The NFL’s first openly gay player Michael Sam told Oprah Winfrey in an interview set to air on Saturday that there are “a lot of us out there,” referring to gay men in the NFL.
“Very few reached out to me and pretty much just told me their gratitude and how they were thankful that I had the courage,” Sam said in the interview that is set to air on OWN’s Oprah Prime. “They wished that they had the courage to come out.”
“Gay men in the NFL reached out to you and called you?” Oprah asked.
“Reached out to me, yes, and just showed their respect and showed that, and admired my courage,” Sam said. “It was very good.”
Oprah then pointed out to Sam that he had used the plural “men” not “man.”
“Men,” Sam repeated, during the interview. “There’s a lot of us out there. I’m not the only one. I’m just the only one who’s open.”
Sam, the NFL’s first openly gay player was drafted in May by the St. Louis Rams, before being cut from the team during training camp. He then joined the Dallas Cowboys’ practice squad but was waived in October and is currently a free agent.
Watch a preview of the interview below, courtesy of OWN:
