All American defensive lineman, Michael Sam, came out as Gay to his teammates during a preseason game back in August. With the NFL draft coming up, the Missouri Tigers player may be the first openly Gay NFL player in the league.
The 6’2″, 260 lbs player lead his team to a 12-2 record this season and revealed that he wanted to “Own his truth” before anyone else Outed him to the rest of world. In an interview with Chris Connolly of ESPN (embedded below), Sam admitted that facing tragedies at a young age influenced his decision to come Out.
This news is coming fresh off of New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma admitting that he would assume that any Gay player in the league would be checking him out if they were teammates. “Imagine if he’s the guy next to me and, you know, I get dressed, naked, taking a shower, the whole nine, and it just so happens he looks at me. How am I supposed to respond?” Vilma said to Andrea Kremer, the NFL’s chief correspondent for player health and safety.
To make it clear: Michael Sam is not yet an NFL player…He’s currently getting prepped for the combines where he will be analyzed by officials from each team to determine if they are interested in drafting them to their teams.
This is a developing story. More to follow.
I just tweeted Sam and thank him for being honest. I hope my 49ers take him in the draft.
This is so awesome!!!!!! I commend him for this, I know it took a lot of courage to make the announcement. I’m sure his story will inspire others to follow in his footsteps. This made my night for sure!!
We were just discussing this story on the activity stream. He is said to be an early prospect in the NFL draft this May. I am hoping with everything in me that Michael is drafted by a team and gets an opportunity. He said that he had no idea how many of his teammates already suspected him of being gay. Coming out just made them respect him more whether they approved of his orientation or not.
His story fills me with pride 🙂
QUESTION: Having said that, does he make you more enthusiastic to “own Your Truth” and be as publicly gay (photos online, real name, etc) or does it not affect your desire to continue to stay closeted and remain in the shadows?
Good question @nick… I think it will only help myself and others live in our truth. While I am far from cowering in the shadows of fear, I’m still not as comfortable as some of my fellow brothers.
My motto is Fear Nothing. Living ones life in fear of what others think is really not living at all. If Sam does not get drafted am sure he has his college degree to fall back on. A negative mind will never give you a positive life.
Does my baby Kerry not count?
That dude who was tryin to out Kerry needs more people…I took that as an attempt at a reality show gone wrong..n the ‘required’ queen gay dude got upset over some biz that went wrong. If Kerry ever touched that dude sexually I need some receipts
Kerry who? He never came out as gay.
Ya’ll are just trying to ruin my fantasy! The devil is a lie and I’m going to find Kerry! Rhodes is the greatest NFL player ever and he didn’t have to come out, the writing was on the photo! *goes to find Kerry*
And does the 49er with the crazy hair who got caught beating up his boyfriend over soy sauce not count?
SMH. As a general rule, you should not be amongst the first to comment on Football. LOL. Seriously, Kwame Harris, the man you referenced as beating his boyfriend over soy sauce, was no longer playing, therefore, he DOESN’T count.
It’s interesting about Michael Sam coming out now. I’ve been reading the articles about his NFL prospect and almost all of the anonymous insiders are saying his prospects have plummeted. I sincerely hope not but the reality is the excuses for not drafting him have already commenced.
It would speak volumes if he isnt drafted…but no matter what..even if he ends up coaching a high school team in bumfuck, usa, im proud of this kid..tho i hope some team knows that real recognizes real and adds to their roster potential.
@sb3000, my brother just said he feels like this is a ploy by that gay dude to force the NFL’s hand. He thinks that he’s testing the NFL and putting them on the spot. Almost daring teams not to draft him. This is what I don’t understand about a lot of straight dudes, including my brother. Simply acknowledging your sexuality is seen as a front/blackmail/bating. I don’t even feel like having this argument with him tonight.
Yeah that’s dumb because he was already a top prospect and all of the recruiters were told he was Gay from the jump since he came out to his team back in August…Michael Sam just wanted to be the one to make the announcement in the press.
@nick, some people will never get that some people “come out” to try and cut off the circus that usually comes along with being outed. But I listen to guy named Bomani Jones on SBNation & ESPN. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of him, but he did an interview with Outsports basically saying he thinks the biggest problem an openly gay NFL player will have is with the fans. I tend to agree with him on that. I guarantee you the NFL will go above and beyond to protect this dude if he is drafted. The last thing they want is to be on the wrong side of history.
