inside jamari fox
inside jamari fox - taking you real deep
have we forgotten about michael sam?
i haven’t forgotten about his bunz in trouser pants,
but it seems that the nfl used him.
duh.
i don’t think the following scandal will make you “gasp”,
but this is what the rams allegedly did to michael…
On Wednesday, the Rams were named the subject of this year’s edition of “Hard Knocks,” the HBO show that takes you inside training camp with an NFL team, but according to a tweet from veteran NFL journalist Howard Balzer, they could have been in the show two years earlier were it not for a behind-the-scenes deal with the NFL.
Balzer, citing “sources,” tweeted Wednesday that the Rams avoided the 2014 edition of “Hard Knocks” because of their decision to select Michael Sam, the first openly gay player to declare for the NFL draft, in the seventh round that year.
“Sources say NFL agreed not to have Rams on Hard Knocks in 2014 if they drafted Michael Sam,” Balzer tweeted.
Balzer clarified the tweet several hours later, stressing that it was a predraft arrangement between the league and team to save face and insure that the first openly gay player to declare for the NFL draft did not go undrafted.
“That’s correct,” he tweeted. “Rams didn’t want Hard Knocks even without Sam. League concerned he wouldn’t be drafted. Deal made.”
Neither the NFL nor the Rams responded to emails for comment. But none of this shocked Sam. Sam, who has been out of the NFL since October 2014 and is currently under contract with the Montreal Allouettes of the CFL, retweeted Balzer to make that point:
If true, the report paints a highly questionable picture of Goodell as a commissioner who essentially manipulated the back end of the NFL draft. And it paints the picture of a league desperate to avoid a PR nightmare in 2014.
Entering the 2014 NFL draft, Sam was widely considered a fringe prospect, with little buzz. After his public announcement, his draft stock seemed all over the board, with some analysts pointing to his status as SEC defensive player of the year and pegging him as a fourth-round pick.
Others, though, noted his slow 40-yard dash time (4.91 seconds at the NFL Scouting Combine), lack of pass rush moves, and tweener size (261 pounds) and suggested he was a late-round pick at best, undrafted at worst. The baggage he carried seemed destined to torpedo his stock even further.
“You have the theory, which is the right theory, which is what every official is going to say,” one NFL agent said at the time. “And then you also have the reality. How is it going to affect my team chemistry? That is the unspoken analysis that is going to take place in every war room.”
According to Balzer, that set the stage for the Rams to serve as the league’s safety net. The Rams drafted Sam with the 249th overall pick, just seven picks before the end of the final round of the draft.
Sam did not last long with the Rams, either, failing to make the final 53-man roster just before the start of the regular season.
He was beaten out by another defensive lineman, undrafted Ethan Westbrooks, supposedly because Westbrooks could play multiple positions while Sam was strictly an undersized defensive end.
Even after Sam cleared waivers, the Rams had so little interest that they did not add him to their practice squad. The Dallas Cowboys signed Sam to their practice squad in early September only to cut him the following month.
Sam has not played in the NFL since, although he tried unsuccessfully to rekindle interest from the league at last year’s NFL Veteran Combine, where he clocked a 4.99-second 40-yard dash.
….are we shocked?
i’m not.
this is all the reason why he should have waited.
his “announcement” overshadowed his talent.
everyone wanted a piece of michael sam.
remember that documentary with oprah?
now he is used up and thrown back to the dark forests.
i feel any gay baller wolves will avoid coming out until later.
either after they help win a superbowl or when they retire.
shame.
i’m sure the nfl is drafting up a nice pr statement as you read this. as always,
thanks to my news f-bi for keeping me in the loop.
article taken: the new york daily news