Former St. Louis Rams player Michael Sam recently did a radio interview with Dan Patrick where he admitted to some things that he should've paid closer attention to in his career. Although he says he has no regrets, the football player believes he is a victim of the NFL's homophobia and would be on a team's roster right now had he not openly admitted to being a gay man.
Rolling Out reported Sam has recently experienced being dropped from two NFL teams and is facing a tough time getting back into the NFL.The site reported that during a recent interview with Dan Patrick, Sam reportedly expressed some discontent with some of the decisions he's made in his career.
Upon being asked what, if anything, he would do differently after college graduation, Sam responded that he has no regrets but he would definitely speak up more for himself toward his advisors who were focused more on "the outside the field stuff," while his main focus was to end up on an NFL roster.
"I wish I would've paid more attention to what was going on, and make the decisions, because I know what's best for myself," he explained.
One of those decisions that he made was to come out as a gay man which he feels ultimately hurt his career. EUR reported that the decision to come out was based on his desire to be the one in control of telling his own story and he feared that had he not, he would've been outted by someone else.
He says he made the announcement on Feb. 9, and the information came out a little too early for his taste. "I wanted to come out after I made an NFL roster," he explained. He believes he would be on a roster now had he not come out and believes "he ended up a victim to the NFL's homophobia," according to Rolling Out.
Patrick asked if having the cameras present on NFL Draft Day and allowing the world to see his on camera kiss was later viewed as a mistake. As a member of the LGBT community, Sam believes there was no difference in seeing him kiss his boyfriend than watching someone in a heterosexual relationship kiss their mate.
"There were a lot players that year who had cameras on them," he explained. "It was a historic moment and I wanted everyone to see that historic moment. If someone who is straight who comes out, kiss their girlfriend, why I can't do the same?"
Sam "plans to make an NFL comeback next year."
Listen to the full interview below.
