Rams Made Deal With NFL To Draft Michael Sam To Not Film ‘Hard Knocks,’ Report Says
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newyork.cbslocal.com ^
| March 23, 2016
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...
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NFL reportedly made deal with Rams to draft Michael Sam
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Fox News ^
| March 24, 2016 | Staff
The Los Angeles Rams announced Wednesday that they will appear in the HBO series "Hard Knocks." According to a new report, the team could have been on the show sooner if they didn't draft Michael Sam in 2014. Sources
told St. Louis radio station 590 The Fan the NFL agreed to not ask the Rams to appear on the HBO show if they drafted Sam, who was the sport’s first openly gay player. The Rams, then in St. Louis, were seen as a perfect fit for Sam because he attended Missouri, was the 2013 SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year...
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Michael Sam tweets his departure from football, citing mental health
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ESPN ^
| 8/14/2015 | ESPN News Services
Michael Sam will step away from professional football, he announced via Twitter on Friday night. Sam,
the 25-year-old who began the season with the CFL's Montreal Alouettes, cited a tumultuous past year for leaving football at this time. The Alouettes confirmed in a release that Sam has left the club for "personal reasons" and that he has been added to the team's suspended list. Sam made the announcement in a series of three tweets.
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Michael Sam tweets his departure from football, citing mental health
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ESPN ^
| 8/14/2015 | ESPN.com news services
Michael Sam will step away from professional football, he announced via Twitter on Friday night. Sam,
the 25-year-old who began the season with the CFL's Montreal Alouettes, cited a tumultuous past year for leaving football at this time. The Alouettes confirmed in a release that Sam has left the club for "personal reasons" and that he has been added to the team's suspended list. Sam made the announcement in a series of three tweets.
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Michael Sam & Vito: ALL SIGNS POINT TO BREAKUP
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TMZ ^
| 30 June 2015 | TMZ Staff
Hold off on the wedding gifts ... 'cause it seems Michael Sam and his fiance Vito Cammisano are DUNZO ... just 6 months after the couple got engaged. Sam's
people and Vito's camp are being unusually tight lipped about the couple's official status -- but the signs are all over social media. Here are the clues ... Clue #1 -- Michael has REMOVED several affectionate photos of himself and Vito from Twitter and Instagram recently, including their famous engagement pic taken at St. Peter's Basilica. Clue #2 -- The couple hasn't been spotted together in almost 2 months ... even...
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Michael Sam leaves Montreal Alouettes training camp a day before first CFL preseason game
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washingtonpost.com ^
The professional football career of Michael Sam hit another bump on Friday when he left the Montreal Alouettes training camp to return to Texas because of personal reasons. The
team confirmed Sam’s departure in a statement. “Friday morning, Michael asked the team for special permission to leave training camp and return home for personal reasons,” it said. “Out of respect for Michael Sam, the nature of this decision will remain confidential.” It continued: “The Montreal Alouettes fully respect Michael Sam’s decision and we rally around him to offer all the support needed. The team has left the door open and...
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Michael Sam away from CFL team for 'personal reasons'
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Fox Sports ^
| 6/12/15
Michael Sam's CFL career has hit a snag. The
Alouettes released a statement regarding Sam Friday evening: "The Montreal Alouettes organization would like to clarify the situation surrounding international defensive end Michael Sam. Friday morning, Michael asked the team a special permission to leave training camp and return home for personal reasons. "With all due respect for Michael Sam, the nature of this decision will remain confidential. "The Montreal Alouettes fully respect Michael Sam's decision and rally around him to offer him all time and support needed. The team has left the door open and Michael is welcome to come...
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Burke: Michael Sam signing with CFL historic moment
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AP ^
| May. 26, 2015 | AP
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Brian Burke believes the Montreal Alouettes signing of Michael Sam is a tipping point in professional sports. The
Calgary Flames president of hockey operations, who co-founded You Can Play in memory of his late son, says the arrival of the openly gay player in the CFL will be a watershed moment. "I think it's huge," Burke told The Canadian Press on Tuesday. "To me, this is one of those 20, 30, 40 years from now, people will look back and say 'remember when Michael Sam signed with the Alouettes?' "We know we have gay athletes in...
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Michael Sam signs with CFL's Montreal Alouettes
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MSN ^
Former Missouri star Michael Sam, who became the first publicly gay player to be drafted in the NFL in 2014, signed a two-year deal with the Canadian Football League’s Montreal Alouettes, the team announced Friday
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Michael Sam says gay NFL players 'do not have the same courage' to come out
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SB nation via Yahooooooooooo ^
| 3/27 | Matt Verderame
"I am not the only gay person in the NFL," Sam said Thursday. "I'm just saying there is a lot of us. I
respect the players that did reach out to me and had the courage to tell me that they were also gay, but they do not have the same courage as I do to come out before I even played a down in the NFL. "The players who have reached out to me and told me about their sexual orientation, it just means a lot. But I will never say anything about who they are, what teams they...
