In February 2014, Sam publicly came out as gay after his college career had ended, and became the first publicly gay player drafted in the NFL when he was selected in the seventh round of the 2014 draft. Six months later, Chip Sarafin came out as gay, becoming the first active Division I player to come out as gay. The following season another Division I offensive lineman, Mason Darrow of Princeton, also came out as gay publicly. In August 2015, Sam became the first publicly gay player to play in a Canadian Football League (CFL) regular season game.