Michael Sam Draft Position Odds

5dimes

Wow, interesting.

Do you think he helped himself in the draft order or hurt himself.

I say helped himself.

Hollywood
1R- +2000
2R- +1500
3R- +650
4R- +400
5R- +350
6R- +300
7R- +300
undrafted +500

Looks like from 5th round to 7th round if the favorite.

they say he will most likely go in the 3rd day.man im sick of hearing this story now

I have to think he hurts his draft position. I would not want him on my team as I would not want Tebow on my team. Too many distractions. If he is a slight upgrade from what you have then it still might be a negative overall impact with the media.

if this kid turns out to be an absolute beast at the combine, then his advantages will outweigh the distractions. In the end you just want to win.....but if all other things are equal, i'm taking the other guy

maybe the nfl vets need to learn from the 18 and 19 yrs old kids at missouri

http://www.kabc.com/common/more.php...ticle=6BCCBD09D55311E3B51EFEFDADE6840A&mode=2

NFL Insiders: Michael Sam Gay ‘Distraction’ Likely to Drop His Draft Value
7:50PM Tuesday
May 6, 2014








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(NEW YORK) -- With Michael Sam poised this week to become the first openly gay player drafted by the NFL, several teams are likely to pass on selecting him because of the “distraction” his presence on their rosters would generate, a pair of NFL insiders say.

On the new episode of Capital Games, Bill Polian, a former top executive for several pro football franchises and now an ESPN analyst, said he believes Sam’s coming out probably hurt his draft status, because teams are cognizant of the extra media scrutiny that drafting him will bring.

“One of the questions you would ask is, as a football player, is he worth all of the trouble we’re going to have in terms of the early going with media, with involvement by the league office, with involvement by special interest groups, et cetera? Is he worth all that trouble?” Polian told ABC News’ Rick Klein and ESPN’s Andy Katz.

“There are going to be some teams, unfortunately, who say, ‘No, he isn’t.’ He’s not that great a player that they’re going to be willing to put up with the early kinds of intrusions -- football people would view them as intrusions and distractions -- that you will get, because this is not a sports media issue,” he added. “This is MSNBC. This is Fox News network. This is [Bill] O’Reilly-type stuff that is going to get forced into your football program.”

Polian, who served in high-ranking positions for the Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers and Indianapolis Colts, stressed that he doesn’t think any NFL locker room will be less than welcoming to Sam: “The players won’t have any issue with [his sexual orientation] at all.”

But based on the former University of Missouri defensive end’s talents, some franchises are likely to conclude that bringing him aboard is not worth the trouble, Polian told Klein and Katz. Some scouts and analysts are predicting that Sam might not even get drafted.

“Michael, while a good player and in my humble opinion good enough to make it in the league, and make a team and be a contributor as a pass rusher and special teams player, they may not see the distraction as worth their while,” Polian said.

ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter agreed that Sam’s sexual orientation will be a factor when teams start drafting players Thursday. Sam, 24, came out as gay in February, after the college football season concluded, although many of his teammates were previously aware of his sexual orientation.

“You know of all the other factors that come along with drafting a Michael Sam,” Schefter said. “This is not just ESPN covering the debut of some rookie fifth-, sixth-, seventh-round draft pick, wherever it is that he is picked. This is every TV station, this is media coverage, this is a lot of extracurricular activities that mid-to-late-round draft picks don’t ordinarily bring."

“In this particular case, it would be a lot of extra attention. I think you factor it into your decision, but I don’t think it makes the ultimate decision for you," he continued.

NFL officials are aware of the spotlight they’re under in regard to Sam, Schefter added.

“The league is at a crossroads in terms of locker-room culture and atmosphere that it is trying to teach and employ,” he said. “I think that the league is at a moment in time where it has the chance to make a difference, and this is another example of that where the way a league and the team handle this situation can help be an example for other businesses and walks of life. And I think the league recognizes that, is aware of it, and wants to make sure it is out in front of this, leading by example.”

Schefter said that he thinks the extra attention on Sam will die down if and when he becomes a regular NFL player. He compared it the firestorm of media coverage around Notre Dame’s Manti Te’o surrounding last year’s draft, after a bizarre story emerged revealing that the existence and death of his supposed girlfriend had been a hoax.

“I think he will come off some teams’ boards. But I also think that -- and maybe it’s not as extreme of an example -- but last year there was a lot of attention around Manti Te’o, and that was going to be a distraction to for whatever team took him. And yet the [San Diego] Chargers drafted him in the second round and he didn’t seem to be much of a distraction at all year long,” he said.

“I think it’s how a team will handle it. And the Manti Te’o issue went away, and I think over the time maybe the Michael Sam issue also will slowly just dissipate.”

Klein and Katz also talked with Polian and Schefter about the political intrigue that surrounds the draft, with agents, coaches, general managers, scouts and members of the media engaged in wheeling and dealing as well as misinformation campaigns.

I would not want to draft the kid only because who wants to have a huge locker room circus swirling around a guy who is borderline to make the team anyway? No one is going to give a shit that he is gay except in the sense that it attracts a bunch of media hype. If he was a first or second round type talent then everyone would be willing to deal with it...... but why put up with the circus for a guy likely to get cut in training camp anyway?

Cyyyyk said:

I would not want to draft the kid only because who wants to have a huge locker room circus swirling around a guy who is borderline to make the team anyway? No one is going to give a shit that he is gay except in the sense that it attracts a bunch of media hype. If he was a first or second round type talent then everyone would be willing to deal with it...... but why put up with the circus for a guy likely to get cut in training camp anyway?

Click to expand...

