who have reached out to me and told me about their sexual orientation, it just means a lot," Sam said. "But I will never say anything about who they are, what teams they are [on]. I'm just saying there's some famous people, and I'm not the only one."

The former University of Missouri defensive end recently took part in the inaugural NFL Veteran Combine, and he believes that he will ultimately catch on somewhere, according to NFL.com's Marc Sessler:

There is no question that Sam has left an imprint on the league, though he has yet to play in an NFL regular-season game, and he has yet to be signed on the heels of the combine.

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