Football star Michael Sam on fears of gays in locker room: “I think it’s a stereotype … it’s very offensive”

Michael Sam, the first NCAA division one football star to ever come out as gay, knows all about the concerns some NFL players have expressed about being in the locker room with a gay teammate.

“I think it’s a stereotype that gay people are predators,” he tells ESPN. “It’s very offensive.

The University of Missouri grad, considered a top NFL draft pick, says he’s only concerned about playing football.

“(My being gay) shouldn’t matter if I work hard, if I make plays. That’s all that should matter. … Can he help us win games. I can. … I’m happy with who I am – I know how to play the game.”

Michael came out to his teammates last August and they rallied around him.

“Their reaction was awesome and they supported me from day one.”

When asked if coming out publicly was a difficult step, he spoke of an older brother being shot to death, a sister dying in infancy, and two other brothers being in an out of jail since 8th grade.

“Telling the world I’m gay is nothing compared to that,” he said. “I knew I didn’t want to follow that path (of my brothers). I knew I wanted to have some success so my family would be proud of me.”

He also knows the significance of taking this very public step.

“I understand how big this is,” he said, “no one has done it.”

Sam decided to go public now because NFL scouts became aware of him being gay and “I was afraid it would leak out without me being able to tell my own truth.”