Sam I Am

(CNN) -- Michael Sam, an All-American defensive lineman from the University of Missouri, publicly revealed that he's gay Sunday, creating the possibility he'll be the first openly gay player drafted by the National Football League.

"I came to tell the world I'm an openly proud gay man," he said in an interview with ESPN.

He said he told his Missouri teammates in August and suffered no repercussions. He said he was surprised to discover many people in the media already knew he was gay.

"I understand how big this is," Sam said in the ESPN interview. "It's a big deal. No one has done this before. And it's kind of a nervous process, but I know what I want to be ... I want to be a football player in the NFL." ...more.