Mike Ditka says Michael Sam maybe should have been drafted earlier

May 16, 2014; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Rams defensive end Michael Sam (96) during rookie minicamp at Rams Park. Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports
May 16, 2014; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Rams defensive end Michael Sam (96) during rookie minicamp at Rams Park. Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports /
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The story of Michael Sam is one that a lot of people have become familiar with over the past week now that we have the first openly gay player in the NFL. But while we have the first openly gay player in football, there are still questions about why it took almost the entire draft for Sam to be taken.

Mike Ditka has spoken out about the fall of Michael Sam in the draft and seems to question if it should have happened.

Per the Chicago Sun-Times:

"“Look, if a guy is a good football player — and I assume he is; he had a pretty good track record at Missouri — you would think that people would have taken him earlier. … You have to look at it this way: Either Jeff got a steal, or the rest of the teams dropped him for other reasons.”"

Ditka doesn’t seem to be the only one under the impression that sam may have been passed on because he’s a gay man as everyone from other draftniks to political pundits have chimed in about the reason Michael Sam nearly went undrafted. It did seem that some were scrambling for excuses during the draft as to find a reason other than Sam’s sexuality for his fall, but in the end he was an undersized defensive end who won’t be the only late round steal if he makes the Rams roster and becomes a star on defense.