Bill Bradley, contributing editor
For Michael Sam, it's about football.
The seventh-round pick of the St. Louis Rams made it known that he is more than the first openly gay football player to be drafted. He is a pro football player hungry for an NFL roster spot.
"When you see me, like I said earlier, I'm determined to be great," Sam said Tuesday during the Rams' press conference for rookies at the team's training facility. "I'm determined to make this team, and I have every confidence in myself to make the team. So when I do make it, and I put my pads on, you'll see No. 96 running down the field making big plays with his team."
That's one of the adaptions Sam will have to make to the NFL, like giving up his signature No. 50 for a team-issued No. 96.
But the former Missouri Tigers linebacker, who was voted the Southeastern Conference's defensive player of the year in last season, met the press with his focus clearly on the playing field rather than his spot in history. He took the rapid fire questions like he was dodging blockers.
Has the gravity of the moment sunk in?
"No, all my focus has been on trying to make the team."
Does he think his sexuality affected his draft status?
"I have no idea. I know by the seventh round, pick No. 249, Michael Sam's name got called, and here I am."
Does he support gay marriage?
"I will support all equality. It doesn't have to be just gay rights. But right now, I'm focused on football. I will always support equality. Period. But my job is to focus on this team so we can win championships.
How do you handle the negative Twitter comments?
"You want to know how I handle it? I don't read them."
Did the NFL Scouting Combine negatively affect his draft stock?
"The combine was for to make an NFL team, I made it once, so I guess the combine doesn't really matter anymore."
The combine doesn't matter anymore to Rams coach Jeff Fisher, either. He said it was important that Sam was drafted.
Fisher made it clear that Sam has a challenge ahead to make the roster because the team's defense is so strong. The Rams didn't even bring Sam in for a private interview.
However, Sam's abilities were too good to pass up in the seventh round, Fisher said.
"(Defensive line) coach (Mike) Waufle met with him," Fisher said. "We didn't do a private workout because we didn't have a big need at the position.
"So as the draft moves along, when they're selecting in the sixth or seventh round, they're picking players who have higher grades than the round in which they're picking. They're picking value players, and shortly before we got to our pick, Michael's value as a football player was off the charts."
So far his fellow rookies are thrilled about Sam as a person and a football player.
"He's a good teammate -- a lot of leadership," said EJ Gaines, a sixth-round pick and a teammate of Sam's at Missouri. "He brings something different to the team. I'm excited to see what he can do for the Rams."
Added Demetrius Rhaney, a seventh-round pick from Tennessee State: "I'm happy they gave him the opportunity to play. He earned it. He had a good senior campaign."
Sam said the stress of coming out as gay and then waiting to be picked in the NFL Draft was nothing compared to issues he faced growing up.
He is one of eight children with his parents separating when he was very young. He watched one of his older brothers die from a gunshot wound, two others are in prison, a fourth has been missing since 1998 and one of his sisters died at infancy.
"You know, adversity hits everyone, and depending on what you want to do with it," Sam said. "I wanted to get out and do great things. I played sports, got better at football. I got better at my grades. I went to college.
"I was the first person in my family to graduate, and now I'm the first person in my family to go to the NFL, so I'll just keep on fighting. keep fighting the good fight."
Despite his focus on football, it's obvious he is aware of his place in history and the message it sends to others.
"It's OK to be who you are," he said. "whether you're gay, straight, black or white, to be comfortable in your own skin."
