Michael Sam, born in 1990, was a US collegiate football player at the University of Missouri. At Missouri, in his final season in 2013, Sam was named the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Defensive Player of the Year, and he was also named an All-American. Following his collegiate career, in an interview with ESPN, Sam openly came out as gay. In April 2014, Sam was selected in the seventh round of the National Football League (NFL) draft by the St. Louis Rams, becoming the first openly gay athlete ever to be drafted into the NFL. Subsequently, Sam was awarded the 2014 ESPYS Arthur Ashe Courage Award for "courageously announc[ing] he was gay prior to the NFL draft."