He played college football at Washington and Louisville, and was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the fourth round of the 2015 NFL draft.

Sample attended Grant Union High School in Sacramento, California, where he was teammates with Viliami Moala and Shaq Thompson on the football team.

As a junior, he was named first-team All-Metro and a PrepStar All-American as he helped lead Grant to a 12–1 record, totaling 111 tackles.

He recorded 109 tackles as a senior at Grant, being named a high school All-American and was voted to participate in the U.S. Army All-America Bowl.

[7] He played in four games with two starts his rookie year before suffering a shoulder injury in Week 4, keeping him out the rest of the season.