Michael Sam -- Gay NFL Players Came Out to Me ... Some Are Very Famous

Michael Sam says there are "a lot" of gay players in the NFL -- including "some famous people" ... but Sam says he is sworn to secrecy and will not reveal their identities.

Sam spoke with the media in Dallas on Thursday and said, "I am not the only gay person in the NFL. I'm just saying there is a lot of us."

Sam says multiple players have reached out to him and "had the courage to tell me that they were also gay, but they do not have the same courage as I do to come out before I even played a down in the NFL."

"The players who have reached out to me and told me about their sexual orientation, it just means a lot. But I will never say anything about who they are, what teams they're [on]. I'm just saying there's some famous people, and I'm not the only one."

He also expanded on why he came out at the time he did -- before the 2014 Draft -- saying, "Was it a risky move? Yes. But at that moment, the reason why I came out is I thought it wasn't going to be a big deal. Maybe I was naive. Maybe I thought it was 2014, and people will understand that there's gay NFL players."