Posted on 03/24/2016 7:26:47 AM PDT by TroutStalker
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — A longtime NFL reporter revealed Wednesday the NFL agreed to a deal where the Los Angeles Rams — then St. Louis — didn’t have to do HBO’s “Hard Knocks” series in 2014 if they drafted Michael Sam.
“Sources say NFL agreed not to have Rams on Hard Knocks in 2014 if they drafted Michael Sam,” Howard Balzer tweeted.
Sam was the first openly gay player drafted by an NFL team. The Rams selected him in the seventh round of the 2014 NFL Draft.
Sam was not shocked by the report.
“I’m not surprised at all,” Sam tweeted.
Balzer reported the NFL was concerned Sam wouldn’t be drafted, so a deal was made with the Rams.
“Rams didn’t want Hard Knocks even without Sam. League concerned he wouldn’t be drafted. Deal made,” Balzer said.
(Excerpt) Read more at newyork.cbslocal.com ...
“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.
It was quite obvious at the time. Gay Sam sure didn’t seem to have the qualifications needed to make the NFL other than being a poster child for the the queer movement.
And then Jerry Jones got something for signing him to the Practice Squad. Take it to the bank.
Super Bowl-Atlanta.
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.
I think the fact that Sam was drafted in the last round and didn't make it out of training camp supports that. The NFL is a business. The Rams chose Sam because he was a Mizzou player and that might make the fan base happy, but once it was clear that he couldn't play at the NFL level he was dumped.
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.
They were blackmailing states long before Michael Sam. Just ask Arizona about the 1990 Super Bowl.
Sam is one of a number of very talented college players who just did not have the extraordinary level of abilities it takes to play in the NFL.
Aaron Donald was a rookie All Pro. With him in the fold they did not really need Sam. Plus Sam is reportedly slow even by bench-player standards.
Yes, it did. But all the way back in the 70’s, it was reclassified as a ‘variation on normal’. This is the psychology/psychiatry our country has been living with for decades. It is just dominating the culture now.......Leftists are very patient in their incrementalism.
That’s because in the NFL mindset, they the NFL, are the one true deity, greater than anything that has come before, and they don’t want the threat from lessors.
Yet Tebow was crucified relentlessly !! Where were the silent majority voices then!! :(
“And then Jerry Jones got something for signing him to the Practice Squad.”
*****
Whatever Sam got paid for practice squad, Jones got a high ROI with all of the free press. If Manziel wasn’t being investigated for domestic violence, I’m sure Jones would be doing the same thing with him for the publicity.
He’d rather star in a film called, “Hard C***S”...
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