Michael Sam believes he'd be playing in the NFL right now if he hadn't come out as gay when he did.
Sam, 25, told sportscaster Dan Patrick in an interview last week that it "probably would have been better" for his professional sports career for him to keep quiet about his sexuality in early 2014, just before he was drafted by the NFL.
"I wanted to come out after I made an NFL roster. It really wasn't supposed to be public," Sam, who sad he believed somebody was planning to break the story about his sexuality in the media, told Patrick in the interview. "It was just supposed to be to the team, as I did at the University of Missouri, but... I wanted to be the one to tell my own story. I didn't want someone to tell it for me."
When asked if he thought he'd currently be on an NFL roster if things had gone differently, Sam said, "I'm not going to say ... but it probably would have been better for me if I didn't come out, I would be on a roster."
He then stressed, "I have no regrets whatsoever."
Sam, the 2013 SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year and former All-American at the University of Missouri, was ultimately selected by the St. Louis Rams with the 249th pick in the seventh round of the 2014 draft, but didn't end up making the team's 53-man roster or their 10-man practice squad.
After a brief stint on the practice squad of the Dallas Cowboys, Sam signed with the Canadian Football League's Montreal Alouettes in May, but said he was stepping away from football in August because he was concerned with his "mental health."
Sam told Patrick that he "never really want to go into the CFL," and that he "wasn't really getting better as a football player" during his time with the Alouettes. He's now back at the University of Missouri, and said he'll "train to get back to football" during his studies there.
Wishing you the best, Michael!
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