--- description: In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, the first openly gay football player to be drafted by an NFL team says he was originally planning on waiting until after the league's draft to reveal his sexuality. Sam was picked in the seventh round by the St. Louis Rams title: Michael Sam Tells People Magazine He Came Out Earlier Than He Planned image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4ec3ecac375aa7fb/69868f68cd68485fe3094a81/michael-sam1.jpeg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Media](/tag/media/) ## Media Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Michael Sam: I Was Going to Wait to Come Out by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 14, 2014 5:54 PM CUT  Michael Sam Michael SamPEOPLE by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 14, 2014 5:54 PM CUT In an exclusive interview with [PEOPLE](http://www.people.com/article/michael-sam-planned-coming-out-after-nfl-draft "undefined") magazine, recent St. Louis Rams draft pick Michael Sam said he originally planned to come out as gay after the NFL draft. “When I came out in February, it actually wasn’t the time I wanted to come out,” Sam said. “I was going to come out to my \[pro\] team—whoever drafted me.” Sam, whose February[ announcement](http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20140210/michael-sam-missouri-tigers-nfl-draft/ "undefined") led to him becoming the first openly gay player to be drafted to the NFL, also shared that he felt blessed to have the support of his teammates at the University of Missouri. “Everyone in that program was so respectful of me, I wanted to give them all I got,” Sam said. Read more at [PEOPLE](http://www.people.com/article/michael-sam-planned-coming-out-after-nfl-draft "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/99527/michael-sam-people-rams/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/99527/michael-sam-people-rams/"},"headline":"Michael Sam: I Was Going to Wait to Come Out","datePublished":"2014-05-14T17:54:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:50:14.383Z","description":"In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, the first openly gay football player to be drafted by an NFL team says he was originally planning on waiting until after the league's draft to reveal his sexuality. Sam was picked in the seventh round by the St. Louis Rams","url":"https://time.com/99527/michael-sam-people-rams/","keywords":["Media","Sports topic","Football","National Football League","Michael Sam","People"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4ec3ecac375aa7fb/69868f68cd68485fe3094a81/michael-sam1.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4ec3ecac375aa7fb/69868f68cd68485fe3094a81/michael-sam1.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Michael Sam","caption":"Michael Sam","creditText":"PEOPLE","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/media/","name":"Media"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/99527/michael-sam-people-rams/","name":"Michael Sam: I Was Going to Wait to Come Out"}}]}] ```