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I’m sorry, but I think that’s all bullshit. The second article is slightly better, but not much. And not saying you or anyone agrees with it, but this is where I come down on the articles.
The entire premise acquiesces to the idea that Michael Sam’s draft stock was entirely unaffected by him coming out prior to the Combine. It was.
Plenty of guys have had less than perfect Combines only to have the Draftniks focus on the player’s production. In Michael Sam’s case, we saw a whole bunch of “yeah, but…yabut, yabut” dissection, deflection and dismissal of his production in what’s considered the toughest college football conference.
The point is that if Michael Sam hadn’t come out (the NFL would still have known he was gay, but just left it alone if he’d left it alone…or at least some teams would have), presuming he wasn’t outed by some media outlet, then he likely still stays a 3rd to 5th round draft pick and likely isn’t a Ram, but also likely isn’t “fighting” to make a roster, but is looked at more as “how he can contribute” as a rookie.
All of this is a bunch of “let them down easy” tripe and I don’t buy it. I never bought the BS that his coming out didn’t affect him and the problem is that the rest of the reporting has come from the position that his 7th round draft position was natural and correct when it never was. The 7th round position was the function of collusion with respect to Sam’s status not only as a young, openly gay athlete, but JUST as important, as someone who by announcing BEFORE the Combine, someone who sought to take control over his own narrative, which the OWNER class fucking hates with a passion. So, between being openly gay and trying to be in charge of himself, he was really pissing off the owners where it counts.
I don’t have any doubts that if the NFL had it’s way, Michael Sam would not only be cut, but would go the way of Tim Tebow…sell a lot of jerseys, but not play in the NFL, ever.
None of this changes things for the Rams’ staff, whom I think now that they have Sam on board will judge him solely on football criteria.
That said, we all know a 4th round pick is looked at differently than a 7th round pick and that’s where the story gets sticky… because unlike Ethan Westbrooks who deserved to be a UDFA because of life choices and now deserves his chance and is making the most of it and I hope he continues, Michael Sam deserved to be a 3rd to 5th round pick by all accounts (I had him higher, but even conservative folks had him no worse than a 5th rounder), so a 4th round pick is a very fair compromise. As such, if Michael Sam had been drafted in the 4th round, more would be expected of him, he’d be getting more shots simply by virtue of his draft status and he’d be expected to make a roster unless something came up.
So, yes, he’s fighting to make a roster. But, no, it won’t be a victory if he doesn’t make it because it was bullshit homophobia and corporate oligarchy that kept him from starting this process from an entirely different perspective. Not saying he would have been a 1st round draft pick, but even a 4th rounder is much more likely to make the roster while a 7th rounder just…isn’t.
Michael Sam started with 2 strikes as the 249th pick. That doesn’t mean he’s out (no pun, intended). But it does mean that those first two strikes were complete bullshit and to not acknowledge that isn’t to really speak to Michael Sam’s story with any integrity. It’s really telling the narrative according to someone else’s agenda.
Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.
