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INDIANAPOLIS – Michael Sam wants everyone in the NFL, including the media, to treat him just like anyone else in the NFL.
“I just wish you guys would see me as Michael Sam the football player, not Michael Sam the gay football player,” he said Saturday during a news conference at the NFL Scouting Combine.
Sam revealed earlier this month in interviews with ESPN and the New York Times that he is gay.
“I wanted to come out on my time, my terms,” he said.
So far at the combine, it’s been business as usual, Sam said.
“It’s been all football questions,” he said of his interviews with NFL teams.
Among those questions: Can he play outside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme since he lacks the size to line up at defensive end in a 4-3 alignment.
“I’m a pass rusher,” he said. “If you put me in a situation to get the quarterback, I’m going to get the quarterback.”
Sporting a rainbow-schemed “Stand with Sam” button, Sam was asked if he felt like a trailblazer.
“I feel like I’m Michael Sam,” he said.
New York Giants general manager Jerry Reese said Sam’s sexual orientation is not an issue in his club’s evaluation.
“I’m not talking about that,” Reese said. “If you want to talk about him as a football player that’s fine. What people do in their personal life, I’m not concerned about that.”
Asked for his thoughts on Sam as a player, Reese said, “He’s a good football player. You got to be a pretty good football player if you win (SEC Defensive Player of the Year). So our evaluation is he’s a good football player.”
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“I just wish you guys would see me as Michael Sam the football player, not Michael Sam the gay football player,” he said Saturday during a news conference at the NFL Scouting Combine.
Sam revealed earlier this month in interviews with ESPN and the New York Times that he is gay.
“I wanted to come out on my time, my terms,” he said.
So far at the combine, it’s been business as usual, Sam said.
“It’s been all football questions,” he said of his interviews with NFL teams.
Among those questions: Can he play outside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme since he lacks the size to line up at defensive end in a 4-3 alignment.
“I’m a pass rusher,” he said. “If you put me in a situation to get the quarterback, I’m going to get the quarterback.”
Sporting a rainbow-schemed “Stand with Sam” button, Sam was asked if he felt like a trailblazer.
“I feel like I’m Michael Sam,” he said.
New York Giants general manager Jerry Reese said Sam’s sexual orientation is not an issue in his club’s evaluation.
“I’m not talking about that,” Reese said. “If you want to talk about him as a football player that’s fine. What people do in their personal life, I’m not concerned about that.”
Asked for his thoughts on Sam as a player, Reese said, “He’s a good football player. You got to be a pretty good football player if you win (SEC Defensive Player of the Year). So our evaluation is he’s a good football player.”
Continue reading...