Michael Sam was one half of the most formidable one-two punch in the esteemed Southeast Conference, averaging 11.5 sacks and 19.5 tackles en route to earning conference co-defensive player of the year honors in 2013. Each of the last seven players to earn that honor were first-round draft picks, and no player in the award’s history had ever been taken lower than the fifth round. That is, until Michael Sam.
Sam was drafted in the seventh and last round of the 2014 NFL Draft, the 249th pick overall, just seven spots away from going undrafted altogether.
“In all honesty, from last season alone, I should have been a high…first three rounds,” Sam said. “SEC Defensive Player of the Year, unanimous All-American – I should have gone in the top three rounds easily.” Perhaps it was his small size.
Standing at just six-feet and two-inches tall while weighing only 261 pounds, Sam would be the smallest defensive end in the entire league if he were to attempt playing the position he had played in college at a professional level.
Perhaps it was his poor showing in the NFL Draft Combine.
His slow running (placing 18th with a 4.91 second 40-yard dash); lack of upper body strength (placing second to last after bench pressing 225 pounds for only 17 reps); and poor vertical jump (placing 39th by leaping only 25.5 inches in the air, and 14th out of a total of 48 eligible players) hurt his draft chances. Sam was considered a ‘tweener’ – neither big enough to play defensive end nor quick enough to play outside linebacker.
Michael Sam’s NFL Draft Story
But perhaps, just perhaps, it was Sam’s decision to reveal that he was gay to the public just three months before the NFL Draft, becoming the first player in the history of the sport to do so.
“I came to tell the world that I’m an openly, proud gay man,” Sam said on Feb. 9 in interviews with ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” and the New York Times. “I want to own my truth,” he told Connelly.
New York Times Interview: “I’m Gay”
His decision received much backlash from within the league.
“I don’t think football is ready for [an openly gay player] just yet,” said an NFL player personnel assistant. “In the coming decade or two, it’s going to be acceptable, but at this point in time … to call somebody a [gay slur] is still so commonplace. It’d chemically imbalance an NFL locker room and meeting room.”
Before his brave decision, many scouts had predicted that Sam would be taken in the third round.After the NFL scouting combine, those prospects were reduced. Sam was now expected to be a likely fourth- or fith-round pick. On May 6, just two days before the draft began, noted statistician Nate Silver predicted that Sam’s chances of getting drafted at all stood at just 50-50.
Michael Sam is now projected as a 6th round pick. But about half of projected 6th round picks aren’t drafted at all. http://t.co/EImqhnSWMf — Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) May 6, 2014
Despite the odds, the Rams saw the value Sam could add to their team. “[We were] surprised [Sam] was there in the seventh round,” Rams head coach Jeff Fish said. “That’s a football player with ability that you just can’t pass up.” Sam’s emotional response to being drafted was televised nationally by ESPN.
After the broadcast, TIME writer Sean Gregory reported on twitter responses that included “Ok, I don’t want to wake up and turn on Sportscenter and watch Michael Sam kiss his boyfriend … eww”, “it’s weird and I don’t want to see that” and “I think I’m going to be sick”, amongst many other uglier comments.
Yet it was the one word tweet by Miami Dolphins safety Don Jones that garnered the most attention.
Not long after the Rams selected Sam, Jones tweeted, ‘Horrible.’ The tweet was taken down a short time later, but did not escape the attention of Dolphins general manager Dennis Hickey.
“I was disappointed in those comments,” Hickey said. “We’re going to sit down with Don Jones and address [the tweet] appropriately.”
Dolphins 2nd-year player Don Jones in trouble for tweeting controversial comments about Michael Sam. http://t.co/ZTwykcV7pt
Despite Hickey’s public chiding of Jones, it’s difficult not to view the team – a team that was at the center of a bullying scandal last season – as one that is still trying to salvage its reputation after causing considerable embarrassment for the league.
Homophobic resentment, hostility and prejudice operate on a multitude of levels, a fact Michael Sam is well aware of.
“It doesn’t matter [what other teams were] talking to me, they didn’t have the (expletive) that St. Louis had,” Sam said. “I’m telling you, no one had the (expletive) that St. Louis has and … so many people are proud of the organization for being the one to make history.”
