Back in 2014 and 2015, there was a lot of discussion about Michael Sam, who became the first openly-gay player drafted into the NFL in 2014. Sam was taken in the seventh round by the St. Louis Rams, 249th overall, remarkable considering his status as co-SEC defensive player of the year. His training camp with them then saw a whole lot of unusual media activity, and he was cut that preseason, then only got a short practice squad opportunity with the Dallas Cowboys and nothing further in the NFL.
Sam then headed to the Canadian Football League’s Montreal Alouettes in 2015, but only played one regular-season game there before leaving the team and announcing his retirement for mental health reasons. Since then, he’s mostly been publicly notable as a motivational speaker. But, earlier this year, he signed with the Barcelona Dragons of the European League of Football as an assistant defensive line coach. And this week, with Barcelona linebacker Max Nacewicz announcing his retirement, the Dragons opted to add Sam to their active roster ahead of their season opener Sunday against the Stuttgart Surge.
— Barcelona Dragons (@Dragons_BCN) June 1, 2022
We’ll see how Sam does there. He’s only 33, so it’s certainly possible he could still play at a high level. But it’s also been a long time since he’s played at a significant level of competition. At any rate, it’s certainly significant to see Sam donning some pads again and making a professional team’s active roster.
[Outsports, American Football International, ELF; image from the Barcelona Dragons on Twitter]
