What happened to Michael Sam? Where is the former NFL star now?
Back in 2013, Michael Sam was a college football sensation who decided to come out as the only known gay professional football player at the time.
Who is Michael Sam and where is he now?
In 2013, Michael Sam was a defensive end for the Missouri Tigers of the South Eastern Conference (SEC) in college football. During that year, Sam was voted the SEC Defensive Player of the Year award and was also tabbed as a Unanimous All-American.
For those that may not know, the SEC is known as the most competitive conference in all of college football. Michael Sam was absolutely dominant as the star of that conference back in 2013. His play on the field obviously assured him that he would also be playing on Sundays as well for the NFL.
It was in August of 2013 during a team meeting, that Sam decided to announce to his college teammates that he was gay. To his surprise, his teammates were extremely supportive. The word of Sam's coming out as a gay player soon resonated throughout sports in general as he was the only active, openly gay player at the time.
The next year, 2014, saw Sam drafted in the seventh round by the (then) St. Louis Rams. Sam's NFL Combine was nothing impressive, so his stock slid and he was drafted almost last in the entire draft (number 249 out of 256 total players in the draft).
His time in the league was short-lived as he announced his retirement from football on 15 August 2015. He cited mental health illness as a reason for retiring from the game that he once thrived in playing.
Where is Michael Sam now?
For the most part, Michael Sam has been living in obscurity and away from the public eye. In the recent wake of Jon Gruden's homophobic (among other things) rhetorics which were spewed in a 2011 email that forced him to resign, it was discovered that Gruden used the words "queer" and "faggot" to describe Sam when the Rams drafted him back in 2014 (for the record, Gruden also described NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith, who is African American, as having "lips the size of Michellin [sic] tires.")
Jon Gruden statement: “I have resigned as Head Coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. I love the Raiders and do not want to be a distraction. Thank you to all the players, coaches, staff, and fans of Raider Nation. I’m sorry, I never meant to hurt anyone.”
It was the 2011 email from Jon Gruden which prompted Michael Sam to share this tweet, which should just about sum up his feelings on the situation.
🙏🏾 twitter.com/bretterflies/s…
To Michael Sam: We thank you for being a champion of justice and truth while exposing all those who attempted to condemn you for your beliefs... that includes you, Jon Gruden.
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