Michael Sam on Coming Out Before the NFL Draft: “If I had it my way, I never would have done it the way I did.”

A preview of the GQ cover featuring Michael Sam.

Out athlete Michael Sam graces the cover of the GQ “Men of the Year” issue, out on newsstands nationwide November 25, where he gives a candid interview about his childhood, his coming out, and all of that horrible locker room reporting. We have a preview of some of the more poignant moments of Sam’s interview with GQ writer Andrew Corsello.

On Coming Out Before the NFL Draft:

“If I had it my way, I never would have done it the way I did, never would have told it the way I did. But the recruiters knew, and reporters knew, and they talked to each other, and it got out. If I didn’t have the year I did, nobody would have cared. But I have no regrets. Some people can argue that I had the potential to go higher in the draft. But I think everything happens for a reason. It looks good to see me in the position I’m in now, because I can show the world how good I am and rise up the ranks. I’m at the bottom now. I can rise up, show I’m a football player. Not anything else. Just a football player.”

On His Difficult Childhood:

““Only a handful of people really know how I was raised. Certain family members weren’t…there. They were ghosts. My brothers were the ones who were there. Most of the time, that was scary. I tried to stay away as much as possible. We called the cops on my brothers so many times I can’t even count. Not only for hurting me. They’d abuse my sisters. Verbally abuse my mom. My brothers were evil people. I don’t have a relationship with them now. They’ve both written me letters from prison. For them to dare to call themselves my brothers—I can’t live with that.”

On Why He Turned to Football:

“I needed football—it was just something to do, an excuse to not be at home. When I played in junior high and high school, it was a hobby. I was just trying to get away from something. That was the only reason I did it…I loved it. Football was a sense of home. A home I never had.”

On All Of That Horrible Locker Room Reporting:

“I’ll say this: I want to become a distraction! And what I mean is: by making big plays and doing good stuff on the field. Although nobody would print that, because that’s not a story. Gotta keep bringing up the locker-room situation because he’s gay.”

You can read the rest of Sam’s interview here.