The Pink Elephant in the Room
February 8, 2015 11:37 PM   Subscribe

One year later, has Michael Sam been frozen out of the NFL?
When I was a kid, I always outsmarted myself in multiple-choice tests. I'd always get it wrong because I over-thought the question every time. In my adult life I've learned that the most obvious answer is generally the right one. The answer to the question I've posed to so many - Why is Michael Sam not with an NFL team? - is also likely the most obvious one: because he's openly gay. Defensive ends with the same size and the same speed - yet with less production in college and the NFL preseason - are in the NFL and Sam is not because he's gay and he just won't stop being gay.
posted by Drinky Die (70 comments total) 7 users marked this as a favorite
 
I feel like this article both completely nails it and entirely misses the mark. Its premise is correct - because he's gay, but misses the 'why' component. I think if Michael Sam could join an NFL team, and not have ESPN asking the 51 other players on the team, constantly, if they were comfortable taking a shower with Michael Sam, changing with Michael Sam, etc he would 100% be on at least a practice squad.

Basically he's in football purgatory. Good enough to be a on a team by his talents, but not so good that people will ignore the media shitstorm to sign him.

I hope an established team will do the right thing and sign him if he is at least the 52nd best person who attends their camp.
posted by yeahwhatever at 12:23 AM on February 9, 2015 [8 favorites]


I think the article did get into that. The author's verdict was media attraction yes, but media distraction no. His presence did not stop the Cowboys from having a very good year, for example, and nobody would point to Sam's earlier presence as even a contributing reason for why they didn't go all the way.
posted by Drinky Die at 12:44 AM on February 9, 2015 [1 favorite]


Although being openly gay is probably not a plus in the NFL culture, his major sin seems to have been becoming labeled as a "tweener"...
posted by jim in austin at 3:28 AM on February 9, 2015 [5 favorites]


I've basically spent most of this year assuming he was a tweener who didn't quite have it. That's not at all a bad way to look at an NFL prospect that hasn't quite made it. The reality is you can fail in the NFL because you are only better than 99.99998% of players when you need to be better than 99.99999% of players. It's a super thin line.

...but some of the comparisons in the article are what have made me raise my eyebrow on this. The author doesn't compare him to starters or All-Pros, he compares him to other fringe roster players with similar physical builds and similar playing time in college and the NFL. Maybe the coaches in St.Louis and Dallas saw something, but to the fan he never displayed anything that suggests he is not at least worthy of a practice squad spot or futures contract.
posted by Drinky Die at 3:40 AM on February 9, 2015 [1 favorite]


I think if Michael Sam could join an NFL team, and not have ESPN asking the 51 other players on the team, constantly, if they were comfortable taking a shower with Michael Sam, changing with Michael Sam, etc he would 100% be on at least a practice squad.

Really, it's the media's fault for forcing all the NFL teams in the league to go against their normally high morals and appear discriminatory towards Michael Sam.

Basically he's in football purgatory. Good enough to be a on a team by his talents, but not so good that people will ignore the media shitstorm to sign him.

I guess that guy who ran the dogfighting ring must be a really good player.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 3:53 AM on February 9, 2015 [1 favorite]


I guess that guy who ran the dogfighting ring must be a really good player.

He is, he excels in this game at the most important position at a level Sam can only kind of dream of.
posted by Drinky Die at 4:20 AM on February 9, 2015 [14 favorites]


I am vexed by the claim that negative media somehow outweighs Sam's potential as an NFL pick. There have been so many shitstorms over players and draft prospects who have actually caused lasting physical and psychological harm. Sexual assaults, domestic abuse, violence towards children by NFL players and draftees have all made the news very recently. Many (not all, I know) of the individuals involved in these cases have clung on to their careers - diminished or otherwise.
By contrast, Sam does not seem to be able to start his own, because of he openly asserted his sexuality - his right to have consensual sex with a man.
Apparently the NFL is 'not ready' for homosexuality, but has a level of tolerance for abuse in heteronormative relationships.
posted by alexordave at 4:37 AM on February 9, 2015 [4 favorites]


He is, he excels in this game at the most important position at a level Sam can only kind of dream of.

I do think that's why a lot of us have stopped watching football, though. I don't have the stomach to watch good gameplay by terrible people.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 4:39 AM on February 9, 2015 [13 favorites]


My take is the exact opposite here: There are teams that would love to have the positive PR that Michael Sam would bring to the team, perhaps to distract from any negative stories currently circulating around that organization. Unfortunately, his talent level doesn't justify it.

And playing time is a horrible metric to judge him on. If anything, more playing time works against him as it indicates that he hasn't shown significant improvement.
posted by dances with hamsters at 5:05 AM on February 9, 2015 [5 favorites]


Maybe the coaches in St.Louis and Dallas saw something,

What St. Louis saw was "My, lord, we have a lot of really good defensive ends" and they didn't think he'd be successful as an OLB in their scheme. Michael Sam might make it as a OLB in a 3-4, but not as a Sam or Mike in a 4-3, and that's what Gregg Williams runs at STL.

