Despite failing to land an NFL roster spot in his first year, Michael Sam remains committed to professional football -- and he doesn't regret his decision to come out last winter.
In a column penned for Sports Illustrated's Monday Morning Quarterback, Sam reiterated that he doesn't believe being gay has kept him out of the NFL. He maintains a belief, though, that his talent is good enough for the NFL.
Sam also discusses how he felt devastated when the St. Louis Rams cut him before the NFL regular season. He later joined the Dallas Cowboys as a practice-squad player but didn't make it to the end of the season.
"The only thing that felt different [when Dallas cut me] was the realization that this could be my reality: life on the edge of the roster—something I have no choice but to embrace," Sam writes. "This is the business."
Sam does make it clear, though, that the locker rooms in both St. Louis and Dallas were very welcoming to him. Several NFL veterans in particular, including the Rams' Chris Long and the Cowboys' Jason Witten, went out of their way to welcome Sam and even give him tips for improvement at the professional level.
Sam is now training in Texas with his sights set on finding new NFL opportunities this offseason. He writes that several opportunities have come his way to work in broadcasting or as a guest analyst, but he has refused to look at anything that doesn't advance his NFL career.
"I tell them the same thing every time: I'll give up the game when my legs are both broken," Sam writes.
Sam also sat down for an on-camera interview with MMQB. The full segment is here:
