Michael Sam talks to Oprah Winfrey
about the bullying he endured from his five brothers growing up in
Hitchcock, Texas.
On Saturday, cabler OWN: Oprah Winfrey
Network will premiere Michael Sam, a 90-minute documentary on
Sam's life.
The 24-year-old Sam, the SEC defensive
player of the year in 2013, was cut by the St. Louis Rams before the
start of the season. He then joined the Cowboys' 10-man practice
squad, where he stayed for seven weeks before being let go.
In an exclusive interview to be
broadcast following the film's premiere, Sam sits down with Oprah
Winfrey.
“They used to abuse me daily,” Sam
said. “Maybe just for fun. Maybe because I was different.”
“They called me a lot of things.
They called me fag. They called me gay. Anything you could think of
just to hurt me.”
In the seventh grade, “I got [my
first] trophy,” Sam said.
“[A]nd my mom was so proud of me.
And it was the first time any of her kids had achievement that high.
It was most valuable player. And I was so proud of those trophies.”
“My older [brother],” he explained,
“he was so jealous and he just broke them in front of me. And it
was the saddest thing. I couldn't have anything without them
destroying it or taking it from me.”