Indeed, the Rams have one of the best defensive lines in the game, and two of the best defensive ends in Robert Quinn and Chris Long. The problem with being a seventh rounder is competing against that. Really, when you're playing for a third string position like this, your special teams performance is just as important as your position play, because you're probably getting more playing time in ST than you are otherwise. That's why Ethan Westerbooks, an undrafted DE, got a roster spot with them. He's, at best, a third string DE, but he played lights-out in special teams.

Sam is not going to get a futures contract. Those are actually pretty rare, because you can only sign them between the end of the season and the start of the next season, and until you know what your free agent situation is looking like and have an idea what the cap is going to be, you're not going to commit future dollars. We're not going to know who's getting camp invites until after the draft.
posted by eriko at 6:14 AM on February 9, 2015 [3 favorites]


As much as I'd love to see Michael Sam on an NFL roster or practice squad, the reality seems to be that he's just not a good enough fit with the NFL game. Tons of marginal players get signed and cut each year, and there is always a ton more the next year. Even being drafted is no guarantee of sticking on a roster, and most teams do not have all their draft picks on the roster going into the season. In order to make it a miscarriage of social justice that he's not on a practice squad, Michael Sam would have to be demonstrably better than around 225 other guys and either fill some kind of potential need on a team or be regarded as a developmental prospect with a significant upside. These things are just not the case. Sure there are guys on rosters and practice squads who seem roughly similar to Michael Sam. But there are far, far more of the same who never made it. Yes, his orientation may make some teams less likely to sign him. But that's a long way from being the reason he's not in the league. If he had second-string-and-special-teams abilities out of the box, he would be on a team.
posted by slkinsey at 6:24 AM on February 9, 2015


Yeah, but most decisions aren't a clear cut this person is better than everyone, they're between a bunch of similar people. And there even a little bit of "less likely" goes a long way in making sure it's only straight people (or in other places, white people or male people) that get picked.
posted by Zalzidrax at 6:35 AM on February 9, 2015


as marginalized groups know - you gotta be twice as good to get half as much. he's not on a practice squad because he's gay - because the nfl is strongly homophobic - because tony dungy isn't comfortable with it (incidentally - dungy is also the reason michael vick got a chance to play after prison). one day this will change, but it won't change for michael sam.
posted by nadawi at 6:42 AM on February 9, 2015 [11 favorites]


I do think that's why a lot of us have stopped watching football, though.

"a lot of us" ....here on extremely liberal leaning Metafilter, maybe, although Id quetion how many of those even turned down a Super Bowl party over Ray Rice and Goodell. The Super Bowl just drew a record 54 rating with a record 89mil eyeballs, up from last year even after everything. "A lot" of people may be turning away...but a lot more are tuning in.

Really, it's the media's fault for forcing all the NFL teams in the league to go against their normally high morals and appear discriminatory towards Michael Sam.

But to the issue at hand, Sam and Tim Tebow both have the same problem, and it is an ESPN problem. Both are above replacement level players, but only barely, and both come with an absolute shit-storm of ESPN-driven, 24/7 coverage and manufactured controversy. With Sam, every question from ESPN is a variation of, "So, how gay is Michael Sam, really?" And with Tebow on the opposite side of the political spectrum its the same thing, "Why isnt the Christ-warrior starting like God intended?". The NFL is above all risk averse, that's why they've fumbled so much of these "risk-events" recently, they'd prefer to sweep all controversy under the rug and only answer all questions on any topic with Belicheck-approved 'On to Indy'. Sam and Tebow both come with too much attendant bullshit to overcome only being an average at best player, neither is worth the associated headache.

I think Sam is getting a raw deal, he didn't choose to make his sexuality a spectacle like Tebow choose to promote himself as the face of the Dominionist movement, but ultimately I think they're both not playing in the league for the same reason.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:59 AM on February 9, 2015 [8 favorites]


If there's one truism about the NFL, it's that teams will add a guy to their roster and if they think he improves their chance to win. If a coach and GM agree that bringing in Michael Sam will improve their chances, they will bring him in.
posted by slkinsey at 7:17 AM on February 9, 2015 [5 favorites]


I'm sure Coach Taylor could get him on the field.
posted by michaelh at 7:32 AM on February 9, 2015 [2 favorites]


except it functions in the nfl much like it functions in other places - where bigotry make people think they're doing what is good for the team at all times when they're really just working in service of their biases.
posted by nadawi at 7:32 AM on February 9, 2015 [9 favorites]


I just don't see how people can say it's so obvious Michael Sam isn't playing because he's gay. What's so obvious to people who actually watch football (many at both the college and pro level) is that he's currently not a good fit for the playing style of the NFL. A successful college player not fitting in at the pro level happens all the time. Also adding "controversial" players to the team, there are plenty examples of that happening in the league.
posted by girlmightlive at 7:44 AM on February 9, 2015


Sam and Tebow both come with too much attendant bullshit to overcome only being an average at best player, neither is worth the associated headache.

