Michael Sam signs 4-year contract with St Louis Rams
Openly gay NFL player Michael Sam has signed a four-year contract with the St Louis Rams.
Sam, who came out in February this year while playing for the University of Missouri, made history when he was drafted to the St Louis Rams in the seventh draft last month, becoming the first openly gay NFL player.
This week, Sam has officially signed onto a contract with the Rams, which Fox Sports reports is worth $2.65 million over four years, with $46,000 guaranteed.
Sam tweeted today: “Grateful, humbled, and motivated after officially signing with all my Rams rookie brothers. Let’s do this!! #RamUp”
Grateful, humbled, and motivated after officially signing with all my Rams rookie brothers. Let’s do this!! #RamUp pic.twitter.com/quFCf01tJw
— Michael Sam (@MichaelSamNFL) June 12, 2014
Rams coach Jeff Fisher – who signed Sam along with the rest of the rookie intake – said they had held off until now to teach the new players to handle their money responsibly.
He said: “We just felt like this time would be better served, putting them in the situations from an educational standpoint, financial planning and those kinds of things. We’ve done a lot of that.
“It’s really not difficult to get the deals done.”
Last week Sam spoke up about his new team, saying: “They respect me as a human being and as a football player… [it] feels like home.”
A planned Oprah Winfrey documentary about Sam’s life was shelved to allow him to concentrate on his playing career, and he has had a reduced media presence in recent weeks.
Sales of his jersey were the second highest of all NFL rookie players.