This isn’t the only remarkable moment in the history of the St. Louis Rams’ franchise. In 1946, the Rams were the first NFL team to sign Kenny Washington, the first African-American professional athlete in the NFL, a year before Jackie Robinson signed his baseball contract.
“This is the second historic moment in the history of this franchise,” Fisher said.“So from that standpoint, from a historic standpoint, I’m honored to be a part of that as Les and Kevin and Mr. Kroenke are.” And the Rams are prepared to handle any possible backlash of their choice to select Sam.
“If there’s an issue there, I will address it as it would relate to any other form of discrimination or anything that I would feel was offensive from a diversity standpoint,” Fisher said. “[This issue is] no different.”
While the Rams administration’s support for Sam is noteworthy, they are not alone. Players of the team, both past and present, have echoed this sentiment. “Current teammates [on the Rams] have texted me. I really don’t know [their numbers yet], but they just said, ‘Welcome to the team,’” Sam said.
Rams defensive end Robert Quinn welcomed Sam to the front four on twitter.
“I think when you watch the highlights that he had from college, and … from what everybody talks about … I think he’ll fit in great,” said Rams LB James Laurinaitis.
“[Sam’s] like a brother now. That’s my teammate. I can’t wait to meet him and let’s get the ball rolling,” Demetrius Rhaney, the Rams last pick at 250th overall said. “We’re ready to play some football.”
Sam and Rhaney are just two of the eleven picks the Rams attained in the draft. Once again the Rams emerged as the ‘winners’ of the draft, with a draft class headlined by No. 2 pick, offensive beast OT Greg Robinson.
“As we all know in this thing, the draft is really cool and you see [the players] on TV and you see all the highlights, but there is a process of development,” General Manager Les Snead said. “That starts probably when they get here on Monday, right?”
The Rams have a deep defensive line, including the recent selection of Pittsburgh’s Aaron Donald at the No. 13 pick overall, widely considered one of the very best in his draft class.
Sam still has a long way to go in order to earn his place on the roster.
“Well, it’s going to be very competitive for him, as it will be for some of the later picks, because of the depth and the talent level at the position,” Fisher said. “These rookies, they’re … not in the condition our veterans are in. He’s going to have to work to get in great shape and we’ll blend him in the offseason program and we’ll go.”
With all the existing pressures of being a professional football player, Sam has tried to shy away from the (albeit inevitable)’gay football player’ label. While not keeping his sexuality a secret at college, he only choose to disclose the information publicly when he feared that someone would leak the story for him.
“I didn’t realize how many people actually knew, and I was afraid that someone would tell [the press],” Sam said. “I just wanted to control the situation and tell my story.”
Even with Sam’s best efforts to turn the attention back to football (“Since February, since my big announcement, there has been this whole speculation of the first openly gay football player. But, you know what? It’s not about that”), the significance of his actions – emblematic of the progress LGBT athletes have made in sports – should not be overlooked.
Jason Collins, the first openly gay, still active pro athlete in a major U.S sports league offered his support,
“It’s a great day for the NFL and for Michael and his family.” – Nets C Jason Collins, on Michael Sam being drafted by Rams. — SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 10, 2014
As did Billie Jean King, a pioneer in the fight for LGBT athletes in sports,
@michaelsam Congrats on being drafted in the NFL and the St.Louis Rams-a historic day for us all.Go for it!!! — Billie Jean King (@BillieJeanKing) May 10, 2014
John Legend,
Congratulations to Michael Sam. It’s a victory for LOVE. — John Legend (@johnlegend) May 10, 2014
Sports Illustrated’s Peter King,
Michael Sam rejoicing and kissing on national TV. This is a great moment for the country.
On July 16, Sam will receive the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the 2014 ESPY Awards to honor Sam for ‘his courage and honesty that resonates beyond sports.’
“You know I don’t think there is anything courageous I did,” Sam maintains. “I look forward to when we can live life in a world when gays don’t have to come out in public.”
Until then, we’ll take each little step in that direction as the victory it is. A victory for Michael Sam, for football, and for past, present, and future LGBT athletes.
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Perhaps it was his small size.