Tebow is not an average NFL QB. Tebow is, in fact, incapable of playing QB at the NFL level. The fact that he was allowed to try was because under a run-heavy college offense, he was quite good, and he got lucky his first year in Denver and won a few games before defenses figured out his read.

I maintain that his problem as a QB is he was never really a QB. I think he has both the skill and the physical talent to make an excellent TE or RB, and if he was willing to play those positions, he'd probably be playing today, and there's a good chance he'd be starting.

He's not willing to do so, so he's out of the NFL. And as to the Jets giving him a second shot, look at what they had to work with. Less than replacement level would have been an improvement for the Jets.

You can argue that Sam is a replacement level DE. I don't think he is, but I can see the argument. You cannot argue that Michael Vick was a replacement level QB, he most clearly is better than that. And you cannot argue that Tim Tebow was a replacement level QB. He wasn't. He couldn't throw. If you can't throw, you're not an NFL QB. 20 years ago, that was different, but today, the NFL is a passing league.

And the reason you don't see Tebow in the CFL is the CFL has *always* been a passing league.

If there's one truism about the NFL, it's that teams will add a guy to their roster and if they think he improves their chance to win.

Yep.

I do think Sam will get a camp invite and get another shot at a 53 -- but everyone saying he impressed in his first preseason are frankly wrong. He didn't. He got some numbers because he played a lot in the preseason, but a rule of thumb is the more likely you are to make the roster, the *less* playing time you get. The Ones play a couple of sequences in the first two preseason games, one half of the third, and often don't play at all in the last game. If you're playing the entire 4th preseason game, it says you're on the bubble.

If you want to go back and review the film, watch Sam both as a DE *and* on special teams. Third string players get spots as much for ST play as they do position play. Being able to rotate helps to -- the Rams kept undrafted Ethan Westbrooks because of his ST play and the ability to play both DE and DT positions, whereas Sam was only playing left DE.
posted by eriko at 7:50 AM on February 9, 2015 [6 favorites]


I've worked with guys who found themselves in a similar position: top 2% of college players, got into an NFL camp, didn't make the cut, busted their asses to keep in shape and get into the extreme long-shot route back (which involves playing in semi-pro leagues and hoping you can make a CFL team). Michael Sam actually has a head up on that CFL route since he's so well known. He isn't on a roster because the NFL doesn't have a developmental league where guys like him – talented athletes but not NFL-ready out of college – can play for 2-3 years until they are ready for the big leagues. That's actually diluting the quality of play, including the fact that right now there are only maybe a dozen teams with good play at the quarterback position.
posted by graymouser at 7:51 AM on February 9, 2015


Oh, and can I add this: Congratulations to Mr. Sam and his fiancee, Vito Cammisano, who became engaged last month.
posted by eriko at 7:52 AM on February 9, 2015 [2 favorites]


[Defensive ends who have been signed to futures contracts] are all within four inches of height - 6-foot-1 to 6-foot-5. They're all about the same weight - 255 to 280 pounds. They all have about the same 40-yard-dash time: 4.70 to 4.90 seconds. Within a margin of error, they're about the same. Michael Sam fits right into the low end of most of these numbers, but within the margin: 6-foot-2, 261 pounds, with a best 40-time of 4.71.
So he's on the small and slow end of a marginal group of defensive ends.
posted by kirkaracha at 8:00 AM on February 9, 2015


If he's not invited to anyone's training camp, that would be more meaningful than a futures contract.
posted by smackfu at 8:23 AM on February 9, 2015


The existence of this thread and the article are are emblematic of why Sam isn't in the NFL. As noted above, he is a tweener who needs the right system to thrive. He also lacks an elite skill to overcome his shortcomings. He's just a very marginal player. There's nothing about him that suggests you want him on your team given his size/speed. All of his positive attributes--a quick step and ability to penetrate in the college game--are diminished because of his size limitations such that when he gets engaged, he is taken out of a play. You can find dozens of players like Sam that can't get a job. You can also find dozens of players who are really good in college but can't make a NFL team.

But when you are staring at 20 guys with similar abilities for development, you start looking at what separates them. And with Sam, you have buy in to dealing with the questions that this article poses. You know that if you sign him and ultimately cut him, some people will question whether you cut him because he was gay. You know that if he doesn't work--which is probable--some people will suggest the other players couldn't tolerate his lifestyle. You get all this baggage. And the baggage weighs heavily against signing Sam when you can get any number of comparable players without the baggage.

Now if Jadeveon Clowney came out as gay and all of the sudden couldn't get on a roster, articles like this should be written and questions should be asked. But when a marginal player like Sam gets this treatment, it really is a disservice to him and his chances at ever making a NFL roster.
posted by dios at 8:26 AM on February 9, 2015 [2 favorites]


what's so obvious to people who actually watch football

this thing where people in sports threads pretend like only people who agree with them are fans who watch the sport is really tiring. i watch a lot of football, i watch a lot of football related things in the off season. i was on 3 fantasy teams last year. i read articles and books and posts about football. we disagree about michael sam, fine - but it's not because you "actually watch football" and i don't.
posted by nadawi at 8:34 AM on February 9, 2015 [13 favorites]


I never said you didn't watch football, specifically, but it's certainly true that there are people who comment on football but don't watch it. They mention it in every NFL post.

