Burwell: It's time to let Sam play football, blend in

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RamBill

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Burwell: It's time to let Sam play football, blend in
• By BRYAN BURWELL

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...cle_92a5b6a1-7015-5605-a103-7df83194bd5f.html

Over the past few months, as his life kept evolving in front of him, Michael Sam has seen everything blur as it turned from The Secret, to The Rumor, to The Moment, to The Movement. He has seen his life create history, generate admiration, evoke hatred, spark pride and prejudice.

But now, it’s time for it all to cease and desist.

Now it’s time for all The Movement to take a back seat and allow the football player to just do his thing.

The National Football League’s first openly gay athlete will arrive at Rams Park today for his first day of work, and it will probably be something of a media circus. Since the day he told the world he was gay, Sam has grown into a national phenomenon. Since Saturday, his new Rams jersey (he still hasn’t been issued an official number) is already the No.2 seller among NFL rookies to Cleveland’s Heisman Trophy-winning celebrity quarterback Johnny Manziel. By this afternoon’s press conference, there will be an extraordinary amount of TV cameras, reporters and national correspondents here, and there’s very little that the Rams can do to stop it. They can only hope to contain it.

The organization is going to do everything in its power to limit the circus atmosphere and allow their seventh-round draft pick to step out of the spotlight and get some sense of normality back in his life.

“Obviously there will be more (media) people here than normal,” Rams general manager Les Snead said. “We’ll be prepared for that. But after all the rookie draft picks meet the press, that will be it. We’ll get back to acting normal. After (Tuesday), you do nothing different. We’ve already talked to Michael and his people and told him he’s here to play football. If the major networks, Good Morning America, the Today Show or CNN come calling, guess what? You’re not doing that.

“We told him whether you show up for those shows or not, they can do all those shows without you and they will,” said Snead. “They’re going to chat about you and this issue all day long until there’s another story to talk about. But the show goes on without you from now on. There will be some logistical issues we’ll work out for (Tuesday). But our mantra’s been, ‘Whatever you do from here on out, let’s be normal.”

The Rams aren’t expecting the world to cooperate with their plans. But they do expect Sam to. “Whatever is out of the realm of what a seventh-round pick does,” said Snead, “we made it clear: Don’t do it.”

I have already dealt with The History, The Moment, The Movement. I have known about The Secret, observed The Rumors take growth, then waited for The Truth to come out.

Starting today, I am ready to move on. Starting today, I am only concerned about the football player and what makes him tick, not The Movement.

I want Michael Sam to succeed. I believe without distractions he is talented enough to be a productive pass rusher in the NFL. I also know the only way that happens is if Sam is allowed to step away from the spotlight and blend into the comfort of his new NFL life. The good news is that Sam hasn’t moved all that far from Columbia, where he was allowed that luxury at Mizzou. The Michael Sam story is already quite familiar to the St. Louis football-loving audience. They know it intimately. They do not need any more details.

The greater good news is that Sam will be in an NFL locker room where the head coach is a hands-on, strong leadership presence who has already set the tone for how he expects the rookie to be treated. On Monday, Jeff Fisher stood in front of the Rams Park auditorium filled with his veteran players and made sure they understood what will be expected of them when Sam and the other rookies arrive. It will not be an intolerant madhouse like the Miami Dolphins’ locker room.

“That’s a little bit of what the team meeting was about,” said Snead.

Fisher made it clear that if there are any problems, any bit of discomfort, any reluctance or questions about Sam, he doesn’t want them aired on Twitter or in any other awkward social network forum where nuance and substance are lost in 140 characters or less.

“We addressed some of those issues,” said Snead. “But the awesome thing was it doesn’t seem like there was any need. We have one of the youngest teams in the league, but they seem to be quite mature.”

If you follow any Rams on Twitter, what you saw were countless tweets that congratulated Sam and welcomed his arrival.

“It was authentic emotion,” said Snead. “It was a sense of ownership and a proud moment for them that this is their thing.”

So the Rams will, beginning today, limit Sam’s media exposure, and no one seems to be worried that any regrettable intolerant or bigoted comments will be coming out of the locker room. They have also had extensive meetings preparing for every possible outlandish distraction imaginable. They will be prepared if the morons from Westboro Baptist Church show up outside their gates spewing their hateful protests. They will keep a close eye on who shows up at Tuesday’s news conference, making sure that only truly accredited journalists walk through the door.

They are even smart enough to understand that they won’t be able to think of everything that can go wrong and will keep on brainstorming and asking questions as life goes on its normal routine.

But the one thing they can’t prepare for or control are the great expectations that can come from beyond the Rams Park walls, where the gay community views Sam as a hero. He is The Movement and The Moment all wrapped into one impressive football player on the verge of making history.

