“The measure of a man is what he does with power.” ~Plato
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Posted on 05/11/2014 7:19:37 PM PDT by FlJoePa
Former Missouri defensive end Michael Sam became the first openly gay player in NFL history to be drafted when the Rams took him with the 249th pick on Saturday, but Sam almost didn't make history because he almost fell out of the draft.
Sam was taken with the eighth-to-last pick, meaning he almost wasn't drafted at all, something he found rather shocking. The NFL's first openly gay player said he should've been picked higher.
"From last season alone, I should've been in the first three rounds -- SEC Defensive player of the year, All-American," Sam said, listing off his 2013 accomplishments, via the Rams official website. "I should have gone in the top three rounds easily."
Instead of going in the first three rounds though, Sam almost didn't go in any round. So what would have happened if Sam wasn't drafted?
According to NFL Network, the Bears, Giants and Ravens were all interested in signing Sam if he hadn't been taken by St. Louis. The Rams also would have tried to sign Sam if they hadn't grabbed him with the 249th pick.
Bears coach Marc Trestman said on Saturday that Sam would have been a defensive end in Chicago, not a linebacker, "When someone has that number of sacks, you have to pay attention to that," Trestman said of the Bears' interest in Sam, via the Chicago Sun-Times.
As it is though, Sam is with the Rams, and he's happy about that. "The Rams know what the hell they're doing."
And what the Rams did was draft Sam, which you can watch below.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbssports.com ...
My theory is the teams with a pick in the final round drew straws and the Rams lost. The Rams have no need to waste a draft pick on that position. Indeed, they have much greater needs at other positions they ignored to do this pick. It should be noted as well that he played for their home state college team.
Good point!
I thought it was interesting that Silas Redd was not drafted. So much for that "business decision" he made after the sanctions were imposed. He did sign with the Redskins as a free agent.
When you play on a defensive line with people like Kony Ealy and your opposition is trying to stop him then it opens opportunities for you and makes you look better than you actually are.
Which leads to the question, where will the SF Fairies loyalties lie? With the Niners, or the Rams?
There is no “I” in “Team”, but “Me” is.
The Rams defense last year was more than formidable. Regardless of Sam being a drama queen, literally, if he’s any good at his job he’s going to get sacks.
The blood to blood contact is something nobody is talking about right now, which I find odd given all the handwringing about concussions.
If you care about concussions, what happens when Sam is diagnosed with Hep C and another player gets infected through casual, non-sexual contact?
You can talk about AIDS all you want - as far as the LBGT community is concerned, that disease is cured, and curable.
The new millennium is all about ‘science from the heart’.
I expect next year, the Rams to be a good ‘Come From Behind’ team.
The NFL is a different game then college. A ton of real good college players don’t make it in the NFL. I predict Sam will disappear from the NFL within a year or two.
Then he’ll become a rising politician in the Democratic Party.
BULLETIN——NFL/ESPN
Let it be known that the NFL/ ESPN Circus after wintering in Miami, Florida has now officially started the 2014 tour in St. Louis. +++++++++++++++++++++
Roger S. Goodell, Giving Head lines news that the Rams will be Fabulous this season with the addition of Michael Sam. Head Coach Jeff Fisher joins with Goodell in welcoming this kind, compassionate, warm, sensitive, and loving player.
Goodell added, it is a relief we don’t have to deal with those bad players in Miami anymore, now that they learned their place!
Uh, no. That’s not how pro sports works.
Wait and see. He is the first and he is “special.” He is not an NFL calibre player and was drafted anyway. Is he happy about that? No, because he is already crying crocodile tears because he wasn’t drafted higher. There will be enormous pressure put on the Rams to play him. And you can rest assured the media will shower him with praise no matter how lousy he plays.
Yep. And when this whiny, clearly self-important, entitled brat causes problems in the locker room, it’s going to be everyone else’s fault but his. Sadly, you need about a half-dozen top-class leaders to make a team effective, but it really only takes one jerk to destroy it.
The sports media has no interest in guaranteeing that Tim Tebow stays in the news, but Sam's fanatics will relentlessly attack anyone who isn't on board with their program, and ESPN, SI, and all the major sports rags and print columnists will join in the feeding frenzy. That's already evident. Who is this guy to the NFL? Nobody. The scouting report on him isn't even average. The fact that a player assessed by scouts as below average is drafted low or not at all isn't even a new item for anyone else.
If he makes it onto the field in the NFL, the first time he's knocked flat on his ass we're going to be subjected to questions about whether he's been singled out for special viciousness. Based on these comments, I don't doubt he'll encourage that kind of idiotic speculation.
John Urschel’s is a real story, not a manufactured one. Unfortunately, the sports media seem to have no use for student athletes who are actually students.
Agreed. I suspect they did it for publicity, not any hope of getting a player to keep.
So the arrogant “I’m ENTITLED” attitude comes to the forefront.
Again, there’s no way the Rams are going to bench an All-Pro for a fringe player.
You don’t understand the game of football or professional sports in general.
How’s that homo NBA player doing? He’s riding the bench and not getting any playing minutes.
Do you think the Rams will actually bench their best defensive player for someone that likely won’t make the team?
If so, you either are deluded or don’t know squat about sports.
Sorry to be so harsh, but there is no way, no how that Sam gets more playing time than Chris Long or Robert Quinn, the latter being the Pro Football Writer’s Defensive Player of the Year.
Sam might make the Practice Squad, but that’s about it.
PS players don’t suit up for games and are only activated when another player at their position is injured for a long period of time and it would be a backup player and not a starter.
Again, I don’t think you know very much about pro sports as your premise defies logic.
The problem is that rules will be changed to the liking of the leftists sooner or later
“The measure of a man is what he does with power.” ~Plato
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He’s got a great story and hearing it over and over again would really help motivate a lot of people and school kids to achieve more with their lives.
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