If you watch it, great, but what I don't understand is saying he's not playing because he's gay, because there isn't much bearing that out.
posted by girlmightlive at 8:57 AM on February 9, 2015 [2 favorites]


well the entire article at the top of this fpp makes that case - but, hey, maybe the people at sb nation don't watch ball...and you might not have said it about me specifically but you did set your comment up in a way that certainly reads like you think anyone who watches football obviously agrees with you. that's not the case.
posted by nadawi at 9:05 AM on February 9, 2015 [1 favorite]


like you think anyone who watches football obviously agrees with you.

Maybe I was being a bit glib, but I certainly don't agree with your assessment of what my words meant. Of course, I could be wrong about why Sam isn't playing. But the idea that the evidence is so obvious, I don't agree with, though I do agree with other parts of the linked article.

(and if you ever hung out with me on a Sunday, rooting for the Cleveland Browns surrounded by horrified Bengals fans, you'll see just how much other football fans disagree with me about everything.)
posted by girlmightlive at 9:19 AM on February 9, 2015 [1 favorite]


Looking at Michael Sam - football only - he is a bad NFL fit as a DE in a 4-3 defense, which roughly half the teams run. The unemployment line is littered with DEs who were good or better in college but did not translate into the NFL. This happens.

His best bet is as an LB in a 3-4. I've watched his highlights both in college and NFL preseason, but I have not watched /every/ play, so take my analysis with a grain of salt. He's not agile enough to play in the NFL as an LB. His 40 time in the 2014 combine was slower than all but 3 LB, and his 3 cone time (which will show agility) is abysmal compared to LB. Additionally, he need to play closer to the line of scrimmage and as teams move to nickel to counter multi-receiver spreads, slow LB that would need to drop into coverage become exposed quickly.

He's too small to play DE, he's too slow to play LB. If he bulked up to 280 while keeping his times or cut to 240 and got more agile, he would have a better shot.

Personally, I wish my Steelers would take a flier on him -- LeBeau had a history of converting undersized DE into good LB, but he's gone now.
posted by splen at 9:31 AM on February 9, 2015


The comparison that should be made here is with Tim Tebow, because it shows you how deeply weird talent evaluation can be at the pro levels.

Tim Tebow won't ever have a job in the NFL. Tim Tebow is not a good quarterback. He has several obvious flaws you can point to -- for example, a bad throwing motion, an apparent lack of capability in understanding NFL offenses, etc.

But is he really not as good as the 32 backup quarterbacks out there? Is he not as good as the 32 third-string quarterbacks out there? How about the scout team guys? The NFL is looking at Tebow and saying, "One of the best college players ever is not even in the top 100 possible players at his position."

He won a playoff game! And now he's cheap -- from being out of the league now, he qualifies for the NFL minimum salary.

But nobody wants him, because no one can imagine his skills lining up against a very narrow window of skills that people are looking for.

And this is why Michael Sam won't have an NFL job. It's not about being gay, IMO. It really isn't (although, who knows? You can't prove a negative).

It's about 30 coaching staffs looking at him and going, "He didn't have a good combine. He's a tweener. The two teams that tried it said no. There must be something, talent-wise, that we don't know about that will come back and sting us. We have a fixed idea of what we want, and we can't imagine a scenario in which Sam works the way we want him to."
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 9:52 AM on February 9, 2015 [1 favorite]


tebow is not playing because tebow wouldn't accept a practice squad spot. the same is not true for sam.
posted by nadawi at 10:02 AM on February 9, 2015 [2 favorites]


Tebow is not playing because his skill set isn't for NFL teams, and he provides no use in the role for a back-up.

An NFL team wants a starter, and teams have concluded Tebow is not a fit to be their starter because his skillset doesn't match-up with an NFL offense.

NFL teams keep back-ups for two reasons:
(1) many teams want true backups that can come in and play with little preparation and little modification from what the starter runs. Tebow doesn't fit that either. He needs a ton of practice time and work to get better. You also have to change your offense if he is put in, and teams don't want to be changing the offense in a middle of the game if the starter gets hurt. Teams also want their back-ups to accept their role and not cause distractions for the team's real starter. Tebow fails at all of these metrics.
(2) some teams want back-ups to develop because they want the back-ups to one day be their starter. Tebow has shown little to no improvement despite the dedication of considerable time and resources on him. So the idea of him developing into something different is a loser. He is what he is. And no team dreams of one day changing to the type of offense that Tebow would need to run to succeed. So he doesn't have "future starter" written on him.

There's no other roster spot for him. Teams don't keep a roster spot for gimmicky players that need the whole offensive system to be modified just to cater to their gimmicks.

