I'm unemployed, and I don't believe I'm out of the NFL because I'm gay, but if it was a reason, it can hurt their livelihood, and you don't want to take that chance.

I'm Michael Sam, I'm a football player, and I'm gay.

I'm not afraid of who I am. I'm not afraid to tell the world who I am. I'm Michael Sam, I'm a college graduate, I'm African-American and I'm gay.

I just want to make sure I could tell my story the way I want to tell it. I just want to own my truth.

Was it a risky move? Yes, but at that moment, the reason why I came out is I thought it wasn't going to be a big deal. Maybe I was naive. Maybe I thought it was 2014, and people will understand that there's gay NFL players. There's gay athletes everywhere. But I was clearly wrong. It was a huge deal.

Great things happen when you have the courage to be yourself

The players who have reached out to me and told me about their sexual orientation, it just means a lot.