One year later, has Michael Sam been frozen out of the NFL?

[n2doc]

It was a year ago - the Sunday after Super Bowl XLVIII at 8pmET - that Michael Sam turned speculation into reality: One of college football's best players, and a top NFL prospect, was gay.

In the coming months he was showered with praise. Eric Dickerson would offer him congratulations. Michael Irvin would call him his friend. Robert Quinn welcomed him to the Rams. Even the President of the United States, Barack Obama himself, would laud him.

Yet amidst the celebration, the writing on Sam's 2014 NFL wall started three hours after his big announcement a year ago. Days earlier CBS Sports had ranked Sam their No. 90 pre-Draft prospect, projected to be selected in the third round. Simply based on the fact that Sam came out as gay - based on nothing but his sexual orientation - CBS Sports dropped him to pick No. 160 - Mid-fifth round.

In the eyes of CBS Sports, being gay in the NFL cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars and put your draft stock in jeopardy. They weren't the only ones.

more

http://www.outsports.com/2015/2/8/8000303/michael-sam-nfl-teams-gay-roster

[shenmue]

1. I wonder if the Canadian league would give him a chance

[DinahMoeHum]

6. I understand the Montreal team has an interest in him. . .

. . .Plus, the NFL is holding its first "veterans combine" for free agents this spring
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/24964215/nfl-adds-event-veteran-combine-for-free-agents-to-be-held-in-march

My guess is if he doesn't make it to an NFL team, he'll take up on the CFL's offer.

[shenmue]

7. Yay!

[Terra Alta]

2. I was hoping some team would pick him up.

I certainly hope teams aren't avoiding him because of his sex u all orientation.

I think he could do very well, if just given the chance.

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

3. the link doesn't open for me,

I get this message:

Content Encoding Error

The page you are trying to view cannot be shown because it uses an invalid or unsupported form of compression.

Please contact the website owners to inform them of this problem.

[fbc]

4. So I guess Michael Sam is going to become another Tebow?

Wacko Christians swear that the only reason Tim Tebow isn't in the NFL is because of prejudice against his faith. Actually, the reason that Tebow is not in the NFL is because he's not good enough to be in the NFL.

Michael Sam is not on an NFL roster because he's not good enough. He's borderline, so maybe one day he will be. NFL teams are not going to ignore an opportunity to upgrade their team because of Sam's sexual preference.

[n2doc]

5. Read the article

It makes a persuasive case that he is good enough. Frankly Tebow got a full shot, starter and backup for 2 teams. He more than proved that he could not make it as an NFL QB.

NFL teams make stupid, emotion-based decisions all the time. Look at the 49ers, jettisoning an entire excellent coaching staff because the coach and owner couldn't get along. And replacing them with a bunch of nobodies.

[George II]

10. I was thinking the same thing. He's good, but there are a bunch of other good defensive ends...

...I seriously doubt that being gay affected his rating. After all, he announced that he was gay before the draft, but was still drafted.

Some players make it, some don't. Top draft picks wash out, lower draft picks go on to Hall of Fame careers. Remember, Tom Brady was picked #199 and was the 4th string quarterback on the Patriots in his rookie season.

[dirtydickcheney]

8. He wasn't "all of a sudden ranked in the 5th round" because he's gay!!

He went to the combine and showed that he wasnt' a third-round value player.

His drop in value had absolutely nothing to do with his being gay.

If Khalil Mack were gay, he'd still be in the top-10 of the draft. Khalil Mack had an extremely positive rating due to his NFL measurables, which he in turn backed up with his play on the field.

Unfortunately, you need a Jackie Robinson type player - one that almost had Hall-of-Fame written on him before he came in the league.
Michael Sam isn't remotely in that same category.

[Botany]

9. Sam was good college player but .....

... he was too small to play on the D-line in the NFL and too slow
to play @ linebacker in the league. Both the Rams and the Cowboys
gave him a chance to make their teams and he couldn't even stick
on their practice squads.

[nomorenomore08]

11. At the least, this disproves the idiotic argument that his coming-out was somehow an advantage

or a "publicity stunt."

[jmowreader]

12. He has been frozen out of the NFL due to playing ability

Here's his combine results:

http://www.nfl.com/combine/profiles/michael-sam?id=2543734

Mr. Sam's problem is very simple: he can't currently play football well enough to make it in the NFL. If I was his agent I would have sent him to the CFL and let him mature into a pro player there.

[fbc]

13. Here's the issue with Michael Sam:

Michael Sam is a pass rusher.

In the NFL, around half the teams run the a 3-4 defense and around half run a 4-3 defense. in the 3-4, the pass rushers are the 2 outside linebackers. in the 4-3, the pass rushers are the defensive ends.

Michael Sam is what they call a "tweener". He's not really big enough to play DE in a 4-3 where the DE also has run stopping responsibilities, and he's not really agile enough to play OLB in a 3-4 where the OLB also has pass coverage responsibilities.

So what he isn't is a 3 down player, or in other words, a starter. He's a bench guy that teams would want to bring in on obvious passing downs as a pass rush specialist. And if he's a non-starting specialist, he will also most likely have to make a name for himself on special teams as a coverage guy.

So can he play in the NFL? The answer is still maybe. I think he will continue to get chances to prove himself for a few years to come. And I think he has a decent chance of finding a role on a team. But I seriously doubt his open homosexuality will hold him back.

I am an Eagles fan. Michael Sam could not have made the Eagles roster last year. Next year? Maybe... The Eagles could lose Brandon Graham (a former 1st round pick who is not starting) in free agency and with DeMeco Ryans coming back from an injury and Trent Cole getting older the Eagles might be thin at OLB. But even if he does get a shot and make the team, he's still probably going to be a guy that's on the team because you couldn't find anyone better. He'll be a guy that you want to upgrade if possible.

[nomorenomore08]

18. I think he still has value as a pass-rush specialist, if nothing else.

But as you said, he may be too much of an "in-betweener" to play every down.

[rocktivity]

14. Well, duh.

Last edited Thu Mar 28, 2019, 11:20 AM - Edit history (1)

And that openly gay NBA player isn't far behind.

Pro sports RE-closeting accomplished.


rocktivity

[fbc]

15. Jason Collins? He retired.

He's 36 and he was never very good. He was one of those guys that hangs around for years as a backup backup center because he's 7 foot tall.

career stats: 3.6 points a game average, and most of those points were from more than ten years ago.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/collija04.html

[blkmusclmachine]

16. Looks like a concerted effort to drum him out of the sport.

[n2doc]

17. I must say, I am truly amazed at all of the pro scouts here at DU

Amazing number of folks who are certain Sam doesn't have the ability to play in the NFL. I would never have guessed it. Truly stunning.