Michael Sam has gotten overwhelmingly positive support since announcing that he is gay, receiving powerful endorsements from none other than first lady Michelle Obama and Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the National Football League, as well as most media outlets. But Sam’s father, Michael Sam Sr., is struggling with the news, according to a published report.
While Sam revealed to his Missouri Tiger teammates last August that he is gay, he didn’t disclose his sexual orientation to his parents until last week — and he let his father know via a text message.
Michael Sam Sr. told The New York Times that he received the news last Tuesday when his son wrote in a text: “Dad, I’m gay.”
Sam’s father said he was shaken to his core by his son’s revelation. He said he was eating at a Denny’s restaurant but had to leave after getting the text from his son.
“I couldn’t eat no more [sic], so I went to Applebee’s to have drinks,” Sam Sr. told the newspaper. “I don’t want my grandkids raised in that kind of environment.”
Sam Sr., who says he’s “old school,” was not shy about stating that the prospects of a gay player in the NFL bothers him — even when that person is his own son.
Most people recoiled when they read that Sam Sr. believed that Hall of Famer Deacon Jones, the leader of the Rams’ Fearsome Foursome who is credited with terming the word ‘sack,’ “is turning over in his grave.”
Sam Sr. quickly added, however, that he loves his son and hopes he makes it into the NFL.
“As a black man, we have so many hurdles to cross. This is just one he has to cross,” Sam Sr. told the Times.