LOL have I heard of him….yeah, I’ll just say that I know Bomani Jones personally…its a small, small world…Anyway he’s correct in many ways, the opposing team crowds will be ruthless with the homophobia. But I’m sure the racism was just as bad when they integrated the teams back in the day.
Give him his free!
Just tell ur bro to have a few seats man..u’d think ppl would get a better perspective w a gay brother..but…
Negative backlash is gonna come. Why acknowledge it when logic will not change anything?
LMFAO @ soy sauce
Congrats to him for owning his truth! Im proud and happy for this young guy who made such a huge decision at such a young age.
I Love it.He’s taking charge over all the gossip sites people who would try to call him DLalthough a few still will).I hope his career goes well.
As for Vilma’s comments,if any gay players would be interested in him,they already are,and they’re already looking.
I hate you. I send you stuff that you’ve already found LMAO. Guess I gotta be quicker lol
Dear Oprah, thank you for helping to introduce the world to the phrase “Owning and living in your truth”.
O YEAH???? @ocky got jokes
no jokes…I’m serious. That woman helped change my life.
that and the phrase “authentic self”!
“vajayjay” will always be my favorite. LMAO
@hannibal is banned from football PLAYER talk until further notice…
Please don’t let him be a snow hoe.
snow hoe? his former boyfriend I believe was a white baseball player but what does that matter?
You are killing me with the snow hoe today LOL
LMAO @ snow hoe
@blackpegasus To be sure, “snow hoe” had me laughing too, albeit a bit uncomfortably. I always enjoy reading your comments and they often crack me up.
Yet if Michael Sam, first potential openly gay NFL player, had been WHITE and someone says “please don’t let him have jungle fever,” what would you think of that comment?
I don’t mean to jump on you in the event you’re only making a joke: no worries, I laughed when I learned a new term, perhaps in spite of myself. After that, perhaps there’s room for discourse on this.
@kasule – when I use that term, I mean someone who ONLY dates outside of their race. I don’t have an issue with guys who date across all racial backgrounds. I just can’t stand self loathing queens who can’t seem to date someone who mirrors themselves. I feel the same way about White men who only fethish-date black men. I respect none of them!
I hear you on this and you raise an interesting question about dating outside one’s race.
Fetishizing any race is rooted somewhere unhealthy – no doubt. And we probably all have some stories about meeting people like this.
Maybe the guy has a preference.
I thought it would be a kicker I’m happy it’s not
YES I do want to see representations of more men of color in relationships together because I think it’s needed; however why when dude came out one of the first things I noticed was gay black men and black women wondering who is he dating and hoping said person was not white. WTF or should I say who gives a fuck?
Gay dudes and this “who is he fucking, how big is his member, how fat is his ass, etc.” lame shit is for the birds.
@ocky I can’t speak for Black women because I can give two fucks what they think. But I can speak for a great deal of Black Gay men when I say questions about a Blk Gay Celebrity’s partner and (his race) usually comes to light after it’s known he’s gay. To pretend like these aren’t valid concerns or water cooler speculation is simply naive on your part.
If you don’t care about the race of a public figure’s sexual partner then that’s fine, but there is nothing wrong with people like myself who would just love to see Black Gay couples together showing their love for one another. All to often when a Black semi-celebrity comes out he is then linked to a white man. I want to see BLACK LOVE and I make no apologies for that!
@blackpegasus do you feel that all the good black gay men are being taken by white men?
MTO has pics of a “friend”……..
So you got from my statement that “YES I do want to see representations of more men of color in relationships together because I think it’s needed” to actually mean the opposite of what I stated?
Someone else’s relationship should only be a “valid concern” to the individuals in that relationship and maybe their friends and family.
AND making statements like “snow queen” or “snow hoe” furthers the conversation how? But yet you have plastered screen shots of bigoted, hateful and negative comments from other websites in the activity stream that others make about black gay men.
Cypher Avenue has followers of many colors and from different countries. You can make your points without the underhanded bigoted comments.