Even if he wasn't the lightning rod that he is because of his faith, he wouldn't have a spot in this league. Just like Vince Young doesn't.
posted by dios at 10:14 AM on February 9, 2015


But is he really not as good as the 32 backup quarterbacks out there? Is he not as good as the 32 third-string quarterbacks out there?

Makes me wonder what would ever cause those guys to lose their jobs and create openings. Old age?
posted by smackfu at 10:18 AM on February 9, 2015 [1 favorite]


Tebow couldn't be placed on the practice squad. You can't get a spot on the practice squad if you've dressed for 6 games.
posted by cmfletcher at 10:21 AM on February 9, 2015 [1 favorite]


Makes me wonder what would ever cause those guys to lose their jobs and create openings. Old age?

Very often, yes. For example, Matt Hasselbeck, age 39, is now Andrew Luck's back-up in Indianapolis.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 10:29 AM on February 9, 2015 [1 favorite]


Tebow is not playing because his skill set isn't for NFL teams, and he provides no use in the role for a back-up. ... Even if he wasn't the lightning rod that he is because of his faith, he wouldn't have a spot in this league.

My point, exactly. Same thing is happening with Sam.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 10:31 AM on February 9, 2015


But is he really not as good as the 32 backup quarterbacks out there? Is he not as good as the 32 third-string quarterbacks out there?

(Aside: Many teams don't carry a QB3.)

Actually, probably, no. Let's take one team that didn't do well last year.

The Bears have Jay Cutler, Jimmy Clausen and David Fales at QB. Cutler is clearly starting caliber, but not elite. He's got possible the best arm in the game right now, but combines that with a gunslinger attitude and gets picked off a bunch.

Jimmy Clausen failed starting for Carolina, but he was playing for a very odd team -- in a year where there was no salary cap because there was no CBA, there was also no minimum team salary and the Panther's owner had a fire sale. When everyone on your team sucks, it's hard to do well. He's done better as a backup, and may in fact be a pro starter. In his one start with the Bears, Pickles went 26-48, 223 yards, 2 TD 1 INT, 71.8 PR. Throw away the INT on the last play (desperation throw) and you have a 80 passing rating.

David Fales is completely untested. He was waived and resigned to the practice squad, then, when the Patriots started looking at him and tried to sign him,* the Bears then signed him to the roster again. He's gotten a little bit of preseason time.

So, one gunslinger, one who had a 71 or 80 passer rating in one game last year, and one completely untested arm -- and I wouldn't give up *any* of them for Tebow at QB. The Bears were a dumpster fire last year (5-11) and I *still* wouldn't sign Tebow. Fales is *untested*, which makes him a much safer bet than Tebow, who was tested repeatedly and found wanting.

Two teams seem to be in utter desperation for a QB right now -- The Browns and The Jets, and neither one is even pretending to look at him. Well, the Jets did a lot more than pretend, but they're not dumb enough to try again.

He's just not an NFL QB. The pro game is very different that the college game because of the talent level available. It's much faster, and schemes that work in college to isolate one very fast defender fail because *all* the defenders are moving that fast in the pros. Teams that carry a QB3 would literally rather have guys who have *never* played a regular season game than Tebow at QB3.

Sam is borderline, but you can at least see the possibility of success for him. Tebow? Tebow is just the latest in a long line of QB flops. Most recent member of that "august" list appears to be Johnny Manziel and Robert Griffin III, though RGIII's problem weren't skills, they were injuries.



* You can sign anybody on any team's practice squad, but you have to keep them on your roster for at least three weeks. Exception: you cannot sign someone from the practice squad of your next opponent (defined as within 6 days of a regular game, 10 days of a bye week game.)

The Patriots have this record with 6th round draft picks at QB. Namely, six Super Bowls, four wins. Yes, Tom Brady was a 6th rounder. Which is why the Bears went "hmm" when the Patriots tried to sign him. What exactly was Belichick seeing in the kid?
posted by eriko at 10:31 AM on February 9, 2015 [1 favorite]


The NFL is just simply not littered with guys with his resume who can't even make practice squads. I was saying the same stuff you guys are before I read this article, but again compare him not to starters but to other fringe players. The possibility that he is being frozen out compared to other similar fringe players is stark. SEC Defensive player of the year, productive in preseason. This isn't worth the squad? In this particular situation, I'm skeptical.
posted by Drinky Die at 10:32 AM on February 9, 2015 [3 favorites]


Agreed that the author of the article missed the central point re: media exposure. Also extremely pleased that this has become (here, as well as elsewhere) a football discussion and (mostly) not an LGBT politics discussion.
posted by The Zeroth Law at 10:52 AM on February 9, 2015


If he's not invited to anyone's training camp, that would be more meaningful than a futures contract.

Yes. If nobody even invites him to a 90 man squad, that's either "you are incapable of playing in the NFL" or "we're not capable of dealing with you." He may be borderline practice squad, but he's 90-worthy, heck, he made the 75 cut with the Rams, so unless his fitness has fallen off, you'd think that someone who needs a DE would look at him. If he's put on some muscle and becomes able to play DE&DT or enough speed to be an 3-4 OLB, then he's got that much more of a chance -- being able to play multiple positions makes you that much more useful on a 53 man roster.
posted by eriko at 10:57 AM on February 9, 2015 [2 favorites]


I'm not skeptical. It's unfortunate that he's a 99.8% match for pro football in a world that only hires the 99.9+% matches.