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Michael Sam: ‘I Am Not The Only Gay Person In The NFL’
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stlouis.cbslocal.com ^
| 03/27/2015 | n/a
Michael Sam reveals that he is not the only gay player in the NFL. Speaking at the 2015 Dallas Holocaust Museum Upstander Speaker series, the first openly gay player drafted into the league that other gay NFL players have reached out to him. “I
am not the only gay person in the NFL,” Sam told the audience, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “I’m just saying there is a lot of us. I respect the players that did reach out to me and had the courage to tell me that they were also gay, but they do not have the...
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Michael Sam 'flat out horrible' at NFL veteran's combine, could pursue CFL: Report
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Toronto Sun ^
| March 24, 2015 | QMI AGENCY
Michael Sam, the first openly-gay player drafted into the NFL, isn't getting positive reviews. The
25-year-old, who was taken in the seventh round last year by the St. Louis Rams, appeared at the NFL veteran’s combine earlier this week in a bid to impress a host of scouts. But according to one league agent, who spoke to TMZ Sports anonymously, Sam didn’t do much to improve his stock. "My real honest opinion is that he was flat out horrible,” the agent told TMZ. “He did not belong out there." It’s the kind of feedback Sam received from both the Rams...
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Michael Sam down to last shot at NFL
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Yahoo Sports ^
| 3/23 | Eric Adelson
Michael Sam's window of time to make an NFL team is getting shorter, and perhaps his patience is, too. Sam
was here at the Arizona Cardinals' training facility on Sunday for the first NFL veterans combine, one of 105 players invited for a tryout for scouts and team officials, including Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly and Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman. Sam is the first openly gay player to be drafted into the NFL, but auditions with the St. Louis Rams and Dallas Cowboys didn't vault him to an active game day roster.
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Michael Sam in, Tim Tebow, Vince Young out at 1st-ever veteran combine
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CBS Sports ^
| March 12, 2015 | John Breech
Tim Tebow finally knows how to throw spiral, but he won't get to show off his new skill at the NFL's first-ever veteran combine on March 22 -- because he wasn't invited. The
NFL released a list of players who have been invited to the combine on Wednesday and Tebow's name was nowhere to be found ... Although Tebow won't be in attendance at the combine, Michael Sam will be there ...
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Michael Sam gets invite to 'Dancing'
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KCCI.com ^
| 02/24/2015
First openly gay player in NFL still hopes to find team (did he ever actually make the team?) Sam
will be joining the cast of "Dancing With The Stars" next season.The St. Louis Rams selected the 25-year-old Sam in the seventh-round of the NFL Draft last season. He was released before the start of the season and signed to the Dallas Cowboys' practice squad in September before being waived in midseason.Sam says he still wants to play in the NFL. But filming for the program begins in March, which could cause a conflict for Sam. The inaugural veteran combine, which...
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Former NFL football player Michael Sam 'to join Dancing With The Stars season 20'
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Dail Mail via Drudge ^
| 2/24/15 | Jennifer Pearson
Michael Sam gained overnight fame by becoming the first openly gay football player to be drafted into the NFL. Now the 25-year-old Texan will show off his soft shoe by joining the celebrity contenders on season 20 of Dancing With The Stars, according to TMZ.
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One year later, has Michael Sam been frozen out of the NFL? (Barf Alert)
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SB Nation ^
| February 8, 2015 | Cyd Zeigler
It was a year ago - the Sunday after Super Bowl XLVIII at 8pmET - that Michael Sam turned speculation into reality: One of college football's best players, and a top NFL prospect, was gay. In
the coming months he was showered with praise. Eric Dickerson would offer him congratulations. Michael Irvin would call him his friend. Robert Quinn welcomed him to the Rams. Even the President of the United States, Barack Obama himself, would laud him.
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Michael Sam engaged; proposed to boyfriend in Vatican City
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Fox2now.com ^
| 1/16/15 | Kevin S. Held
VATICAN CITY – Michael Sam, the NFL’s first openly gay player, got engaged to boyfriend Vito Cammisano last week while on vacation in Italy. Popular entertainment and gossip site TMZ mentioned the news on January 8, but Michael Sam kept silent on social media until January 16, when he tweeted out the
following photo: Sam popped the question atop St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.
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Michael Sam, first openly gay NFL player, engaged to boyfriend: report
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NY Daily News ^
| January 8, 2015
Michael Sam is officially off the market. Sam,
the first openly gay NFL player, is engaged to his boyfriend, Vito Cammisano, according to a TMZ report.
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Media Pushing Michael Sam Again
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Leo McNeil ^
| December 29, 2014 | Leo McNeil
Michael Sam is again dominating NFL headlines. You’ll
recall that Sam announced he was a homosexual before the NFL Draft. He was then drafted by the St. Louis Rams but didn’t make the team. He was signed to the Dallas Cowboys practice squad but was cut from that as well. Having done absolutely nothing in the NFL, Oprah Winfrey interviewed him and now he’s all the rage again within the liberal sports media. Let’s be clear about Sam, he hasn’t played a single down of football in the NFL. He’s no hero, he’s a washed up linebacker who simply doesn’t...
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