{"id":10702,"date":"2014-11-19T12:05:11","date_gmt":"2014-11-19T17:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/michael-sam-retires-says-there-are-closeted-players-in-every-sport\/"},"modified":"2014-11-19T12:05:11","modified_gmt":"2014-11-19T17:05:11","slug":"michael-sam-retires-says-there-are-closeted-players-in-every-sport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/michael-sam-retires-says-there-are-closeted-players-in-every-sport\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Sam Retires, Says There Are Closeted Players In Every Sport"},"content":{"rendered":"

Michael Sam Retires, Says There Are Closeted Players In Every Sport<\/b><\/p>\n

\n

\"2014<\/a>It has been 18 exhilarating months since I came out in Sports Illustrated<\/em> as the first openly gay<\/a> man<\/a> in one of the four major professional team sports. And it has been nine months since I signed with the Nets<\/a> and became the first openly gay<\/a> male<\/a> athlete to appear in a game in one of those leagues. It feels wonderful to have been part of these milestones for sports and for gay<\/a> rights, and to have been embraced by the public, the coaches, the players, the league and history.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday at the Barclays Center, I plan to announce my retirement as an NBA player. …<\/p>\n

… There are still no publicly gay<\/a> players in the NFL, NHL or major league baseball. Believe me: They exist. Every pro sport has them. I know some of them personally. When we get to the point where a gay<\/a> pro athlete is no longer forced to live<\/a> in fear that he’ll be shunned by teammates or outed by tabloids, when we get to the point where he plays while his significant other waits in the family room, when we get to the point where he’s not compelled to hide his true self and is able to live<\/a> an authentic life, then coming out won’t be such a big deal. But we’re not there yet.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

— 38-year-old Michael Sam<\/a>, recently named one of <\/em>GQ‘s Men of the Year, and the first openly gay<\/a> NFL draft, announcing his retirement in a column he wrote for<\/a> <\/em>Sports Illustrated<\/p>\n

