“The last 12 months have been very difficult for me, to the point where I became concerned with my mental health. Because of this I am going to step away from the game at this time,” Sam said last August. “I thank the Alouettes for this opportunity and hope to be back on the field soon. Thank you all for your understanding and support .”
There was wide speculation at the time that the NFL had more-or-less coerced the Rams into signing Sam, despite his ability/play not being NFL calibre.
He washed out in the US, and subsequently washed out in Canada. Now he’s sitting at home feeling sorry for himself.
What a country we’ve become.
But ... but ... but ... the NFL is meritocracy, where the best play, regardless of any other considerations .... right? They would never push a social agenda ... right?
Homosexuality used to be considered a mental disorder.
And then Jerry Jones got something for signing him to the Practice Squad. Take it to the bank.
If you put the lifestyle thing to the side, and just evaluate on skills and ability alone...he was a two-star player with a team that had some great schedules and he did OK. It was nothing much to brag about or expect some top ten selection in the NFL.
I think his mental health issue is more about realizing now that he has marginal skills for football, and might be lucky to play a season or two, than have to find a real job in life. Note, his degree from Missouri is Parks and Recreation. As long as he’s willing to start in some beginning jobs....he might still be able to do something with the degree, but success in this field? He’ll be in his forties before he’s in charge of anything significant. I think that’s cold hard reality hitting him now....no NFL career and his plan B deal will be tough.
I knew there was some deal in place. Although I thought the deal was that if the Rams wanted to move back to LA, the NFL wouldn’t stop them in exchange for drafting Sam.
This makes a lot of sense. You needed only look at his combine numbers to know that he was not NFL caliber material. He was very slow and his bench press was about what the average cornerback does. Thus, he was too small and weak to play D line and too slow to move to linebacker. The whole thing was clearly a publicity stunt.
That’s not much of a deal really. All being on Hard Knocks does is show everybody why your team sucks.
It’s official: the NFL tampers with team rosters to advance a left-wing, anti-Christian agenda.
I’m starting to tire of the NFL.
Michael Sam could have been the next Reggie White but the homophobic owners shut him out.
Tragic story.
The Rams coach denied any truth in the story on Mike & Mike this morning. He claimed the decision to draft Sam was totally his with no NFL interference.
LOL - if you draft a worthless queer player, your team won’t have to do a worthless reality TV show. Do they play football anymore in the NFL?
Never heard of “Hard Knocks”...what’s it about and why were NFL teams forced to do it?
Goodell- the man who destroyed football all by his own.
Both Sam and Tim tebow were made by the media but both proved not to be NFL material. Enough of putting mediocre players on the pedestal when not deserved.
Remember all the praise for Sam and the NFL in the media.
Remember Oprah brought a camera crew to film Sam's every practice.
Roger Goodell has made one bad decision after another.
From the Wells Report to Ray rice to Adrien Peterson to Tom Brady Goodell has been a disaster.