Sam has never been touted as the most dominant force in the conference, but he willed himself to the 2013 SEC Defensive Player of the year. In the last six years no SEC Defensive POY had been selected later than 17th overall in the NFL Draft, therefore it’s not out of line to think Sam’s newly open sexuality caused his stock to fall.
Finally, after months of wondering if he would still get the opportunity to play pro football and after nearly three days of watching live draft coverage with those around him, Sam was finally taken Saturday night — with just eight picks remaining — by the St. Louis Rams 249th overall (7th round).
It was one of the most beautiful moments recently captured in the sports world. When Sam takes the phone call, he’s making history.
Sam quickly took to Twitter to proclaim his excitement before being congratulated by President Obama.
Thank you to the St. Louis Rams and the whole city of St. Louis. I’m using every once of this to achieve greatness!! pic.twitter.com/QESdOJVzsw
— Michael Sam (@MikeSamFootball) May 10, 2014
Sam also has the No. 2 hottest selling jersey right now, only behind Johnny Manziel.
We are getting closer to the day where a gay athlete will compete in front of thousands of people and their sexuality won’t even cross the minds of those watching — and that’s an amazing benchmark.
Kudos to the Rams for possibly getting the best steal of the draft.
Josh Helmuth is the editor of CraveOnline Sports.