\n<\/a> <\/a>\n<\/div>\n

Jeremy Kinser<\/p>\n

feedproxy.google.com\/~r\/queerty2\/~3\/BCm1f3B5Lpg\/michael-sam-retires-says-there-are-closeted-players-in-every-sport-20141119<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michael Sam Retires, Says There Are Closeted Players In Every Sport It has been 18 exhilarating months since I came out in Sports Illustrated as the first openly gay<\/a> man<\/a> in one of the four major professional team sports. And it has been nine months since I signed with the Nets and became the first openly gay<\/a> male<\/a> athlete … Continue reading Michael Sam Retires, Says There Are Closeted Players In Every Sport<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2466,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[107],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nMichael Sam Retires, Says There Are Closeted Players In Every Sport - GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/michael-sam-retires-says-there-are-closeted-players-in-every-sport\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Michael Sam Retires, Says There Are Closeted Players In Every Sport - GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Michael Sam Retires, Says There Are Closeted Players In Every Sport It has been 18 exhilarating months since I came out in Sports Illustrated as the first openly gay man in one of the four major professional team sports. And it has been nine months since I signed with the Nets and became the first openly gay male athlete … Continue reading Michael Sam Retires, Says There Are Closeted Players In Every Sport →\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/michael-sam-retires-says-there-are-closeted-players-in-every-sport\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-11-19T17:05:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp\/docs\/2014\/06\/022414-nfl-Michael-Sam-pi-mp-360x202.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"GayFriendschat.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@gayfriendschat\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@gayfriendschat\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"GayFriendschat.com\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/michael-sam-retires-says-there-are-closeted-players-in-every-sport\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/michael-sam-retires-says-there-are-closeted-players-in-every-sport\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"GayFriendschat.com\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/181913201d50f65b9bba7437f822a17f\"},\"headline\":\"Michael Sam Retires, Says There Are Closeted Players In Every Sport\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-11-19T17:05:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/michael-sam-retires-says-there-are-closeted-players-in-every-sport\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":305,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/michael-sam-retires-says-there-are-closeted-players-in-every-sport\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com\\\/wp\\\/docs\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/022414-nfl-Michael-Sam-pi-mp-360x202.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"NEWS\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/michael-sam-retires-says-there-are-closeted-players-in-every-sport\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/michael-sam-retires-says-there-are-closeted-players-in-every-sport\\\/\",\"name\":\"Michael Sam Retires, Says There Are Closeted Players In Every Sport - GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/michael-sam-retires-says-there-are-closeted-players-in-every-sport\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/michael-sam-retires-says-there-are-closeted-players-in-every-sport\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com\\\/wp\\\/docs\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/022414-nfl-Michael-Sam-pi-mp-360x202.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-11-19T17:05:11+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/michael-sam-retires-says-there-are-closeted-players-in-every-sport\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/michael-sam-retires-says-there-are-closeted-players-in-every-sport\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/michael-sam-retires-says-there-are-closeted-players-in-every-sport\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com\\\/wp\\\/docs\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/022414-nfl-Michael-Sam-pi-mp-360x202.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com\\\/wp\\\/docs\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/022414-nfl-Michael-Sam-pi-mp-360x202.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/michael-sam-retires-says-there-are-closeted-players-in-every-sport\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Michael Sam Retires, Says There Are Closeted Players In Every Sport\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/\",\"name\":\"GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com\",\"description\":\"LGBT BLOG\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"GayFriendsChat.com\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/Logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/Logo.jpg\",\"width\":243,\"height\":96,\"caption\":\"GayFriendsChat.com\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/gayfriendschat\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/181913201d50f65b9bba7437f822a17f\",\"name\":\"GayFriendschat.com\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/42a0cb75ed5dd34c6dc3e0aa48adf030c1c38a2c9dc59146f4afdf18e4bdf1d4?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/42a0cb75ed5dd34c6dc3e0aa48adf030c1c38a2c9dc59146f4afdf18e4bdf1d4?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/42a0cb75ed5dd34c6dc3e0aa48adf030c1c38a2c9dc59146f4afdf18e4bdf1d4?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"GayFriendschat.com\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/author\\\/gayfriendschat-com\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Michael Sam Retires, Says There Are Closeted Players In Every Sport - GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/michael-sam-retires-says-there-are-closeted-players-in-every-sport\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Michael Sam Retires, Says There Are Closeted Players In Every Sport - GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com","og_description":"Michael Sam Retires, Says There Are Closeted Players In Every Sport It has been 18 exhilarating months since I came out in Sports Illustrated as the first openly gay man in one of the four major professional team sports. And it has been nine months since I signed with the Nets and became the first openly gay male athlete … Continue reading Michael Sam Retires, Says There Are Closeted Players In Every Sport →","og_url":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/michael-sam-retires-says-there-are-closeted-players-in-every-sport\/","og_site_name":"GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com","article_published_time":"2014-11-19T17:05:11+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp\/docs\/2014\/06\/022414-nfl-Michael-Sam-pi-mp-360x202.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"GayFriendschat.com","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@gayfriendschat","twitter_site":"@gayfriendschat","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"GayFriendschat.com","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/michael-sam-retires-says-there-are-closeted-players-in-every-sport\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/michael-sam-retires-says-there-are-closeted-players-in-every-sport\/"},"author":{"name":"GayFriendschat.com","@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#\/schema\/person\/181913201d50f65b9bba7437f822a17f"},"headline":"Michael Sam Retires, Says There Are Closeted Players In Every Sport","datePublished":"2014-11-19T17:05:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/michael-sam-retires-says-there-are-closeted-players-in-every-sport\/"},"wordCount":305,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/michael-sam-retires-says-there-are-closeted-players-in-every-sport\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp\/docs\/2014\/06\/022414-nfl-Michael-Sam-pi-mp-360x202.jpg","articleSection":["NEWS"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/michael-sam-retires-says-there-are-closeted-players-in-every-sport\/","url":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/michael-sam-retires-says-there-are-closeted-players-in-every-sport\/","name":"Michael Sam Retires, Says There Are Closeted Players In Every Sport - GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/michael-sam-retires-says-there-are-closeted-players-in-every-sport\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/michael-sam-retires-says-there-are-closeted-players-in-every-sport\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp\/docs\/2014\/06\/022414-nfl-Michael-Sam-pi-mp-360x202.jpg","datePublished":"2014-11-19T17:05:11+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/michael-sam-retires-says-there-are-closeted-players-in-every-sport\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/michael-sam-retires-says-there-are-closeted-players-in-every-sport\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/michael-sam-retires-says-there-are-closeted-players-in-every-sport\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp\/docs\/2014\/06\/022414-nfl-Michael-Sam-pi-mp-360x202.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp\/docs\/2014\/06\/022414-nfl-Michael-Sam-pi-mp-360x202.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/michael-sam-retires-says-there-are-closeted-players-in-every-sport\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Michael Sam Retires, Says There Are Closeted Players In Every Sport"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/","name":"GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com","description":"LGBT BLOG","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#organization","name":"GayFriendsChat.com","url":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Logo.jpg","width":243,"height":96,"caption":"GayFriendsChat.com"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/gayfriendschat"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#\/schema\/person\/181913201d50f65b9bba7437f822a17f","name":"GayFriendschat.com","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42a0cb75ed5dd34c6dc3e0aa48adf030c1c38a2c9dc59146f4afdf18e4bdf1d4?s=96&d=blank&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42a0cb75ed5dd34c6dc3e0aa48adf030c1c38a2c9dc59146f4afdf18e4bdf1d4?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42a0cb75ed5dd34c6dc3e0aa48adf030c1c38a2c9dc59146f4afdf18e4bdf1d4?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"GayFriendschat.com"},"url":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/author\/gayfriendschat-com\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2466"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10702"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10702\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}