ESPN issued a statement Wednesday regarding its story on the shower habits of openly gay NFL player Michael Sam and how his teammates are handling it. “ESPN regrets the manner in which we presented our report. Clearly, yesterday we collectively failed to meet the standards we have set in reporting on LGBT-related topics in sports,” the company said. The report included details like a defensive player saying “Sam is respecting our space” and that Sam was waiting to take a shower to not make teammates uncomfortable. Initially, ESPN shrugged off criticism about the report, saying, “In response to recent questions about Sam fitting in with the team, multiple Rams brought up the shower topic and we relayed that information as part of our reporting.”
