The former Mizzou defensive end has already come out to league officials, insiders tell BuzzFeed.
Former University of Missouri star Michael Sam, thought to be one of the top defensive end prospects in the upcoming NFL draft, has informed a circle of advisers that he's gay and plans to become the league's first out gay player.
Sam finished his senior season as the SEC's co-Defensive Player of the Year and made a number of All-American teams. He figures to be drafted somewhere in the first three rounds in May, according to most league analysts.
If Sam is drafted and then makes an NFL roster, he will be responsible for breaking a barrier that many — even out gay former NFL player Esera Tuaolo — never thought would happen in his lifetime.
"This is what everybody has been waiting for," Tuaolo told BuzzFeed Sunday night. "Now it's time for the NFL, the owners and each team to either put up and shut up."
The news of Sam's plans was first reported by the New York Times Sunday evening, and Sam soon thereafter took to his new Twitter account to share his thoughts about the moment:
"I just want to make sure I could tell my story the way I want to tell it," said Sam said in an interview with the Times, the first time he's spoken to the media about his orientation. "I just want to own my truth."
At the University of Missouri, Sam revealed his sexual orientation to his college teammates and friends long before deciding to tell national media outlets.
"This is less of a coming out story than a welcoming people in story," said Patrick Burke of the You Can Play! Project, which worked with Sam prior to today's news. "He's been out on campus for a couple of years."
Perhaps not-so-coincidentally, Missouri's athletic department recorded a "You Can Play" commercial — which emphasizes the school's support for LGBT athletes — last fall and sent a version of it to Burke and his staffers.
"We didn't know why it was sent to us," Burke said. "Now we get it. The best athlete they had on campus was gay."