Michael Sam: I should've been drafted in the first three rounds

cbs sportsline ^ | 5-11-14 | John Breech

[FlJoePa]

Former Missouri defensive end Michael Sam became the first openly gay player in NFL history to be drafted when the Rams took him with the 249th pick on Saturday, but Sam almost didn't make history because he almost fell out of the draft.

Sam was taken with the eighth-to-last pick, meaning he almost wasn't drafted at all, something he found rather shocking. The NFL's first openly gay player said he should've been picked higher.

"From last season alone, I should've been in the first three rounds -- SEC Defensive player of the year, All-American," Sam said, listing off his 2013 accomplishments, via the Rams official website. "I should have gone in the top three rounds easily."

Instead of going in the first three rounds though, Sam almost didn't go in any round. So what would have happened if Sam wasn't drafted?

According to NFL Network, the Bears, Giants and Ravens were all interested in signing Sam if he hadn't been taken by St. Louis. The Rams also would have tried to sign Sam if they hadn't grabbed him with the 249th pick.

Bears coach Marc Trestman said on Saturday that Sam would have been a defensive end in Chicago, not a linebacker, "When someone has that number of sacks, you have to pay attention to that," Trestman said of the Bears' interest in Sam, via the Chicago Sun-Times.

As it is though, Sam is with the Rams, and he's happy about that. "The Rams know what the hell they're doing."

And what the Rams did was draft Sam, which you can watch below.

[FlJoePa]

Imagine the positive impact on kids across the nation if espn would have hyped John Urschel’s drafting as much as they did Sam’s. But of course, that doesn’t sell clicks and ratings to their nearly comatose audience.

[stylin19a]

"...here were receivers who had better bench presses ...."

hell, there was a punter who had better bench press stats.

[BipolarBob]

Yep, that’s what I thought all along. They’ve screwed themselves.

[BeadCounter]

Kudos to the Dolphins who tweeted disapproval even if they in turn deleted it. The tweet wasn’t that bad. Just saying something like “horrible” per seeing the picture.

[ilgipper]

And this is why the whole thing is a circus side show. This guy wants to be the next grievance poster boy. Frankly, no one really cares whether there are gay people in the nfl, nba or the office next door. It has become patently clear this guy wants to be a gay community hero first and anything else second.

As a fan, it makes zero difference if gay guys are playing. Players have a right to have misgivings in the looker room. From group dressing to showers to locker room talk, having a homosexual there could be a problem. It is not a problem with certainly, but there is lots of room for potential issues of one kind or another. With a grievance seeker, it is nearly certain. There have undoubtably been gay people in the league throughout its history, but now we are going see the circus that results. Sam is likely to get cut as a seventh rounder. Then, the fun will really begin. Alternatively Fisher will leave him on the roster over others and cause other issues.

[Norm Lenhart]

Buy more cable/dish programming. That’ll show’em.

[BushCountry]

Suck it up buttercup.

[RichInOC]

Mike Sam: Still not as round-heeled as Jim Everett.

[BookmanTheJanitor]

well, at least his sense of entitlement is strong.

[massmike]

[BeadCounter]

Sam’s being outrageous, the photo Drudge ran obviously seems to be a bit erotic, it looks like Sam’s boyfriend had birthday cake on his mouth. I thought it was a bit suggestive.

[TomGuy]

Another athlete prima donna or diva.

[DJlaysitup]

While I am surprised that he didn’t go higher...I followed the Falcons’ draft pretty closely. GMs/Coaches tend to be obsessed with “measure-ables” at the combine. Speed and strength are key. They also expect that a player will show up to the combine in top shape and do his very best.

[dfwgator]

Rams want to move out of St Louis, the NFL can make it real easy for them, or real hard.

I suspect there was some discussion of this.

[RightGeek]

What are the chances of him even making the cut at training camp. Oh wait, he can always play the GAY card.

[Longbow1969]

After the cut downs, Sam will almost certainly be released by the Rams and become a free agent. If he stays in football shape, he might get a look during the season as teams suffer injuries and refill their practice squad.

Hard to know who is going to successfully go from being a good college player to the NFL level. Very, very few really succeed at it. My guess is Sam isn’t good enough, but we shall see.

[Steven Tyler]

Of course-if he has talent, he would have gone higher.

Truth, he is an affirmative action PC selection. He took a draft spot from someone with actual talent and potential

[Colonel_Flagg]

32 teams disagreed, “Sam I Ram”.

[BeadCounter]

Your analysis is spot on. As I read another person say, if someone comes out at work and says “I’m gay”, the reaction may well be “Why are you telling us this?”. So, Sam is being a bit of a Crusader. Maybe some forces behind him are pushing him to act a certain way. You never know.

[House Atreides]

“...he will always have a bad attitude and a chip on his shoulder.”
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He’s ALREADY displaying it...that and a sense of entitlement.