Last year as the NFL Draft was approaching, there was plenty of attention paid to Michael Sam. He had recently come out as the first openly-gay professional athlete in the four major sports. After getting drafted in the seventh round by the St. Louis Rams, Sam didn’t make the team and ended up on the Dallas Cowboys’ practice squad for a short period of time. Sam is looking for a new job this offseason and made something very clear in a first-person essay for Sports Illustrated’s Monday Morning Quarterback.
“I don’t believe that being gay has kept me off an NFL roster but I will challenge anyone who says I don’t have the talent to make it in the league.” Sam clearly has the talent, he showed that while playing at the University of Missouri but the stigma about having an openly gay player is still out there and many teams don’t want to go there.
Sam is hoping to be participating at the veteran combine which is coming up in March looking to find a new team. However, it is an application process so Sam may not make it to that combine either. It is going to be a tall hill to climb for Sam to ever stick on a NFL roster. Hopefully, he will get one more chance at it before the 2015 season begins.