Those expectations and distractions are exactly what caused Sam to show up at the NFL scouting combine in such poor shape that it damaged his draft stock and cost him millions of dollars as he fell from a third-rounder to a seventh-round pick.

“He was distracted, there’s no doubt about it ...” said Cyd Ziegler, the co-founder of OutSports.com and a close Sam adviser. “At the combine, there wasn’t a moment that went by when he wasn’t thinking about all of this. But by the time the season rolls around, all of this stuff will be gone. He’ll be focused completely on football.”

He might, but will the gay activist movement settle for that?

According to Ziegler, they have no choice. “From the very moment Howard Bragman, his publicist, and I started working, we talked to all the big gay organizations, we told them we don’t want to hear requests for him showing up at your dinners. We don’t want to hear requests asking him making statements about gay marriage. His only role in the gay movement is to be a football player. We asked them to leave him alone and so far they have. People understand that his role in this movement was to do what he did on ESPN on Saturday. His role is to show up on Sunday and play football. The pressure is not there from the gay community to be anything but a football player.”
 

Boffo97

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The Rams aren’t expecting the world to cooperate with their plans. But they do expect Sam to. “Whatever is out of the realm of what a seventh-round pick does,” said Snead, “we made it clear: Don’t do it.”
This is the best thing I could have heard Snead say. I have been worried about possible distraction, but we've got a top notch organization who is proactively trying to stop problems before they start. Kudoes.

It also makes me wonder how long they were considering Sam. Usually, you don't plan for your 7th round picks, and it's just whoever falls. And the Rams were already loaded at DE.
 

shaunpinney

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WOW!!! Michael Sam is gay?!?!? :p

But in all seriousness, the guys highlight tape looks good, great pick up in the 7th for the Rams - well done Rams & well done Sam, welcome on board - give it 100% and let your gameplay and time on the field be what hits the headlines and not your sexual orientation....
 

ramsince62

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WOW!!! Michael Sam is gay?!?!? :p

But in all seriousness, the guys highlight tape looks good, great pick up in the 7th for the Rams - well done Rams & well done Sam, welcome on board - give it 100% and let your gameplay and time on the field be what hits the headlines and not your sexual orientation....

Have you ever seen a highlight video that didn't make a player look good?
 

blackbart

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So quit writting articles about him:wtf:
 

RamBill

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  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #6
Tipsheet: Sam possesses speed rush potential
• By Jeff Gordon

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...cle_a29c1d8a-2ec0-5f64-93b5-f7dd14a51c9a.html

As you may have heard, Rams defensive end prospect Michael Sam became the first openly gay player selected by an NFL team.

But can he actually make the team and help the Rams win games? He faces heavy competition with worthy incumbents William Hayes and Eugene Sims backing up Robert Quinn and Chris Long.

Plenty of skepticism remained as the draft neared. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel surveyed NFL scouts and didn't find much Sam enthusiasm.

"Most of his production was hustle stuff," an unnamed personnel man told the newspaper. "There's production, but he's short, he's not a really good athlete and he doesn't play good against the run.

"He's kind of a one-task pass rusher. Just run up the field. And they swallow him up and kind of push him around.

"It doesn't fit with being SEC defensive player of the year. But that's just kind of what he was."

But draft expert Russ Lande had this take on Sam for Sports on Earth:

The Rams' defensive scheme is built around aggressiveness and pressuring the quarterback, which fits perfectly with Sam's skill set. St. Louis allows defensive ends to use their initial quickness to attack the corner, forcing the offensive tackle to try and slide out quick enough to protect it. By doing this you give your pass rushers a three-way option: Try and beat the blocker around the corner, back underneath or through him with a power rush, which is often effective as the pass blocker is so focused on sliding out quickly that they can be jolted and drive backwards.

In four of the six games that I evaluated Sam and charted every snap he played, he displayed excellent initial quickness (he was almost always the first defensive linemen moving in those four games) and combined with his speed he was able to beat the offensive tackle to the turn point. Using his hands to chop at the pass blockers' hands and to rip up and through the offensive tackle, Sam was effective turning the corner and pressuring the quarterback when he kept his shoulder down and maintained good leverage and strength during the turn. However, he was not consistent doing this, and offensive tackles who stayed in their shuffle and used their hands well were able to ride him around the pocket, so he will need to work on maintaining dip/leverage while attempting to turn the corner.

Although Sam lacks great bulk, he proved on film that he can transfer from speed to power to jolt and drive the offensive tackle backwards into the quarterback's lap. When he came out of his initial rush to try to power rush, he did a good job of maintaining pad level and using his hands aggressively to jolt the blockers before they could get their hands on him. He will need to improve his ability to change directions quickly and efficiently -- his stiffness currently hinders this -- if he is going to take advantage of pass blockers' slide to try and beat them back underneath. Not only must he improve his change of direction ability, but he must develop more pass rush moves, as he is primarily an edge rusher who attacks the corner with speed and is effective as a bull/power rusher . . .

