If Michael Sam has broken barriers, no one else has come forth to check his work.
The former Missouri defensive end and co-SEC Player of the Year became the first openly gay man to get drafted in NFL, when the St. Louis Rams seclected him in the seventh round.
After the Dallas Cowboys cut Michael Sam, they sign Josh Brent
The Rams, however, cut him before the season started. The Dallas Cowboys put Sam on their practice squad roster but also ended up releasing him as well.
Sam, who originally had plans with Oprah Winfrey to make a television documentary of his journey to make an NFL roster before the Rams nixed them, instead recently conducted an interview with Winfrey on OWN - the Oprah Winfrey Network, according to TMZ.com.
Sam told the talk-show host icon that during his time in the NFL, other gay players got in touch with him to commend him for his bravery.
"A very few reached out to me," he told Winfrey in a preview of an upcoming interview that is scheduled to air on Dec. 27, "and pretty much told me the gratitude and how they were thankful that I had the courage to - they wished they had the courage to come out."
When Winfrey clarified that Sam had said "men," as in more than one gay player in the NFL, Sam repeated, "men."
"There's a lot of us out there," Sam said. "I'm not the only one; I'm just the only one who's open."
Which brings to mind the question why other gay players did have not come out like Sam did. By coming out right after his college season ended, Sam may have created hardships in his journey to reach the NFL.
He also separated himself from any players already in the NFL whom teammates assumed were heterosexual.
If Sam was honest with Winfrey about the presence of multiple gay players, the fact that no one else rode on Sam's coattails could mean those barriers may be broken, but they haven't been removed.
Do you believe that multiple gay players reached out to Michael Sam? Comment below or tell us @SportsWN.
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