I was watching "NFL Insiders" on ESPN yesterday. They were discussing Sam. One of the guests said that all the media attention the last few weeks might have emotionally drained Sam, been a huge distraction, and thus affected his performance at the combine. Bill Polian, former Colts GM..jumped all over that, said "EXACTLY!! a distraction!! and that's why NFL teams HATE distractions."
And in a way that may have been the idea all along. Sams is a lot of things but stupid isn't one of them. He is a very bright and articulate individual...who had to know that his chances of being drafted were marginal at best. He also had to know that if he announced his sexual orientation then the NFL would panic at the thought of being seen as homophobic. By announcing, he's pretty much guaranteed to be drafted in some round and at least given a better shot than he could have expected otherwise. He probably figures that he'll have a chance to play his way on to a team as a result. Not a bad plan once you think about it. We'll see if it works.