Practice squads are a safe haven for young skill positions like WRs, QBs, RBs, and TEs. If you take a look at the make up of all practice squads at the beginning of the season there's only 11 defensive ends. The skill non-glamorous positions in football have to earn their keep with special teams play if they aren't ready to start on day one.
posted by cmfletcher at 11:07 AM on February 9, 2015 [1 favorite]


If there's one truism about the NFL, it's that teams will add a guy to their roster and if they think he improves their chance to win.

I'm actually going to push back on this. NFL scouting is an amazingly sophisticated endeavor, but it's still more of an art than a science. You can measure 40-times, vertical leaps, etc. but there's still so much subjectivity in assessing how a player performs in real game situations given that the players he's playing against aren't the same caliber that he'll be playing against if he makes the team.

Consequently, I think scouts can get players into rough tiers of performance, but in terms of differentiating within those tiers, there's a whole lot of guesswork involved, and in a situation where one player has more alleged "controversy" surrounding him (as baseless as those allegations are, it's a meme, and it's not going anywhere absent owners making it clear from the top down that they don't give a shit if there are a few extra cameras following the team around) the scouts are going to go with the "safe" choice.

The question then becomes whether there's something in Sam's performance on the field that can be identified as putting him above the tier of practice squad LBs / DEs out there, and I honestly am not equipped to say there is or there isn't. I can say with some certainty that it's unlikely that the difference between Sam and someone else at his position would be the difference between making the playoffs and not, or going far in the playoffs and getting bounced in the first round, so I would say this decision is less about winning and more about the organization's image, the impact it may have on season ticket holders and/or sponsors who may be homophobes, etc. All it takes is one bigoted luxury box owner to say something to the owners behind the scenes and suddenly the tie isn't broken in Sam's favor.

So yeah. Winning is important, but keeping your wealthy sponsors and ticketholders happy is just as important if not more, and much more on an owner's radar than the difference between Sam and whoever else is on the practice squad bubble.
posted by tonycpsu at 11:07 AM on February 9, 2015 [2 favorites]


I do think that's why a lot of us have stopped watching football, though. I don't have the stomach to watch good gameplay by terrible people.

In the context of this story though you can't have it both ways. Whether the people who run NFL teams are crusty old homophobes probably isn't that important: they're willing to employ dog killers, wife beaters and all manner of other maniacs in an attempt To Win. It's hard to believe a gay J.J. Watt (God that would be so awesome) would be frozen out of the NFL. Sam's problem is he's at the very fringe of NFL talent so his sexuality is one more negative checkmark on the combine scouting sheet when comparing him to his peers. Not fair, but I don't think it means the NFL won't accept any openly gay players.
posted by yerfatma at 11:08 AM on February 9, 2015 [1 favorite]


That's a really great point, cmfletcher. My dream right now is that Sam can market himself as a versatile player capable of being at least a backup 3-4 OLB and credible special teamer, because if he does that he might have a shot of making the Eagles and I can buy his jersey. :P
posted by Drinky Die at 11:11 AM on February 9, 2015


but again compare him not to starters but to other fringe players. The possibility that he is being frozen out compared to other similar fringe players is stark.

I guess I don't understand what the confusion is. Call it a "freeze out"; call it "don't want to deal with the noise." The fact remains, if you compare him to a bunch of other fringe players, every one of them is similarly skilled. And if I am looking at option A and B who are equally spare as far as skills go, but B comes with a bunch of media attention and baggage, I am taking option A. The reason why the guy is so much of a lightning rod is irrelevant; I just don't want the noise for a bottom of the roster player. I don't care what the distinguishing feature of the player is, if I have to deal with answering questions about why I cut the guy at the bottom of my roster--questions I don't have to answer about the other option--I am going to pass on the guy with the baggage. The fact that Sam is gay is not important; the fact that Sam brings special attention is. That attention hurts his chances when compared against other similarly fringe player.

Doesn't that make perfect sense?
posted by dios at 11:21 AM on February 9, 2015 [2 favorites]


He's been with two teams already and the noise didn't hurt them. It just sold a lot of jerseys.
posted by Drinky Die at 11:27 AM on February 9, 2015


I am a loss what your point is, Drinky Die. I thought you were looking for an explanation why Sam would be treated differently when compared to other fringe players who can't make a roster. I gave you an explanation that teams would likely choose a player that garners less media attention when all other things are equal. You respond by echoing a prior point about the Cowboys having a good year. I don't know where this leaves this discussion.
posted by dios at 11:39 AM on February 9, 2015 [1 favorite]


SEC Defensive player of the year, productive in preseason. This isn't worth the squad?

