Michael Sam’s dad after ‘I’m gay’ text: Shocked and proud
NBC NEWS - Michael Sam's father said Monday he had no idea his football-star son was gay until he got a text from him on his birthday last week...
Michael Sam’s father said Monday he had no idea his football-star son was gay until he got a text from him on his birthday last week.
“I told him, ‘Well, you could have wished me a happy birthday first,'” the dad, who has the same name, joked to NBC News from the Texas nursing home where he lives.
While he was surprised to hear the news, he fully supports the University of Missouri defensive lineman’s decision to come out.
“I was shocked because I didn’t see it,” the father said. “I mean, you see your kids, but you don’t suspect that.”
“He sent me a text first,” he recalled. What did it say? “I’m gay.”
Then came the phone call a little later in the evening.
“I said was he sure, and he said he was,” the 55-year-old disabled truck driver said.
The two men talked about the athlete’s decision to tell the world about his sexuality.
“I asked him about his career and everything, and he said he was just going to do it,” the father said. “And I said, OK then. He’s in control and he’s grown. No matter what, he’s my son and I still love him.”
He said he had little doubt his son would weather any negativity or criticism his announcement might spawn. After all, he had already endured a lot of adversity for a young man.
A 2-year-old sister, Chanel, drowned in a neighborhood lake before he was born. When he was just a tot, his 16-year-old brother Russell was shot to death. About four years later, another brother, Julian, left work and just vanished.
He has two older brothers, Josh and Chris, who have been in and out of trouble for years and are both in jail, the father said. Two other sisters, at least, “are doing well.”
From an early age, little Michael “wanted to make something of himself,” his father said.
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