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Michael Sam, SEC Defensive Player of the Year, says he is gay

Missouri's Michael Sam, the SEC's Defensive Player of the Year, led the league with 11.5 sacks in 2013.

Missouri's Michael Sam, the SEC's Defensive Player of the Year, led the league with 11.5 sacks in 2013.

It's telling, too, that no one in Sam's orbit "outed" him, enabling him to tell his story on his terms and timetable. At some level this is a story about a generation gap. Sam and his cohort were raised in the era of Will & Grace and Modern Family, not The Brady Bunch, let alone My Three Sons. Friends, coaches and teammates all invoked the same line: It just wasn't a big deal.

Michael Sam (52) was a unanimous first-team All-America selection by both the AP and the Football Writers Association of America.

Michael Sam (52) was a unanimous first-team All-America selection by both the AP and the Football Writers Association of America.

WERTHEIM: Q&A with Missouri star and NFL draft prospect Michael Sam

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