Michael Sam says he isn't the only gay player in the NFL

[Omaha Steve]

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/03/michael-sam-says-he-isnt-the-only-gay-player-in-the-nfl


Michael Sam is still waiting for a third chance to play in the NFL after the Dallas Cowboys released him in October of last year. But while he waits, Sam is letting people know that even though he might be the only publicly out player competing for a spot, he isn’t the only gay man in the league.

via the Star-Telegram:

“I am not the only gay person in the NFL,” Sam said Thursday. “I’m just saying there is a lot of us. I respect the players that did reach out to me and had the courage to tell me that they were also gay, but they do not have the same courage as I do to come out before I even played a down in the NFL.”

Sam added that he had been contacted by “several different players” after he was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the seventh-round of the 2014 draft, and becoming the first openly gay player drafted. While he respected them for coming out to him, Sam noted that they did not have the same courage that he did to come out publicly.

Sam has been balancing his desire to return to the NFL with commitments to the ABC series Dancing With The Stars, and told the Star-Telegram the reason behind his decision to take part in the show is simple.

Money.

FULL story at link.

[LynneSin]

1. That was always a given

Hopefully one day more men in the NFL will feel brave enough to open up about their sexuality while they are players. I know a few that have come out after their careers have finished.

[ProfessorGAC]

4. Same Thing I Thought, Lynne

Not much a surprise. The statistics don't support that he would be the only one.

[hifiguy]

2. I would be shocked if he WAS the only gay player. nt

[Kalidurga]

3. I reckon there is somewhere between 2-10

Kinda like the general population.

[daleo]

7. Other sports too

[Kalidurga]

11. probably all of them

I doubt that homophobia keeps gay people from going into the sports world. They are either going to be able to be open if the rules don't bar them from participation or they will keep their orientation to themselves.

[Sheldon Cooper]

6. Ignorant.

[Agschmid]

8. Meh... It's accurate.

[Sheldon Cooper]

10. Sure, if you accept that trying to make an NFL team AND being an advocate for gay rights are

wholly mutually exclusive activities, and can never occur simultaneously. I assumed most folks were smarter than that.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

9. Any statistician could have told you that. N.T.

Is he still the only openly gay player in the NFL?

[Gothmog]

12. There are no doubt a number of LGBT players in the NFL

[Orsino]

13. This will come as news only to sheltered cult-of-macho fans.

Probably the same people who tell themselves that President Clinton allowed the first gay people to enlist in the military.