It’s kind of kismet that something like this happens amidst an Olympics that’s being played against the backdrop of Russia’s anti-gay legislation. Though we all know it would happen, it seems the time has finally come for an NFL player to announce that they were gay. Missouri DE Michael Sam announced today that he is gay and is on the very precipice of being the first openly gay player in the NFL.

In a piece by the NY Times, Michael said that he told his teammates that he was gay in August and that they supported him. He then went on to win SEC Defensive Player of the Year and is poised to go pretty high in the draft.

This was certainly a long time coming and it’s definitely a huge momentous occasion. The NFL is one of the paragons of masculinity in this country and for Sam to have announced on his terms and moving forward, it is groundbreaking. It’s not going to be an easy ride but the one thing that Sam has going for him is his skills and if he’s successful who knows what could be next.

Moving forward, it’ll be interesting to see the type of hate he’ll get but more so how the locker room will handle it. It shouldn’t be news but it matters that someone be allowed to live their life freely and how they want to.

Congrats to Michael and Best Wishes in the NFL.