And no doubt he’ll be all over this one too.
I think Sam is a great athlete, but from what I have seen, but he is an inbetween size player for his position. Too small by NFL standards, likely too big by CFL standards. DE in the CFL requires that ability to float off the edge and cover a lot more field at times. Now, because he is as athletic as he is, that could change. IMO he is a little bulky to play DE in the CFL, and probably either needs to bulk up a bit more to play DT or lean up and go for DE. There could always be a transition to an inside LB as well. I would think he makes the team, and if he works on a few things one way or the other could turn out to be a great signing...as he left the NFL camps...we've seen it lots, NFL cuts often need to make physical adjustments to play in the CFL.
Did Montreal signed Michael Sam twice or two people with the same name
?
I think his reference is to the thread title. . . Michael Sams, plural.
Sad but true
Terrific. Good for them and him. :thup:
hope for his sake that he can play football better than he can dance 
Good for both of them then.
Good signing. He'll be welcomed in Montreal.
Agreed with many of the above, I'm hoping the focus remains mainly on his football skills
Most of the press has been positive. Just don't read where the dregs of society tend to hang out... the comments section. Seen a few that raised both eyebrows as to how anyone can say or post such things.
As a football decision, it's a smart move. He was a defensive POY in college. My concern is he didn't test well at the NFL veteran's combine. For instance, his 40 time was close but a bit slower this his pre NFL draft results, coming in at around 5 seconds. If you look at the results for this years CFL draft, compared with LBs that would put him behind the 7 LBs that performed the dash at the CFL combine. Compared to the DLs where he would probably end up lining up as a rush end I would think, he would be middle of the pack-ish. So good, but not outstanding. And you have to take those results with a grain of salt as well as he was training and performed at the combine while simultaneously practicing and performing in the early early stages of the Dancing with the Stars show. It'll be curious to see how he performs in comparison to the guys already there because Montreal already has some good talent on the line. Bowman's a lock on one side, and Knapton I believe played the other end spot and had 9 sacks. But if he's half as good as some project he could be that line will cause problems for a lot of teams.
For the first part, yeah, just ignore the bigots. It is funny that some seem to think that there are not homosexual people in football. Just because they have not made it public it does not mean that it is not out there by any stretch of the imagination.
On his test results, I agree, which is basically what I was getting at. The DWTS point is pretty interesting, I had not thought of that. His combine results were on par with what was anticipated, so I don’t think effected it a whole bunch, but you definitely could be right. I mentioned bulking up a bit…not much, maybe 10 lb…might put him at DT because he has strong core strength, which is pretty important for DT. He also has good elbow thrust, also good attributes for a DT. If he can not improve on the attributes of the cone drill he will not last as a DE in the CFL, unless the team is prepared to have a LB cover the flat and not roll back as much, otherwise a speedy back/utility slot is going to have a darned good game. The outside speed (parallels) is important in the NFL, and critical in the CFL, especially wide side, and that is what he really lacks. If he comes in as a pure rush end then he better be lined up on the same edge as Cox, because he can compensate for some of that weakness on the edge. This goes somewhat against the Als general defensive philosophy, but it is definitely doable.
Beg to differ Sam is a very average player in college. HE IS using this to become KNOWN. Without his back ground info he would never have gotten A NFL TRYOUT . Actually a sad story glorified by reports over really nothing. Their are plenty of
Gays in all sports who KEEP QUITE as not to bring attention to themselves. Just want to play the sport because they are
good at it.
I suspect Sam lacks the speed and agility to play DE in the CFL. He could likely be a training camp casualty...or would the Als have the guts to face that onslaught? (or just keep him in reserve and not cut him like they did with Chad Johnson last year)?
Really? You don’t think a Div 1 all-star who led his conference in sacks and tackles for losses and was named an SEC all-star and Defensive Player of the Year is not going to at least get a look? He was brought in for a look because he is a smart player and pretty solid athlete. You have pretty inflated visions of what it takes to at least have an NFL team take a look. They pushed him to OLB instead of DE because they felt he was too small, but he does not have anywhere near the speed required to play OLB. He is pretty short compared to the average NFL DE. TBH, I thought he would at minimum stick around on a PR for a year to see if he can transition.
I don’t think there would be much of a backlash if he was cut, but I can’t see it happening. No matter how/why he is a big name, he is that…a big name. It would be stunning to see him not make the team.
Sam was projected as a second or third round NFL pick not long before he came out. I would suggest that he was much better than average in college.
wow. the ignorance of this reporter is overwhelming.
A great percentage of players in the CFL are NFL draft picks, not to mention many who were Heisman winners and/or finalists who could not even make the grade up North. (most in their chronological prime as well)
and most collegiate players in the SEC NEVER make the pros, whether NFL/CFL or other.
Only 0.09% of all NCAA football players actually make the pros (active or PR) and yet this reporter claims that the SEC has better players than the CFL?
unbelievable.
[u]Michael Sam's CFL detour could lead back to NFL[/u] Tom Pelissero, USA TODAY Sports[b][i]Because there’s no question Sam has a rare pedigree for a CFL signee, at least one who’s not arriving washed-up. He was the Southeastern Conference Co-Defensive Player of the Year just two years ago.
He was an NFL draft pick.But all that is also the catch if a stint in an inferior league is needed to convince Sam’s doubters in the NFL – and he clearly has a lot of them – that he’s worth another look.
He faced arguably better competition in the SEC, had 11½ sacks as a senior in 2013 … and fell to the St. Louis Rams at No. 249 overall in the seventh round.[/i][/b]
[url=http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2015/05/22/michael-sam-canadian-football-league-montreal-alouettes/27816945/]http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nf ... /27816945/[/url]
Well think again depop. When NFL teams signed him (there were 2, weren’t there?) and then released him, there were those that immediately assumed he was released because he’s gay as opposed to believing that he was released for football reasons.
I truly hope you are right, but I do expect that, if he is eventually released by Montreal, there will be those who will accuse the Als of being homophobic.
So I wonder what is getting more press in the US media - the Maple Leafs Babcock signing or the Michael Sams Alouettes signing? My guess is the Michael Sam signing is much more significant than the Babcock signing in the overall US media, coast to coast.
I think that if he had not already been released by other clubs it would be more suspicious in some people’s eyes, but because he was released…2 times apparently…I believe it would be downplayed some. Of course there are those that would always say otherwise…that is going to happen.
When a team has jersey’s prepped the day they announce a player has signed…that player is pretty unlikely to get cut. As I said before, I was surprised he never stuck at least as a PR player for a year in the NFL, so one would think there would be a spot for him in the CFL as well. IMO he likely plays in the CFL for a year or 2, and if he does well gets a crack down south once the media hysteria is blown over somewhat