Michael Sam’s pro football career seemed promising last year when he came out as the first openly gay player in the NFL. But the dream soon turned into a public nightmare as Sam was cut by two NFL teams before journeying to Canada to sign with the Montreal Alouettes. But just as soon as his already rocky career with the Alouettes began, Sam brought it to an abrupt end when he walked away from the Canadian Football League earlier this summer just as he ended his engagement with his fiancé. But after what has likely been one of the toughest years of his life, Sam recently announced that he plans to make another attempt at achieving his NFL dreams next year.
In an interview with ABC-17 in Missouri on Sept. 24, Sam shared how things have been since his break from football.
“It’s been a roller coaster,” Sam said. “I’ve been trying to figure out what’s next in my life. I’ve just come to a conclusion, as I take this break from football, I want to focus on my media training.
“Since I came out [as gay] in February 2014, I realized that I’ve been in the media for so long and so much, that I’ve kind of gotten used to it. I wanted to wet my feet a little bit and see if this could be a career of mine in the future.”
Sam revealed other changes in his life, including working on his master’s degree and also letting people go from his life.
“I let go of my agent recently and I also let go of my publicist,” Sam said. “Right now I’m just focusing on me.”
Sam explains that he believes he made the right decision in backing away from football in August to focus on his mental health. But he also announced that he’s going to continue to go after his NFL dreams.
“I’ll try to pursue my NFL career,” Sam said. “Taking a break this year was very smart. I think it was one of the smartest things I’ve done in a long time.”
Sam explained that he’s currently living in his college town of Columbia, Missouri, and he plans to train at his alma mater to prepare for the NFL.
“[I’m] just refocused on me and what my needs are and what’s best for Michael Sam and I think as I continue on training at the University of Missouri where I was SEC Defensive player of the year and an All-American, I think I can go to a better place,” Sam said.
Well, this will definitely be an uphill battle for Sam, but we wish him the best as he tries to return to the NFL.