Very well put Cyyyyk! Nobody wants that circus coming to their town. However some owner may want the credit for taking a chance on the guy AFTER his announcement. (Only in the very low rounds. Turns out the guy is not an NFL level talent.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/f...gest-obstacle-talented-rams-article-1.1914499


<header>[h=1]Michael Sam’s biggest obstacle: Too many talented St. Louis Rams play same position[/h]</header><header>[h=2]St. Louis has not been a very good team — no playoffs since 2004 and no winning record since 2003 — but its best and deepest position is defensive end — Sam’s position — beginning with Robert Quinn and Chris Long, the best tandem in the NFL.[/h]</header><header>NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
</header><header>Published: Saturday, August 23, 2014, 4:24 PM
</header><header>Updated: Sunday, August 24, 2014, 12:32 PM
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<article itemprop="articleBody" data-streamid="7.2208425" data-streamtags='["NYDN.Sports.d","NYDN.Sports.Football.d"]'> <figure class="a-image v"> Scott Kane/ASSOCIATED PRESSMichael Sam has played well enough in Rams’ camp to earn at least spot on practice squad, if not in St. Louis, then somewhere else in NFL.</figure>
EARTH CITY, Mo. — Michael Sam’s sexual orientation is a non-issue in Rams camp. The players have accepted him and tease him like any other rookie.
The issue is whether the first openly gay player in NFL history is going to become the first openly gay player to make a roster. St. Louis has not been a very good team — no playoffs since 2004 and no winning record since 2003 — but its best and deepest position is defensive end — Sam’s position — beginning with Robert Quinn and Chris Long, the best tandem in the NFL.
In a preseason game Saturday night in Cleveland with the NFL’s two highest-profile rookies, Sam helped his cause by sacking Johnny Manziel twice. After the first one, Sam celebrated by rubbing his fingers together in Manziel’s trademark “money” sign.
“He’s no different than any other late-round pick or college free agent that we have. He’s just trying to make this team,” Rams coach Jeff Fisher said in his office the other day. “We have a reality that we can only keep so many players at that position. Is he better than that fourth or fifth defensive end? Right now, I can’t answer that.”
The cut down from 90 to 75 is Tuesday, and the final cut to 53 is Saturday. Other teams ran away from Sam in the draft — he wasn’t good enough for them to take on the added scrutiny and media attention — and if he doesn’t make the Rams’ opening day roster, he’s likely to clear waivers, making him eligible for one of the 10 spots on St. Louis’ practice squad beginning next Sunday.
As embarrassing as it would have been if Sam didn’t get drafted three months after announcing he’s gay, it won’t look good if he’s not even on a practice squad after he was co-defensive player of the year in the SEC. Even though he had an awful combine and is considered too small to be a pass-rushing defensive end and too slow in pass coverage as a linebacker, it’s hard to believe he won’t at least get one of the 320 practice squad jobs in the NFL.
“He’s done some good things and he’s going to have a chance to make this team,” Long said. “But it’s going to be tough. We’re a pretty deep group. He’s a typical rookie, figuring things out day to day. The jury is still out.”
Sam, who also had a sack last week against the Packers, has volunteered to get more involved on special teams after being used a few times on the kickoff return team last week. Defensive ends don’t usually play special teams, but Fisher is giving Sam every opportunity to make the team.
Fisher has a close relationship with Roger Goodell but said he felt no pressure from the league to take Sam in the seventh round when he was eight picks away from not being drafted.
“That wasn’t our issue,” he said. “That was never an issue. I’m not drafting for the NFL. I’m drafting for our football team. We’re drafting players to help us win. Mike had the skills on tape. We thought he would have a chance. You can never have enough defensive ends now. The other side of that is, it’s probably the strength of our football team right now. It’s been an uphill climb for Mike since he got here. But he’s done a great job. He’s a much better player now than he was when he got here because our position coach Mike Waufle is an excellent teacher.”
On the Rams’ depth chart, veteran William Hayes is listed behind Long at left end, and Eugene Sims is behind Quinn at right end. Sam is listed third team at right end, and to make the team, he’s going to have to beat out second-year player Sammy Brown and undrafted West Texas A&M rookie Ethan Westbrooks, who Fisher has been talking up.
Sam is not the first gay player in the NFL. He’s just the first one who came out while he was active. There are no secrets in the locker room, and chances are many players in the NFL have played with gay teammates in colleges or the NFL. That’s why it’s not an issue in the locker room.
“I don’t know concretely, but you hear things, just like you hear rumors about anybody else’s social life. But really, work is work,” Long said. “When you are at work, you don’t really care too much about people’s social lives or their sexuality for that matter. Their sexuality is not really important at work.”
Fisher said the Rams had Sam rated as a late fourth-fifth round pick. By the time the Rams were on the clock with back-to-back selections late in the seventh round, he said taking Sam “was an easy pick.”
Now, he’s just “one of the guys,” he said.
Following the BullyGate scandal in Miami last year, there is a league-wide initiative to promote workplace conduct that centers on inclusion and diversity. The NFL has set it up so a former NFL player speaks to each team. The Rams got their talk recently from Hall of Famer Aeneas Williams, who played for the Cardinals before finishing his career in St. Louis. “It was an outstanding presentation,” Fisher said.
The Rams insisted taking Sam was all about football. If it was also designed to bring attention to the team and create positive publicity to result in ticket sales, it didn’t work. Unlike when the Browns drafted Manziel, the Rams’ decision to take Sam didn’t result in any impact on the box office.
The pressure is on Sam because he wants to play in the NFL, and such a high profile job will assist him in further becoming a role model for younger gay athletes.
“Guys in the locker room don’t let it become a distraction. That is the main thing,” Quinn said. “Keep your eyes on the bigger prize and go from there.”
By next Sunday, when Sam will likely either be on the Rams’ active roster or their practice squad, it will become clearer if he has a future in the league.
</article>


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