Michael Sam Publicly Announces He Is Gay in ESPN and New York Times Interviews

Former Missouri Tigers defensive end and 2014 NFL draft entrant Michael Sam announced Sunday in interviews with ESPN and The New York Times that he is gay.

Chris Connelly of ESPN's Outside The Lines and The New York Times' John Branch were first to report the news of this landmark development:

'I understand how big this is,' Sam said, per Connelly. 'It's a big deal. No one has done this before. And it's kind of a nervous process, but I know what I want to be ... I want to be a football player in the NFL.'