Nearly all hope for Michael Sam’s professional football career was lost last year when, after becoming the first openly gay player to be drafted in the NFL, he was dropped by both the St. Louis Rams and the Dallas Cowboys before the NFL season started.; however, Sam seemed to be keeping his football dream alive when he signed to the Canadian Football League’s Montreal Alouettes last month. But now it looks like Sam’s career is, once again, going downhill as it’s been revealed that he abruptly left the team’s training camp.
According to the Montreal Gazette, Sam missed his first day of practice last Thursday, claiming he had a migraine; however, last Friday, after only three weeks in the training camp, Sam requested permission to leave the Alouettes’ training camp for personal reasons.
Sam has given no explanation of what those personal problems are and he has since been placed on the team’s suspended list. Although sources are saying that it’s unlikely Sam will come back, the team’s general manager Jim Popp said Sam is welcome to return when he’s ready,.
“There’s nothing to tell you. He wanted to go home, and that’s what he did. I don’t know why. When a guy wants to go home, they go home. He had some personal things to take care of,” said Popp of Sam’s departure.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he returns. I’m surprised he left. I was very surprised. If he doesn’t come back, I would think football’s over for him. He’s the one that has to face that. But I don’t think he doesn’t want to play football. That’s why he came here,” Popp added.
Sources say Sam initially struggled in the camp to adjust to Canadian professional football and that he “stuck to himself” instead of mingling with his teammates; however, he began to improve by week two. But another source claims Sam may have left over a negative comment about his performance.
“All I know is I heard somebody made a comment about him, about how he wasn’t very good and wasn’t having a very good camp. He took it personally and was pouting in his room,” the source said. “It’s very strange. I have no idea what’s going on. He might have a personal issue.”
According to Popp, Sam may just be feeling the weight of all of the media attention and scrutiny he’s endured since he came out last year.
“It’s a huge story because everybody keeps hounding and hounding and hounding. Michael Sam just wants to be a football player,” Popp said. “I would think anybody that’s 25 years old that has been going through it for a year and a half, it would have to affect him. I would think so. That’s one reason he didn’t want to do interviews and just concentrate on football.”
We’re not sure what’s going on with Sam, but it looks like the hope of seeing an openly gay player thrive in the world of professional football is, once again, dying. We just hope he has a change of heart and refocuses on his career.
