Michael Sam signs 2yr deal with Alouettes

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Toppy Vann
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cromartie wrote:
Toppy Vann wrote:
cromartie wrote:He's a great fit for the CFL game and I hope he does well here. Not an NFL level talent, however.
The problem with some players that are great CFL fits is that they don't always see it that way.
Ah yes. The CFL's perpetual grand tragedy. Guys who could stay and be productive players and even hall of famers but instead try and dither around on the fringes of the NFL and waste their careers.
Exactly.

Brian Burke on Michael Sam signing plus quote from Jon Cornish:

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=768669
"I think it's huge," Burke told The Canadian Press on Tuesday. "To me, this is one of those 20, 30, 40 years from now, people will look back and say 'remember when Michael Sam signed with the Alouettes?'

"We know we have gay athletes in all sports. I think other gay athletes are going to see the reception that Michael Sam gets and how wonderful it's going to be for him.

"You get some idiots on the Internet. You always do. But instead of a hostile environment, he'll see that intelligent and enlightened people welcome him in this role in Canada and wish him luck."

Burke co-founded You Can Play, an organization to eliminate homophobia in sport, following the death of his gay son Brendan in a car accident in 2010.
"This is a big day," Burke said. "I watched the press conference. I thought he pulled it off beautifully.

"The perception would be of all the sports, (football is) probably the most macho, probably the last place you'd expect a player to come out. I think what Michael Sam has done is courageous. I think what the Montreal Alouettes have done to sign him and give him an opportunity is courageous."
Calgary Stampeders running back Jon Cornish, who has two moms and is a spokesperson for You Can Play, acknowledges football locker-rooms are conservative.

Cornish says Sam's participation in the league can change those attitudes.

"Attitudes only change when you see something up close," Cornish said. "It's easy to have an attitude about something when it's far away. 'Gay people over there? I won't be down with that,' but when it's a family member or a teammate, suddenly it's 'this guy is a cool dude. There's nothing wrong with what he's doing.'"
http://montrealgazette.com/sports/footb ... ining-camp

Stefan Logan 34 as of this month is with the Als as are Fred Stamps and Nik Lewis at 33.
"Ability without character will lose." - Marv Levy
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sj-roc
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TheLionKing wrote:Sam has left camp to return home.

http://www.tsn.ca/sam-leaves-als-training-camp-1.306592
In the video in that link an RDS reporter at camp, speculated in conversation with Cory Woron, with admittedly no proof other than noting such an occurrence is not uncommon with players who have harboured clear NFL ambitions, that Sam might have underestimated the athletic talent level he was up against in camp. He also noted that Sam was present at a team meeting this morning but hadn't taken part in practice the last couple days due to illness. It's not clear whether the illness and his camp departure are related, nor is it clear when or even if Sam will return.

The same reporter was on Dave Naylor's TSN radio show in Toronto this afternoon and re-iterated these comments.
Sports can be a peculiar thing. When partaking in fiction, like a book or movie, we adopt a "Willing Suspension of Disbelief" for enjoyment's sake. There's a similar force at work in sports: "Willing Suspension of Rationality". If you doubt this, listen to any conversation between rival team fans. You even see it among fans of the same team. Fans argue over who's the better QB or goalie, and selectively cite stats that support their views while ignoring those that don't.
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sj-roc wrote:
TheLionKing wrote:Sam has left camp to return home.

http://www.tsn.ca/sam-leaves-als-training-camp-1.306592
In the video in that link an RDS reporter at camp, speculated in conversation with Cory Woron, with admittedly no proof other than noting such an occurrence is not uncommon with players who have harboured clear NFL ambitions, that Sam might have underestimated the athletic talent level he was up against in camp. He also noted that Sam was present at a team meeting this morning but hadn't taken part in practice the last couple days due to illness. It's not clear whether the illness and his camp departure are related, nor is it clear when or even if Sam will return.

