Michael Sam

Michael Alan Sam Jr. (born January 7, 1990) is an American former professional football defensive lineman who is a coach for the Barcelona Dragons in the European League of Football (ELF).

Sam attended the school from 2009 to 2013.

He played for the Tigers, competing in the Big 12 Conference.

He redshirted in his first year at Missouri, and recorded 3.5 quarterback sacks, 24 tackles, including seven tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, one interception and one blocked kick as a redshirt freshman.

In his sophomore year, Sam intercepted a tipped pass in a game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders, which secured a victory to make Mizzou bowl eligible.

In 2012, Mizzou transferred to the Southeastern Conference (SEC).

Sam registered 3 1⁄2 sacks while starting in nine of the team's games.

He showed improvement at a public workout a month later, but his pre-draft rankings ranged from 12th to 25th among defensive ends.

As a senior in 2013, Sam recorded 11.5 quarterback sacks and 19 tackles for a loss.

He led the SEC in both categories, and tied Missouri's single-season record for sacks.

He was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week in two consecutive weeks, after recording three sacks apiece in games against the Arkansas State Red Wolves and the Vanderbilt Commodores.

After the season, Sam was named the SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year, with C. J. Mosley of the University of Alabama, and a first-team all-SEC selection.

Sam was named a first-team All-American by the Walter Camp Football Foundation, Associated Press, Sporting News, the American Football Coaches Association, and the Football Writers Association of America.

He was also named a semifinalist for the Chuck Bednarik Award, the Hendricks Award, and the Lombardi Award.

He graduated from Missouri in December 2013.

At the 2013 draft, 33 defensive ends were selected overall, with 23 taken in the final four rounds.

Sam played college football for the Missouri Tigers and was selected by the St. Louis Rams of the National Football League (NFL) in the seventh round of the 2014 NFL draft.

He played one game for the Montreal Alouettes in the Canadian Football League (CFL).

Sam was a unanimous All-American and the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Defensive Player of the Year as a senior at Missouri.

After completing his college football career, Sam publicly came out as gay.

He became the first publicly gay player to be drafted in the NFL.

The Rams released him during the final preseason roster cuts.

He also spent time on the Dallas Cowboys' practice squad before being waived.

Missouri played in the 2014 Cotton Bowl Classic, in which Sam forced a fumble which was returned for a touchdown, securing Missouri's victory over the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

During his college career, Sam accumulated 123 tackles, including 36 for loss, 21 sacks, six forced fumbles and two intercepted passes.

He participated in the 2014 Senior Bowl in January 2014; considered too small to play as a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL), he played as an outside linebacker.

Sam struggled at the new position.

Early projections had Sam as a third- or fourth-round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft.

His performance in the NFL Scouting Combine in February 2014 was seen as disappointing, which lowered expectations about whether he would be taken in the draft.

He was considered to be too small to play defensive end and too slow to play outside linebacker.

He signed with Montreal before the 2015 season, and became the first publicly gay player to play in a CFL regular-season game.

Sam attended Hitchcock High School in Hitchcock, Texas.

He began traveling with the school's varsity football team while in the eighth grade as a water boy.

He later became a member of the team, playing defensive end and offensive tackle.

He earned first-team All-District honors as a defensive lineman in all four years of high school, and as an offensive lineman in his junior and senior years.

As a senior, Sam drew attention for his strong performance against Michael Brockers in a game against Chávez High School; Brockers, an All-American, had accepted a scholarship to Louisiana State University.

Out of high school, Sam was considered a two-star college football recruit by Rivals.com.

He received scholarship offers from Arizona State University, Colorado State University, and the University of Houston, but he wanted to attend Texas A&M University, and waited for a scholarship offer from it.

Sam accepted a scholarship offer from the University of Missouri (Mizzou), after he was recruited by Craig Kuligowski, the team's defensive line coach.

Kuligowski recruited other players near Hitchcock, which made him familiar with Sam.