#13 Michael Sam
In a league where toughness comes before everything else, the last person you’d expect to come out of the closet is a professional football player. However, Michael Sam is no ordinary man. He came out as gay before the NFL draft and after being the SEC Defensive Player of the Year and an All-American while playing for Missouri.
Despite this, he was the first openly gay football player to be drafted when he was picked 249th in the 7th round of the 2014 Draft. The team ultimately decided against keeping him, and today, he plays for the Barcelona Dragons in the European League of Football.