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“I was not trying to focus on coming out to everyone. During the season, my main focus was winning games, trying to go to the SEC championship and trying to go to the national championship. “My coaches said if I ever wanted to tell my story, they would support me 100%. They rallied around me, and they support me even now,” Sam said at the time. Sam came out to his Missouri teammates in 2013 before publicly coming out in February 2014. "Lastly, the NFL never encouraged or discouraged me regarding the selection of a potential prospect," Fisher wrote. It took courage to serve as a role model for those competitive football players who may also happen to be gay."įisher made it clear that the league never made a call in his draft decisions, either. "I continue to support Michael, and his decision to come out as the first draft eligible openly gay player in the league," Fisher wrote on Twitter. Fisher listed his draft-day resume, including his status as SEC co-defensive player of the year, as a key reason.įisher also noted that his teams never made a draft-day decision based on sexual orientation and offered his support to Sam. Now, the coach that drafted Sam came to his defense.įormer long-time NFL coach Jeff Fisher took to Twitter Tuesday evening to clarify why he selected Sam in the NFL Draft. Louis Rams selected Sam in the 2014 NFL Draft, the franchise made history. More: Ex-NFL player Ryan O'Callaghan, who is openly gay, on Jon Gruden: 'It's never OK' to use homophobic slurs Jeff Fisher weighs in on Michael Sam "As someone who played for him, it's highly, highly disappointing, to say the least," Riddick said. "I'll just leave it at that." Sam congratulated Nassib on Twitter then.ĮSPN Monday Night Football analyst Louis Riddick, a former player under Gruden with the 1998 Oakland Raiders, detailed his shock at the findings during the Baltimore Ravens-Indianapolis Colts game Monday. Gruden was at the forefront of this conversation this past summer, as Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib came out as the first openly gay active player in the NFL last June. Sam did not respond directly but used the praying hands emoji to quote-tweet a user on Twitter who thanked him for his bravery on National Coming Out Day. More: What did Jon Gruden's emails say? What we know about his resignation as Las Vegas Raiders coach How did Michael Sam, others respond to Jon Gruden's emails? Gruden signed a 10-year contract worth $100 million in February 2018 to begin his second stint as the coach of the Raiders.
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Gruden resigned as head coach of the Raiders roughly an hour after the story's publication. The plethora of emails came to light as part of a completely separate investigation by NFL officials into workplace misconduct that did not directly involve Gruden.Īside from mentioning Sam, Gruden also directed an anti-gay slur toward NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell while condemning female referees in the league and NFL players protesting during the national anthem. The email was one of many made public after the New York Times published a story on their contents late Monday. Louis Rams' decision to select former Tiger star Michael Sam, an openly gay defensive end, in the 2014 NFL Draft, USA Today reported. Now-former Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden used a homophobic term in an email when referring to the then-St. One of the most recognized football players in Missouri program history is at the epicenter of one of the most egregious sports stories of 2021.