Michael Sam speaks to his dad for the first time since coming out
Professional American football player Michael Sam has spoken to his father for the first time since coming out as gay last year.
The former SEC Defensive Player of the Year made history when he came out as gay last year – and has since had brief spells with the St Louis Rams and the Dallas Cowboys.
However, after being cut from both teams he opted for a transfer to the Canadian Football League – signing a two-year deal with Canadian team the Montreal Alouettes. He last week quit sport, citing mental health issues.
Tweeting since, Sam said he had reconnected with his father for the first time since he came out.
Speaking to the New York Times, Sam’s father last year said: “I don’t want my grandkids raised in that kind of environment.
“I’m old school. I’m a man-and-a-woman type of guy,” he continued.
The player had been thought to have been struggling with the intense media scrutiny, which has coach has previously cited as an issue.
Jim Popp, General Manager of the Alouettes, said previously: “It’s a huge story because everybody keeps hounding and hounding and hounding. Michael Sam just wants to be a football player.
“I would think anybody that’s 25 years old that has been going through it for a year and a half, it would have to affect him. I would think so.”
