Michael Sam was the only openly gay player in the NFL when he reported to rookie camp in July, but he wasn't the only gay player in the league. Sam said in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that a handful of gay NFL players have thanked him for stepping forward.
In a brief teaser clip, Sam indicates that multiple players contacted him. While he doesn't provide names or numbers, he does state that they expressed their gratitude for his decision to publicly identify as gay.
Sam states that it was a small "few" who contacted him, but those who did said they wished they had his courage to come out, via The Washington Post:
"Gay men in the NFL reached out to me and showed their respect and admired my courage," Sam told Winfrey. "There's a lot of us out there. I'm not the only one. I'm just the only one who's open."
The entire interview will be aired along with a 90-minute documentary about Sam this Saturday night at 9 p.m. ET on OWN.
Sam was selected with the No. 249 overall pick in the 2014 Draft by the St. Louis Rams. Sam did not make the Rams' 53-man roster and was not added to the team's practice squad. He was signed to the Dallas Cowboys practice squad in September, before being released near the end of October.