Michael Sam cut

Think he'll get picked up? I think he can play

I think he will get picked up. He made plays and ultimately that is what any team wants out of their second team DE. I feel for all the idiots who bought his jersey before he actually made the team though.

Rams practice squad.

Not surprising, Sam is probably the safest player in the NFL to clear waivers. Really good chance he ends up on their PS. If he doesn't, that would be telling.

Still, strangely enough I kind of feel bad for him that he didn't make the roster outright. He had a decent preseason and I thought he handled the pressure he was under decently well.

bottom line is he's not very good. too slow to drop into coverage, doesn't play special teams etc.

Chukarhawk":kih1266r said:

bottom line is he's not very good. too slow to drop into coverage, doesn't play special teams etc.

Click to expand...

Which was the knock on him prior to being drafted..Don't feel bad for him at all or the people who wasted $ on his uni before he earned it...Let the real NFL begin...GO Hawks!!!

Well he will get picked up. May start on the practice squad! Really only a beginning for him.

kearly":2uzkyrv6 said:

Still, strangely enough I kind of feel bad for him that he didn't make the roster outright. He had a decent preseason and I thought he handled the pressure he was under decently well.

Click to expand...

He created the pressure himself. I don't feel the least little bit bad for him. I'm glad he was cut, and I hope he doesn't get picked up by anyone including the Rams (though I do think he'll end up on their PS). I've been pissed at him ever since he made his big announcement on the Thursday following our Super Bowl victory. Instead of getting to enjoy the continued coverage and rehashing of the Super Bowl, the whole NFL news cycle became Sam-I-am.

I want the first openly gay player to be successful in the NFL to be the one that says, "Yeah, I'm gay, what of it?" Not the guy who signed a deal with Oprah.

I agree with that. But there were other pressures that he had nothing to do with and I thought he handled them amicably.

They say an UDFA outplayed him, Westbrook. I looked him up on PFF and was shocked to see he graded out higher than any 4-3 DE in the league in preseason. What??? You kidding me? The competion was tougher than anywhere else.

Sam officially cleared waivers.

He's been eligible to join the Rams PS since about noon today, but they have yet to sign him (they've signed 5 others). The associated press has speculated that the Rams are "unlikely" to sign Sam to their PS because Fisher and others have been talking up the need to use their PS as roster depth. They don't need roster depth at DE.

Interesting that they even decided to draft him. He played about as well as you would expect. It does seem unlikely that another team would be willing to shoulder the possible drama associated with signing Sam at the 11th hour. But I would not mind the Seahawks adding another pass rusher to their PS.

hawknation2014":1mlm3hw9 said:

But I would not mind the Seahawks adding another pass rusher to their PS.

Click to expand...

Me too. But Sam isn't an NFL caliber pass rusher, so...

12 players had more than 2.5 sacks in the pre-season.

10 of them are on active roster.

1 of them is on a practice squad.

And one doesn't have a job (SAM).

Benson Mayowa looked great in preseason last year.....

I am very surprised Sam didn't get picked up but looking good in preseason against backups don't tell the full story.

I'm not buying that Sam hasn't been picked up because of the media circus he would bring. That may play a small role in it but if he was really good that wouldn't be an issue. Aldon Smith, for example, is a guy who is bringing a ton of media scrutiny to the Niners (and not the good type) but they are putting up with it because of his elite skills. Sam wouldn't be near the distraction for a team as Smith has been but he's simply not that good.

Sam is undersized, slow, and relatively unathletic by NFL standards. He can't play LB or be a special teams specialist and would be at a disadvantage against the run. He would be strictly a situational pass rusher on a 4-3 defense so that's going to eliminate about half the teams in the league that play a 3-4 base. Many of the 4-3 teams, like the Seahawks, prize versatility which Sam doesn't have so even if he was straight and unpublicized I think he'd have a tough time making it in the league with his skillset.

The NFL is a ruthless meritocracy. If Sam is good enough a team will give him a shot. If not they won't.

People upset that he is not on a team seem to be ignoring that he won't play special teams.

Scottemojo":169o17dn said:

People upset that he is not on a team seem to be ignoring that he won't play special teams.

Click to expand...

Did he say that he wouldn't (I never heard him say this, but that doesn't mean much), and if he did, that is pretty stupid on his part.

TXHawk":17f4blrq said:

I'm not buying that Sam hasn't been picked up because of the media circus he would bring. That may play a small role in it but if he was really good that wouldn't be an issue. Aldon Smith, for example, is a guy who is bringing a ton of media scrutiny to the Niners (and not the good type) but they are putting up with it because of his elite skills. Sam wouldn't be near the distraction for a team as Smith has been but he's simply not that good.

Sam is undersized, slow, and relatively unathletic by NFL standards. He can't play LB or be a special teams specialist and would be at a disadvantage against the run. He would be strictly a situational pass rusher on a 4-3 defense so that's going to eliminate about half the teams in the league that play a 3-4 base. Many of the 4-3 teams, like the Seahawks, prize versatility which Sam doesn't have so even if he was straight and unpublicized I think he'd have a tough time making it in the league with his skillset.

The NFL is a ruthless meritocracy. If Sam is good enough a team will give him a shot. If not they won't.

Click to expand...

IMHO this reasoning holds very true for stars.

For the guys around the 50th-53rd spot on the roster.....not so much. They are only marginally better than other players so I do think many teams simply don't want the potential issues from media but also within the locker room.

So, the Michael Sam saga appears to have taken the most predictable path possible. The only thing left now is for the Rams gain a mysterious extra 7th round compensatory pick in the 2015 draft, and the cycle will be complete.

The NFL's attempts to look progressive during this episode have been about as earnest and meaningful as North Korea hosting journalists. In the end I suspect very little, if anything, has changed. Which is the only logical outcome for a league that was more concerned with image than planning the actual logistics of making the NFL experience workable for openly gay players.

Of course, Sam truly, truly isn't good enough, and that doesn't help. He had a decent preseason on paper, but when you watch his 3 sacks under the microscope, they are some of the least impressive sacks you will ever see. He simply does not have NFL level athleticism, and he has about as much ability to be a star NFL defensive end as I do.

If Sam had the talent of Jadeveon Clowney, this issue would play out very differently. Jackie Robinson was able to change baseball because he was a really really good baseball player with legit HoF talent. Sam isn't remotely close to being on that level. I think it will take an elite talent player to come out before we will see real thinking and real progress. (And that's not even getting into the fact that homosexuality and race are two very different things, with the former being a MUCH tougher barrier to overcome.)