Alouettes must treat Michael Sam as just another football player

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/05/2015 (3261 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

To say Michael Sam is no different than any other NFL washout looking for work in the CFL is naive, but it will be imperative that he’s treated as such.

Sam is openly gay and that makes him different than any other professional football player. He’s a story, simply for his courage and openness.

But he’s not a sideshow and the Montreal Alouettes need to protect him from such a fate.

If Sam can play and hold down a roster spot based on merit, this has the potential to be an inspirational story. One that helps eliminate borders and changes the way people think. To make us better.

Sam, a rush end, could stack up the sacks and have the people at Molson Stadium cheering his name. What a story he could be — lauded for being a groundbreaker and a contributing player, much like Jackie Robinson in his early days with the Montreal Royals on the path to breaking baseball’s colour barrier.

But if he can’t play, Sam has to be released, just as he was from the NFL’s St. Louis Rams and Dallas Cowboys. To have him undeservedly hanging around a roster would be sad. It would diminish Sam’s already important story.

Society needs to get to a place where he’s not different. Where he’s just a football player. The same as O’Dell Willis or Drew Willy or take your pick of any one of the hundreds of players hoping to earn a spot on a CFL roster.

The ability to help a team win games is the only thing that matters. Being gay shouldn’t preclude a player of the chance to earn a living in the CFL or any professional league. It also shouldn’t advance such an opportunity.

Sam was a dominant defensive player in college and in many ways appears to be the perfect fit for the CFL. He’s listed at 6-2 and 260 pounds and has the body type to be a rush end in the CFL.

Speed is needed at the position and the one troubling trend on Sam’s resumé right now is he appears to be slowing down. From a time of 4.69 seconds in the 40-yard-dash at his pro day while still at Missouri, he dropped to a 4.91 at the 2014 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis to times of 5.07 and 5.10 seconds this March at the NFL Veterans Combine.

Maybe it was from added weight in his bid for the NFL or maybe it was focusing on a Dancing With the Stars stint rather than football. Who knows? But we’re going to find out. Sam will be competing for a job.

Every big-name U.S. college player who comes to Canada after a miss in the NFL has his warts. The notion that a big-name NCAA player can come to the CFL and turn the league on its ear has been disproved again and again. So much goes into being a pro. Ability, focus, durability. These are all unknowns at this level where Sam is concerned.

Alouettes GM Jim Popp has given Sam an opportunity. An opportunity earned by the player’s track record in the NCAA. That’s the way it should be.

Popp and the Alouettes want to win games and the case can be made for him as the best GM in the CFL. He’s always done what he believes to be best for his organization.

Popp is a forward-thinking guy. But he’s also motivated to win. That’s why he signed Sam. To make his team better. Sure, Popp would like Montreal, the Alouettes and society as a whole to benefit from the larger picture. But once Sam puts on his pads, he’ll simply be a football player in the eyes of the Als coaching staff.

One with or without the chops.

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @garylawless