Oprah Interviews Michael Sam: First Openly Gay NFL Player Called F-g By Brothers On TV

Michael Sam said he comes from a family of homophobes and that his brothers called him a "faggot" after he came out as the first openly gay football player earlier this year, Sam told Oprah Winfrey, according to TMZ.

Sam spoke with Oprah for a documentary that aired Saturday, Dec. 27, in which the former St. Louis Rams and Dallas Cowboys practice player detailed how difficult it was for him to be accepted even in his own home.

"They called me a lot of things," Sam said, according to TMZ. "They called me a f-g. They called me gay. They called me anything you could think of — just to hurt me."

During the interview, Sam changed his stance on whether he thinks his sexuality cost him a spot in the NFL. Sam was released by the Rams and the Cowboys, never appearing in a game. He was drafted in the seventh round after winning the SEC Defensive Player of the Year Award at Missouri in 2013.

"I do believe that I'm a very talented football player and I'm going to continue working hard and try to get that opportunity to play in the league," Sam said, according to ESPN.

Oprah asked Sam about the now-famous on-screen kiss he gave his boyfriend after hearing the news he was drafted.

"Some say the kiss, the cake, it was all just too much," Winfrey said. "Some say he wasn't good enough. Others say he should have never come out, one saying the introduction to the program that he would be the mother of all distractions."

But the documentary turned poignant when Sam began telling anecdotes from his early years. One involved his brothers smashing one of his MVP trophies out of spite.

"My older brother, he was so jealous and he just broke them in front of me, and it was just the saddest thing," Sam said, according to The Huffington Post.