One question many people have about Michael Sam’s announcement that he is gay is the timing of it. Why did he do it now? And why did he do it before the NFL draft when his pro prospects could be hurt by the announcement?
Sam and his current agent explain that he came out now because the word was already beginning to circulate. Instead of being outed, Sam wanted to do the announcement on his terms.
Sam originally planned to come out at some point between the scouting combine and NFL Draft in May. But the timeline was sped up after he and his agent began receiving inquiries from reporters and NFL personnel indicating they already knew he was gay.
“We were getting bombarded with questions about whether there was a girlfriend around or whether he (would) hang out with girls. And those were very targeted questions,” Sam’s agent, Joe Barkett said via The Charlotte Observer. “Reporters were approaching Mike, some of whom were from very big publications. … Once Mobile happened, it was like, ‘OK, this has to happen much sooner rather than later.’ ”
Sam also shared his explanation for making his announcement.
“I just want to make sure I could tell my story the way I want to tell it,” Sam told The New York Times. “I just want to own my truth.”
Sam is projected as a mid-round pick, but his draft status could be hurt by his announcement. Not only may some teams be worried about how the locker room will be affected, but they may not want to deal with all the extra media attention they may receive for having him on the team.