At Missouri, Sam did an excellent job of taking on run blocks strong at the point of attack to set the edge and keep the play contained on running plays to his side of the field, but he must improve his quickness shedding those blocks to make more plays. His quickness off the ball made it easy for him to get inside attempted "reach blocks" to make tackles on inside runs and running plays away, and he should continue to be successful in those situations in the NFL. Sam started nine games as a junior; before that, he earned his keep as a situational pass rusher and on special teams, where he blocked a punt during his freshmen season. His experience on special teams should help him as he battles for a roster spot -- many young players entering the NFL who were bigger stars in college than Sam did not play much on teams and often struggle to produce when called upon, which hinders their ability to win a roster spot battle. Many outside of the NFL do not realize that the last player to make the team at defensive end, linebacker, safety and cornerback are rarely the best at their defensive position compared to all those cut, but they often make the team because they outperform them on special teams, which could help Sam.

Retired defensive end Stephen White praised Sam's speed rushing ability for SB Nation:

Beating a guy around the corner in college football is a dying art, so when you see a guy who can do it consistently, it jumps right out and grabs you. These days, unless the pass rusher is one of those freaks who runs a 4.6 40 or better, you hardly even see guys trying to get around the corner. Even those freakish guys, like (Jadeveon) Clowney, don't always have the technique to turn the corner when they have a one-on-one opportunity to go along with their athletic ability. While they're fast, they aren't fast enough to get around the offensive tackle using only speed on a consistent basis.

Sam is no speed demon, obviously, as he only ran a 4.91 at the NFL Combine. However, what Sam does have is an excellent get-off on the ball and an uncanny ability to get his hips turned right away. When he executes his rip move he can stay on course and get to the quarterback. Some people don't understand that pass rushing is a 5- to 7-yard dance more so than a sprint. If you are a good dancer and can get off the ball, that can go a long way to making up for a slow 40 time.

I don't know if Sam honed his skills to a razor's edge over his time in college or if he was naturally blessed with them, but time and time again you see Sam at least tie the offensive lineman out of his stance on his get-off, run right to the level of the quarterback, dip and rip or rip and dip, and be in position to get a sack or a pressure. He is so good at it that you figure there is no way he will get around the offensive tackle because they are about even when they make contact, and yet he still finds a way to do just that.

Of course, there are plenty of negatives with Sam the Football Player as well. He may be the only person on Earth convinced he should have gone in the top three rounds.

His overall athleticism didn't measure up in draft combine drills and scouts wonder if he will ever become an adequate run defender. But the man can rush the passer, so he will be an interesting player to watch in the Gregg Williams defensive system.

IN PRAISE OF AARON DONALD

Experts are unanimous in their praise of defensive tackle Aaron Donald. Here are a few examples from the ESPN crew:

Jeffi Chadiha: "Donald becomes the fourth defensive lineman the Rams have selected in the first round since 2008. He also will help make this unit as formidable as any front four in football. St. Louis already has a Pro Bowl defensive end in Robert Quinn (who finished 2013 with 19 sacks), while fellow end Chris Long and defensive tackle Michael Brockers have both developed into solid players. Add Donald to that mix, a player who can be disruptive against both the run and the pass, and the Rams defense suddenly has the potential to go to another level. St. Louis general manager Les Snead and head coach Jeff Fisher obviously understand that keeping pace in the hyper-competitive NFC West -- where Seattle won the Super Bowl, San Francisco reached the NFC Championship Game and Arizona won 10 games -- involves shrewd personnel decisions. By taking Donald with the 13th overall pick, they landed a major talent who can plug in and play from day one ... and potentially dominate."

Mel Kiper Jr.: "Last year, the Jets surprised some people by drafting Sheldon Richardson onto an already decent defensive line. Richardson blew up. This year, St. Louis added Donald to a line loaded with disruptive players, namely Robert Quinn and Chris Long on the edges. It will be hard to block them all. I expect Donald, who is physically ready and refined enough in his hand use and ability to shed and penetrate, to make waves early."

MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE

Questions to ponder while wondering if Kenny Britt or Brian Quick can step up to fill the Stedman Bailey void:

Any guess as to which Rams draft pick is moving the most souvenir uniform these days?

How is Mel Kiper's 2015 mock draft shaping up?

Can Jameis Winston reach the NFL 24/7 supervision?

MEGAPHONE

"We were frank with him on Friday that's the expectation, you're the backup quarterback. This is a hard-working, blue-collar town, this isn't Hollywood. We want you to come in and go to work."

Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, on Johnny Manziel, while speaking at a Pro Football Hall of Fame luncheon in Canton.
 

moklerman

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I don't mind all of the Sam articles/threads because it has cut way down on the Sam B. threads.