Michael Sam confident he will play somewhere
By Ryan Ratty
Michael Sam is confident he will find a team to play for in the NFL, despite a bad day at the Veteran Combine.
Much has been made of the Michael Sam situation over the past few years. Although he is the first openly-gay player to sign with an NFL team, Sam still has yet to take a regular season snap.
At 6-foot-2, 255 pounds, Sam is a bit of a tweener, and he really only projects as a 3-4 outside linebacker at the professional level. Sam was last with the Dallas Cowboys, but the team waived him in October to open a practice roster spot.
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To prove to teams that he still can play and make a difference, Sam decided to go out and perform at the Veteran Combine earlier today. At the combine, Sam’s test numbers were lower than the ones he had at the 2014 NFL Scouting Combine. Sam had unofficial times of 5.07 and 5.10 in the 40-yard dash. At the combine last year, Sam ran a 4.91 in the 40-yard dash. Regardless of his poor test scores, Sam believes that he can make a difference for an NFL roster, even though he hasn’t taken a game snap since late August.
Michael Sam: 'I am very confident that I will be playing football this year somewhere.' Said he's open to playing in the CFL.
— Marc Sessler (@MarcSessler) March 22, 2015
Sam also talked about his numbers and his veteran combine performance in comparison with the other players that participated in the event.
Michael Sam: 'I did the best I can. I did just as good if not better than the other guys here, so I'm pretty confident.' #VeteranCombine
— Marc Sessler (@MarcSessler) March 22, 2015
Sam showed in the 2014 preseason that he could make plays. Granted that was the preseason, but it should still be said that Sam has performed when he has been given the opportunity. Sam was the 2013 SEC co-defensive player of the year, so to say he’s not on an NFL roster because he’s not good enough is a little premature.
Despite all of that, wherever Sam ends up, many people will be rooting for him to make it.
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