Missouri Tigers football star and defensive player of the year Michael Sam stepped to the podium at the NFL Scouting Combine to address the NFL media for the first time since he came out as gay earlier in Feburary and it appeared he wasn’t fazed at all by the attention he’s been given recently.
Sam answered every question he was asked and did so with a great attitude, laughing and joking around just like any other player would at the combine. One topic that came up almost immediately was the conflict between Sam’s sexuality and the situation in the Miami Dolphins locker room.
Sam was asked if he’d be bothered if the Dolphins drafted him, something Sam shot down right away.
Sam says he's not worried about opposing fan reactions. "If Miami Dolphins drafted me I'd be excited" Sam says of the Wells report details
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) February 22, 2014
Sam is in a position that every player coming into the NFL is in that he’s just going to be happy getting drafted and then work from there. He’s the first openly gay football player, but you wouldn’t be able to tell that form his interview and that’s the point.
He stated at one point that he wants to be known as Michael Sam the football player, not Michael Sam the gay football player and it seems that already he’s stating to become the previous and that’s an amazingly accepting step for the NFL to take.