Community

Michael Sam celebrates NFL draft by kissing boyfriend on TV

  • May 11 2014
  • Written by Nick Duffy
PinkNews logo surrounded by illustrated images including a rainbow, unicorn, PN sign and pride flag.

Gay footballer Michael Sam celebrated his historic draft to the St Louis Rams, by kissing his boyfriend on live TV.

Sam made history last night as the first openly gay player to be drafted to the NFL, joining the Rams in the seventh draft.

Receiving the call to say he had been drafted, Sam burst into tears while holding the hand of his boyfriend, whose name he has not yet disclosed.

Hanging up the phone, the pair then embraced, before kissing infront of the cameras.

Sam later tweeted: “Thank you to the St. Louis Rams and the whole city of St. Louis. I’m using every once of this to achieve greatness!”

Watch the moment below:

The University of Missouri football player came out in an ESPN interview on 9 February.

Sam has since said he hopes that he would soon be able to move on from the attention gathered, and be known for his athletic ability, not just his sexuality.

Despite expectations that he would be drafted, some experts said his sexuality might have put off prospective teams as a “distraction”. 

Nonetheless, Sam said he was “nervous and excited” about the draft. 

A US Republican Lobbyist has taken aim at any NFL team willing to draft openly gay player Michael Sam, threatening that the team will “get roughed up financially”.

Despite negative attention, he proved that being openly gay has not affected his chances of an endorsement, landing a deal with Visa.

More:
Register to save articles and more. It'll only take a minute and it's free.
JOIN US TODAY!