Short answer: no. Sam’s “coming out” was timed exactly for impact in the NFL draft. By his own admission, he knew he was gay years before. And his sexual preference wasn’t exactly a secret back in Texas, where he grew up and played high school ball.
By coming out when he did, Sam focused a lot of attention on himself—far more that would normally be afforded a low-round, marginal NFL prospect. He practically forced an NFL team to use a draft pick on him and keep him around longer than you’d reasonably expect.
As others have noted, the Rams already had a lot of depth on the DL—why waste a pick on a guy who’s too short to play DE in the NFL, too small to be a DT and too slow to be an outside line backer. And the Rams have known for several weeks that Sam wasn’t effective enough on special teams to make the final roster. Instead, they generated some favorable publicity by drafting the first openly gay player and keeping him around for the duration of training camp.
Sam’s carefully-timed strategy almost worked. If he had been better on kickoff coverage or the punting team, he might have made the roster.
Very well said.
If it weren’t for that...this would be a non-story. Most wouldn’t even know who the guy is.