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Michael Sam new Alouettes player

mark_alfred

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Joined: Jan 3 2004

May 26, 2015 - 10:29am

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mark_alfred

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Joined: Jan 3 2004

May 26, 2015 - 10:51am

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/michael-sam-introduced-by-montreal...

Quote:

The Montreal Alouettes are holding a news conference to introduce Michael Sam, who was signed by the CFL team last week.

Sam is the first openly gay player to be drafted by an NFL team. The St. Louis Rams selected the pass rusher in the seventh round in 2014. He appeared in four pre-season games before the team released him, then had a short stint on the Dallas Cowboys' practice squad that ended in October without his playing a regular-season down in the NFL.

Montreal announced last Friday that it had signed the 25-year-old Texan, and he'll report to training camp when it begins Wednesday.

"I'm so excited to get back on the football field and get back to work," Sam said.

Some suspect that the NFL teams decided not to go with him because they didn't want the attention that his orientation may have provided. This may or may not be true. He was a seventh round pick.

Nonetheless, he has been chosen and will definitely play for the Alouettes, which is great. The CFL has in the past provided leadership in accepting players that the NFL has been reluctant to do due to possible discrimination. For example, Warren Moon, a black man who was a very talented quarterback, got his start with the Edmonton Eskimos some years ago after being ignored by the NFL (they later did take him seeing the skill he displayed in the CFL). So, it's great to see now that an openly gay man has been picked up by the CFL.