@ocky what does the racial make-up of Cypher Avenue’s visitors have to do self loathing Black Men who only date outside of their race? More importantly, what does it have to do with ANY of my statements? Did I insult Asians? Whites? Hispanics? No, I did not!
If the problem is with the terminology I used then just say so and I’ll refrain, but don’t make it a protracted argument when it clearly doesn’t have to be.
@blackpegasus, I can understand your desire to see same-sex black loving relationships, however, why spend so much of your time questioning someone else’s relationship instead of forming said relationship of your own. I think I detect a little self loathing emanating from your direction. I think an article did say that his former boyfriend was on the swim team which lead me to assume he was white but what the hell do I care. I’ve dated white men before and it hurts you or guys like you how? Even if I dated them exclusively, how does it hurt you and others like you? What this dude did is incredibly brave, in my opinion, and other gay men should leave the gossip to Bossip and support a brother who has the potential to break down so many barriers for other gay young men. Ya feel me?
@rolandgarros28 – if you wish to discuss this topic any further, you are welcomed to join @leeb860 and I in the activity stream.
@blackpegasus, thanks for the invite to the Activity Stream, but debating you sometimes causes my ulcers to act up. I think each of us should spend less time debating each other on the recklessness of using terms like snow hoe and more time on finding a man of our own. *you get the hint* Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ma go holla at one of my white exes.
@rolandgarros28 – Then why engage in something that causes you pain? That would be by definition “sadistic” .But alas.. you just revealed your true reason for hitting my reply button in the first place. You felt butt-hurt because YOU fit the description of a Snow Hoe. Well now that you’ve gotten your dig in the question becomes; do you feel better?
My guess would be NO….smh
*peers around corner scared*
Your definition of a snow hoe was someone who dated white men exclusively. I believe I used the word “If” to make a point. I’ve dated many black men and an Indian guy too and had a lot of fun at the same time. I wasn’t sitting around complaining about not seeing other black men in relationships. At some point @blackpegasus, you have to grow up and live your life the way you want to and stop snooping in gossip rags to find 24-year old college athletes to mock. Go out on a date sometimes.
And….just because you find a couple of white guys attractive doesn’t mean you don’t have a problem with white people. I believe Strom Thurmond once loved a “colored gal” too. Ya feel me?
This is really brave of him to come out on this type of level. I hope the media and internet blog sites are respectful of his personal life.
All this Football talk, I’m the first to say I am not a big sports fan but I can make some hella chicken wings for you’ll and the games, i’ll watch but I will have questions…lol
HA…Lemon Pepper over here.
Best of luck to him. I probably would have waited until after I’d signed a contract to make the announcement tho. The gossip sites could have spread as many rumors as they wanted until then. Getting your foot in the door is often the hardest part. He will definitely get drafted to a team but the check and endorsements might not be as high. Then again, maybe making the announcement was a way to weed out the teams where he might have the hardest time fitting.
I just hope more and more come out: and for his sake, that his coming out doesn’t make it harder for him to advance in his career. His bravery is respectable.
Even though I’m super proud of Michael Sam, my fear is that for his entire pro career (if he makes it that far), he’ll always be referred to as the gay NFL athlete regardless of if he does great or poor on the field. Also, let’s say he doesn’t get drafted by a team, I don’t want the media to automatically assume he wasn’t chosen by a team because he’s gay because that’s not a fair assumption to make (but then again he did fall 70 points on the CBS Draft Board, moving from #90 to #160 almost immediately after his coming out became public so I’m sure the question will be raised).
Is there something to why the brothers are choosing to come out? Anyone have an opinion or theory?
Whites have always been good at doing this. These “firsts” in basketball and football via black men? Is there a pressure somewhere behind it for black men in particular ? Or are whites for one reason or another not getting that involved with this trend to this degree?
Just looking for an opinion.
(Late response, I know but I wanted to touch on this)
Well, it would appear that the NBA & NFL are black dominated sports. So it would only seem right that the odds of a player of color coming out would be higher than a white one. To take it a step further, Frank Ocean coming out in a predominantly black genre of music was a big deal as well.
I think white folks are used to their own public figures coming out. It’s high time blacks know that we exist outside of the hair salons and are more than the stereotypical images they’re fed on the tv/movie screen.
That makes perfect sense!