The same reporter was on Dave Naylor's TSN radio show in Toronto this afternoon and re-iterated these comments.
Sam was third on the depth chart, in a position that most NFL players are too heavy/slow for the CFL and he wasn't fast enough in the NFL. Montreal is going to lose out on some free press advertising by Sam's decision, but they will likely be stronger on the field of play. Most CFL fans saw this coming, just that it happened sooner than most thought it would.
Entertainment value = an all time low
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I have never seen this guy play but if he is talented and near NFL ability, you'd think they could find a position for him just to get good talent in the team. But if he was just a top college guy then fine - he moves on.

It's a bit of a strange situation when Jim Popp says something like - 'he's sick and needs to go home' - and the reason is confidential. I'm not criticizing Popp but he also added 'How tough it is at TC' and how he hasn't seen the 'real Montreal as he is stuck in Lennoxville. He's never been in Canada - knows nothing about it- the culture'.

Bottom line: this sounds like he is not going to stick around long enough to get any of it.

Sounds like he is gone home to consider his future rather than be a depth player in the CFL which leads to innuendo and conclusions like mine: He came to the CFL (unlike the others who came here and loved Canada, the game, the culture and the level of play) thinking this was a ticket to the NFL (Cam Wake) and oops - the competition for a spot is tough - the CFL game is not at a top college level after all - and his dreams of big bucks down south look to be in the toilet. He gets ill and decides to exit to ponder his future.

The downside if he leaves the game is that the Brian Burke - historic moment in pro sports for future and other gay athletes will take a hit here. He doesn't owe them anything as he didn't really set himself up that way as some sort of trail blazer.
"Ability without character will lose." - Marv Levy
dupsdell1
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Rammer wrote:
sj-roc wrote:
TheLionKing wrote:Sam has left camp to return home.

http://www.tsn.ca/sam-leaves-als-training-camp-1.306592
In the video in that link an RDS reporter at camp, speculated in conversation with Cory Woron, with admittedly no proof other than noting such an occurrence is not uncommon with players who have harboured clear NFL ambitions, that Sam might have underestimated the athletic talent level he was up against in camp. He also noted that Sam was present at a team meeting this morning but hadn't taken part in practice the last couple days due to illness. It's not clear whether the illness and his camp departure are related, nor is it clear when or even if Sam will return.

The same reporter was on Dave Naylor's TSN radio show in Toronto this afternoon and re-iterated these comments.
Sam was third on the depth chart, in a position that most NFL players are too heavy/slow for the CFL and he wasn't fast enough in the NFL. Montreal is going to lose out on some free press advertising by Sam's decision, but they will likely be stronger on the field of play. Most CFL fans saw this coming, just that it happened sooner than most thought it would.


I knew it , he would have not have lasted here anyway , the for all those that say the CFL is a minor league it is just as tough to make a roster in the cfl as it is in the nfl and Sam found that out.
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sj-roc
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dupsdell1 wrote:I knew it , he would have not have lasted here anyway , the for all those that say the CFL is a minor league it is just as tough to make a roster in the cfl as it is in the nfl and Sam found that out.
Not to mention that there are only slightly more than one-third as many roster spots for Americans on a CFL roster vs NFL.

Sam will land on his feet one way or the other. There will be other opportunities for him outside of football if he chooses to explore that route, which is probably what he is weighing right now back home in Texas.
Sports can be a peculiar thing. When partaking in fiction, like a book or movie, we adopt a "Willing Suspension of Disbelief" for enjoyment's sake. There's a similar force at work in sports: "Willing Suspension of Rationality". If you doubt this, listen to any conversation between rival team fans. You even see it among fans of the same team. Fans argue over who's the better QB or goalie, and selectively cite stats that support their views while ignoring those that don't.
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I thought it was a little hasty for them to be putting his Al's jersey on sale (the day he was signed).
http://zonerouge.montrealalouettes.com/ ... -home.html
TheLionKing
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I wonder how much was the Sam signing a publicity move. You know Popp, he loves signing high profile NFL players
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Toppy Vann
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TheLionKing wrote:I wonder how much was the Sam signing a publicity move. You know Popp, he loves signing high profile NFL players
A good dose of that for sure TLK. But Popp must have thought he'd get fired up to play and about being in Montreal and the culture versus back in the Bible belt or they'd not have gone so far as to get him a jersey sale.

