Michael Sam was mostly short and direct, with a bit of humor splashed in at times, when he met the media on Tuesday, May 13, at Rams Park in St. Louis, along with the team's other picks from the 2014 NFL Draft.
And all of the other picks had nothing but praised for the openly gay Sam, the former SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year from the University of Missouri, picked by the Rams in the seventh-round ( 249th overall ) on May 10.
"It's OK to be who you are, whether you're gay, straight, Black or white. It's OK to be comfortable in your own skin," Sam said when asked his message for others who may be struggling.
Sam, 24, was born in Galveston, Texas, graduated from Hitchcock High School, and in 2013 was a unanimous All-American defensive end, leading the Tigers to a 12-2 record.
Last August, before his senior season, Sam told his Missouri teammates that he is gay.
This past February, Sam came out to the world.
"What happens between those walls [of the locker room] are between the family, Mizzou family. When [Sam] came out, there wasn't much to it, but to keep it yourself," said St. Louis draft pick E.J. Gaines, a cornerback, and teammate of Sam's at Missouri
Sam added, "My teammates and my school didn't make a big deal out of [my sexual orientation]."
But there were plenty of questions about the topic at the press conference. In fact, Sam was available to the media for 15 additional minutes, more than any of the team's other draft picks.
When asked his thoughts of being the first out gay player in NFL history, Sam answered, "I guess it's great; I don't know what you want me to say."
When asked if he thought he'd make the cut and earn an opening day roster spot with the Rams, Sam said, "You're gonna find out in a couple months, huh?!"
Aaron Donald, a defensive tackle from the University of Pittsburgh and the Rams' first-round pick ( 13th overall ), said Sam is a "playmaker."
Greg Robinson, the No. 2 overall pick, said the Rams will "judge [Sam] by the things he does on the field, and I don't think he'll be a problem in the locker room because the guy comes off as really cool, and he's been trying to interact with us because he probably knows we have those thoughts in the back of our head. I don't think [his sexual orientation] will interfere with football."
Donald added that Sam is "a cool guy."
"We're here for the same goal, and that's to win the Super Bowl," said Tre Mason, a running back picked by St. Louis in the third-round ( 75th overall ).
Lamarcus Joyner, a safety from Florida State drafted in the second round ( 41st overall ), added, "I love the guy, especially after getting to share time with him at the Bronco Nagurski [Trophy] award ceremony in North Carolina, before I knew that we were going to be on the same [NFL] team. He's a great guy, a great football player. I open the doors for him with open arms, warm arms."
Sam, like many of his fellow draft picks, said he is "blessed" with the opportunity. And, he added, "I'm determined to be great, so I'm going to train hard and try to make the team."
Gaines said Sam is a "great teammate … [with] a lot of leadership."
When Sam was asked about Gaines, he countered with a sly grin, "He's OK."
Everyone laughed.
"[St. Louis] feels like home to me. Mizzou is only two hours away, and I think one of the biggest Mizzou alumni [groups] is [in] St. Louis, so [this is] home," said Sam, who noted that former NFL star Michael Strahan, who will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame later this summer, sent him a text after the draft, saying he will be coached by one of the best defensive line coaches in the game, Mike Waufle.
Les Snead, the Rams general manager, has spoken several times since the draft about Sam and Kenny Washington, who was the first African-American to sign a contract with an NFL in the modern era.
Washington played at UCLA and then landed with the Los Angeles Rams, where he was a running back from 1946-48. His NFL career spanned 27 games and eight career rushing touchdowns.
Washington was a Ram—the same organization that Sam now calls home.
"There's going to be a timeline here [and] Michael's the first," Snead said of openly gay NFL players. "Somewhere in the future, guess what, he's just going to be a name and a dot that some kid in middle-school has got to memorize, and we won't think it's anything special because it will be normal."
Sam's journey to the NFL has not been all roses, though. He's endured the deaths of family members, and there was a time when he lived in his mother's car. Plus, his dad told the New York Times earlier this year that he was opposed to homosexuality.
Sam was asked at the press conference about his dad, and he replied, "I have not had a one-on-one conversation with my father," since the New York Times story.
Sam, upon learning he had been drafted, wept alongside his boyfriend, Vito Cammisano, a fellow University of Missouri alum.
Sam and Cammisano kissed repeatedly, which was aired by ESPN.
"Adversity hits everyone … I wanted to get out [of Hitchcock] and do some great things," Sam said. "So I played sports, and got better at football, got better at my grades; I went to college and was the first person in my family to graduate, and now I'm the first person in my family to go to the NFL, so I just keep on fighting. Keep fighting the good fight.
"I'm determined to be great; I'm determined to make this team, and I have every confidence in myself that I will make this team. So, when I do make it, and when I put my pads on, if someone then wants to say something [negative about me], then you will see No. 96 running down that field, making big plays for this team."
Sam was asked if he thought his sexual orientation affected his draft. He simply replied, "I have no idea."
He added, "I said long ago that, whoever picked me, whatever team picks me, they'd know about my sexuality; they'd know about everything about my past, and that's the team I want to play for."
So he'll play for the Rams, and call the Edward Jones Dome his home stadium.
Ironically, that's where he played his first college game.