College football and the NFL are not the same game. They're similar but the sport varies widely and wildly at the college level. Never mind SEC Defensive Player of the Year, take a look at the list of recent Heisman Trophy winners. There are a bunch of guys who succeeded in college, even quarterbacked championship teams who never made a dent in the NFL. Remember Eric Crouch? Won the Heisman and the Rams took a flyer on him late in the draft (hmm) to try to convert him to a WR. He wound up leaving the team in the preseason after getting hurt.

College football has 4x the number of teams than the NFL and about 1.5x as many players per team. Not everyone that succeeds in college is going to find a spot in the NFL.
posted by yerfatma at 11:40 AM on February 9, 2015 [1 favorite]


I do wish he could play as a 4-3 weak side linebacker, because the idea of having a guy named Mike Sam at Will would be worth it just for the karmic completion.
posted by eriko at 11:49 AM on February 9, 2015 [9 favorites]


I'm not really making any points, just hoping for credible rebuttal for the stuff in the article. The idea that the noise related to his publicity might be a distraction for a team has not proven to be true. He avoided the media, kept his head down, and did his best. It was nothing but good PR.

Yes, college football is different, I'm aware of that but:

Sam is the only drafted Defensive Player of the Year of any of the big five football conferences - ACC, Big Ten, Big XII, Pac 12 and SEC - in the last 20 years to not make an active roster his rookie season

It really is exceptional that he can't seem to latch on anywhere at all.
posted by Drinky Die at 12:28 PM on February 9, 2015 [1 favorite]


Somebody please, please, please let Tim Tebow play football again, so I don't have to see him on the morning shows anymore. He is worse at TV then he could ever be at football.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 12:31 PM on February 9, 2015 [2 favorites]


Sam is the only drafted Defensive Player of the Year ... in the last 20 years to not make an active roster his rookie season

Yeah, but really he was just barely drafted. Comparing someone selected in the 7th round with someone selected in the first couple seems a bit off-base.
posted by smackfu at 12:56 PM on February 9, 2015


I keep hoping that since basically all of the Lions DEs are free agents next year, we take a flyer on Sam and see if we get another surprise performance from a cheap option.
posted by klangklangston at 1:31 PM on February 9, 2015


I keep hoping that since basically all of the Lions DEs are free agents next year, we take a flyer on Sam and see if we get another surprise performance from a cheap option.

He really is a classic defensive tweener -- too small for a 4-3 DE, not agile enough for an outer linebacker. The usual places for 4-3 tweeners is as jack linebackers in a 3-4 defense.

Unless he's put on a bunch of muscle, the only teams that are going to look at him are going to be running 3-4 defenses and expect him to move to the Jack linebacker.

Current 3-4 teams: Browns, Chargers, Packers, Ravens, Falcons, Cardinals, Colts, Chiefs, Jets, 49ers, Steelers (may be changing to 4-3), Patriots, Saints, Eagles, Titans, Texans, and the Washington Redacted.

The Chicago Bears may switch to a 3-4, and that could be an opportunity, because the Bears are in Blow-It-Up mode with the defense, and they'll have lots of slots open. The Bears also have a brand new, first time, very young GM in Ryan Pace. Pace is 37, which is by far the youngest GM in the league right now.
posted by eriko at 1:53 PM on February 9, 2015 [1 favorite]


You know that if he doesn't work--which is probable--some people will suggest the other players couldn't tolerate his lifestyle. You get all this baggage. And the baggage weighs heavily against signing Sam when you can get any number of comparable players without the baggage.

Or you could say "Fuck you and your homophobic baggage, you mouthbreathing idiots. What he does with his junk off the field with another consenting human being is none of your damn business."

Sam's problem is he's at the very fringe of NFL talent so his sexuality is one more negative checkmark on the combine scouting sheet when comparing him to his peers. Not fair, but I don't think it means the NFL won't accept any openly gay players.

That's the thing, and that's why this is about QUILTBAG politics: his sexuality shouldn't be a negative checkmark at all.

Also, eriko, I'm pretty sure that Mr Commissano identifies as male, so fiance, not fiancee (the feminine version).
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 3:02 PM on February 9, 2015


FFFF: I did not know that. Now I do. Thanks!
posted by eriko at 3:05 PM on February 9, 2015


Update from ESPN. Michael Sam will attend the NFL veteran combine. He also has an offer from the Montreal Aulloettes in the CFL.
posted by eriko at 5:26 PM on February 9, 2015 [2 favorites]


And wow, did I misspell the name of that team.

