Watch: Gay NFL star Michael Sam reveals nerves before historic draft
Gay NFL star Michael Sam has opened up to Oprah Winfrey about his decision to come out as gay.
The player – who has had brief spells with the St Louis Rams and the Dallas Cowboys – made history as the first openly gay NFL player, though he is yet to play an on-season game.
He was drafted to the Rams in May this year, before being cut in August – and subsequently spent less than two months on the Cowboys practice team before being cut again in October.
Speaking in an exclusive documentary that will air on the Oprah Winfrey Network on December 27, Sam recounts the story of getting drafted at the last minute by the Rams.
He says: “The draft was the longest three days of my life. I went upstairs and then I was thinking, should I have came out?
“Did I make the right choice of coming out and telling the world I was gay? And then I’m looking outside, through the window, and I’m thinking that, and then I felt a hand all over my shoulder and that person was Vito.
“And in that moment I was like, I don’t care what happens. I made the right choice to come out.”
Sam had initially made plans for an Oprah documentary while playing for the Rams in May, but it was postponed to allow him to concentrate on his playing career.
However, the documentary and an exclusive interview can air this month now he is a free agent, and not signed to a particular team.
Oprah Winfrey Network will air the exclusive documentary, ‘Michael Sam’ on Saturday, December 27.