On the other hand, yes, they can say they signed the first openly gay pro football player regardless of his length of stay and got that one done with little fanfare. But in Canada with our rules in the workplace pretty clear there is not a homophobic culture to the extent it exists with some in the USA and even in the black communities who'd you'd think would be more understanding of acceptance given the history of their mistreatment.

As to his other opportunities - yes - but I suspect they'll all be outside of football. He seems to have no good reason to walk from their TC so even if the Als were to give him his outright release, who wants a guy who looks like he simply can't cut it?
"Ability without character will lose." - Marv Levy
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cromartie
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TheLionKing wrote:I wonder how much was the Sam signing a publicity move. You know Popp, he loves signing high profile NFL players
Sam was on the Neg list of the Als before he came out. He was SEC Defensive Player of the Year, that's not an award that comes without competition.

That being said, it's difficult to find yourself coming off of that award, being a 7th round pick, being cut, bouncing around practice squads, then coming to Canada and expecting to dominate and instead being third on the depth chart with no prospects of moving up.

I had high CFL hopes for the guy, he had some good tape in preseason last year for the Rams, but whether he ended up out of shape by not playing last season or just lacks the mental toughness to adjust, it just doesn't look like it's going to happen for him. It's always sad to see, regardless of a player's background.
dupsdell1
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cromartie wrote:
TheLionKing wrote:I wonder how much was the Sam signing a publicity move. You know Popp, he loves signing high profile NFL players
Sam was on the Neg list of the Als before he came out. He was SEC Defensive Player of the Year, that's not an award that comes without competition.

That being said, it's difficult to find yourself coming off of that award, being a 7th round pick, being cut, bouncing around practice squads, then coming to Canada and expecting to dominate and instead being third on the depth chart with no prospects of moving up.

I had high CFL hopes for the guy, he had some good tape in preseason last year for the Rams, but whether he ended up out of shape by not playing last season or just lacks the mental toughness to adjust, it just doesn't look like it's going to happen for him. It's always sad to see, regardless of a player's background.


That is how competitive the CFL is with players, we have to remember USA collage players that are not in the NFL ( and there is a lot of them ) come to give there shot in cfl and a lot of them do not make it , cfl is the second best football league in the world and all american players do not know that when they come here.
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Most people equate size of salary with the amount of talent for a given person/situation. So it can be a rude awakening when one discovers that while the NFL pays 10x or more than the CFL, the quality of the CFL players is very much closer.

With only, what is it 4 DI spots?, most US players have to make a CFL team as a rookie starter. Not that easy to do.
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TSN's John Lu interviewed Als GM Jim Popp yesterday (2-1/2 min video here) before their preseason game against Toronto where Popp conceded there's a chance Sam won't be back, but maintains he's been in daily contact with Sam and/or his agent since he left camp and that he thinks there's a "good chance" Sam will return.

On the other hand there was also this in the Gazette yesterday:

http://montrealgazette.com/sports/footb ... notebook-7
The talk about Michael Sam simply won’t dissipate although it has now been almost a week since he requested permission to leave the team for personal reasons, according to the organization.

And more and more, sources within the organization continue to tell the Montreal Gazette Sam left because he realized he couldn’t compete and wasn’t improving quickly enough. Nobody in the organization has indicated any homophobic remarks were made against Sam, the first openly-gay player drafted by an NFL team.

“I just heard that some guys had been had been saying that he wasn’t playing very well and were making comments like ‘how was this guy co-SEC defensive player of the year?'” the source said. “And that guys that were behind him on the depth chart were making more plays in one practice than he has made all camp. Nothing about his sexual orientation, only comments about his play. I’m not quite sure who said what, but I think he may have overheard some of the chatter.”

Two other sources have told the Montreal Gazette basically the same thing over the course of the last few days.
Sports can be a peculiar thing. When partaking in fiction, like a book or movie, we adopt a "Willing Suspension of Disbelief" for enjoyment's sake. There's a similar force at work in sports: "Willing Suspension of Rationality". If you doubt this, listen to any conversation between rival team fans. You even see it among fans of the same team. Fans argue over who's the better QB or goalie, and selectively cite stats that support their views while ignoring those that don't.
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RDS is reporting that Michael Sams have returned back to Montreal.
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