Montreal Alouettes. My apologies.
posted by eriko at 6:06 PM on February 9, 2015 [1 favorite]


Je te plumerai.
posted by graymouser at 6:37 PM on February 9, 2015 [5 favorites]


Et la tĂȘte! Et la tĂȘte!
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 6:42 PM on February 9, 2015 [3 favorites]


I worked with an aspiring agent for a while and got a long winded lecture on the reality of being in the bottom third of NFL players (vs NBA). I think Sam being gay has something to do with his not being on a team, but I don't think it's homophobia per se. NFL teams don't want any light shined too bright on the practice team and league minimum players. It's a meat grinder down there, by design. And Sam would get a lot more attention than the other league minimum scrubs who get beat up and pushed out for the next crop. One thing every scout, coach and NFL rep is worried about ain't showering with gay dudes: it's about explaining why having worked your entire life to be in the top one ten thousandth of a percent of skill in a league that profits billions annually gets you, net of taxes, agent and mgmt fees, probably about $400K, no retirement, healthcare or anything else to offset your likely lifelong brain and joint degeneration and next to no useful life skills outside of football. That's one-third of the league, year in and year out.
posted by 99_ at 8:36 PM on February 9, 2015 [1 favorite]


I really don't think that's it considering that NFL Films has produced a reality show documenting how hard it is to make it in the league. Americans, for good or for ill, like those kind of "only the strong survive" type stories, and to the average viewer, 400k is a ton of money, even if the average career only lasts a few years.
posted by tonycpsu at 9:03 PM on February 9, 2015


And Sam would get a lot more attention than the other league minimum scrubs

And he would get that attention because: homophobia.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 9:05 PM on February 9, 2015


Current 3-4 teams: . . . Patriots

I don't know what the Patriots play at this point. They had moved to a 4-3 last year in theory but even that theoretical 4-3 disappeared when Mayo got hurt mid-season this year and they've basically played a 5-2* in non-passing downs. And the majority of their defensive plays this year were in sub defenses. Either way, I think Sam's undersized for an outside role in their system and his problems setting the edge make New England an unlikely landing place, which is too bad because it's one place where the "Too Much Distraction" thing could be totally neutralized by Bill Belichick's Borg approach to media relations.

* He's too small to be Hightower and too slow to be Collins.
posted by yerfatma at 6:47 AM on February 10, 2015


"He really is a classic defensive tweener -- too small for a 4-3 DE, not agile enough for an outer linebacker. The usual places for 4-3 tweeners is as jack linebackers in a 3-4 defense. "

The Lions defensive coordinator made his name with 3-4s and while Caldwell shut down any discussion of shifting to a traditional 3-4, part of what Austin brings is a willingness to plan hybrid defenses and shift matchups. With so many free agents coming up and repeated rhetoric about flexibility, I think Sam could be a fun player to add into the mix, but I understand it's unlikely to happen.
posted by klangklangston at 12:38 PM on February 10, 2015


They had moved to a 4-3 last year in theory but even that theoretical 4-3 disappeared when Mayo got hurt mid-season this year and they've basically played a 5-2* in non-passing downs.

Yeah, the Patriots are complex, but they can play 3-4 style defenses. Belichick plays the system that matches his players.

But as to schemes? That's really not a 5-2! I was surprised and amused that the Patriots busted out the 46 defense! Complete with Bear Front! Yes, Exclamation Points!!!! They even ran the full 4-6 Bear Front Cover 1 alignment (only the corners and the Free Safety in coverage) a couple of times in the Super Bowl, though, bringing the SS to the line with a linebacker. They ran it out of a 3-4 base, with the Will, Sam and Strong Safety going the line with the DEs and Nose Tackle, leaving the Jack LB back with the Mike.

Hmm. Come to think of it, Michael Sam would be an almost ideal stud tackle in the 46, which is a weird hybrid of a DE and a Jack LB. An issue is that almost nobody runs a pure 46 anymore, because spread offenses tear it up, but it's useful at times.

And, of course, the Patriots didn't run the complete 46, which had a very complicated set of blitz schemes that key off formations and what players did. For example, if a running back stayed back to block, the Mike blitzes, and since the FB is now tied up, if you time it right, the Mike gets a free shot at the QB. This is how one Mike became Samurai Mike (Mike Singletary, legendary MLB for the Bears, the brain of the 46.) Since the Bear Front stacks the box hard, *everything* looks like a blitz, and indeed, a big part of the 46 schemes was who dropped out of the box into cover. The Pats deliberately didn't blitz, certainly not the sell-out blitzes that the Bears would throw at you, because Russell Wilson is a run threat on his own, and if you can hold the pocket for two seconds in an all out blitz, the QB usually gets a wide open field in front of him.
posted by eriko at 8:39 AM on February 11, 2015


Belichick running the 46 against Rex Ryan is just too good not to happen.
posted by Drinky Die at 8:51 AM on February 11, 2015 [2 favorites]


Well, I thought that the Pats running the 46 in the super bowl was comical after what happened when a team ran the 46 against them in the super bowl.
posted by eriko at 5:46 PM on February 11, 2015


That game is a figment of your imagination. The Patriots' 1985 season actually ended with the AFC Championship and then there was a scrimmage.

/clutches mimeographed "Squish the Fish!" drawing from 5th grade bus, cries quietly
posted by yerfatma at 6:46 AM on February 12, 2015


The Patriots' 1985 season actually ended with the AFC Championship and then there was a scrimmage.

That is the most polite word for what happened I've ever seen. Applause!

Still have my jacket from that year. No GSH on the sleeve, 25 stars on the NFL logo.
posted by eriko at 10:21 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]


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