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Distraction? What Distraction?
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_1ee03822-1e62-5a2d-9947-6e9faa6cab26.html
Coach Jeff Fisher says rookie defensive end Michael Sam has been anything but a distraction in his time with the Rams.
"Mike has been easy," Fisher told the Post-Dispatch earlier this week. "Mike has not been a distraction. He came back in great shape. He worked hard over the summer. His conditioning tests reflected that.
"He's having fun, and he's fit in. And he's been really, really a pleasure to be around and coach."
The only time where the term "distraction" applied was in the first week after the Rams selected Sam, the Missouri all-American, in the seventh round. That was when the Oprah Winfrey Network arrived in town to work on a docu-series on Sam, the NFL's first openly-gay player. But those plans were quickly squashed, at least for now.
Since then, Sam has basically been a guy trying to make a team.
"That's it. That's what it is," Fisher said. "He's a good football player. As we said, he's gonna knock a lot of quarterbacks down in preseason."
Former Tampa Bay and Indianapolis coach Tony Dungy created a firestorm last week when he said he wouldn't have drafted Sam if he were still coaching because of the distraction.
"I haven't paid really close attention to all of the remarks," Fisher said, when asked about Dungy. "But I sense that maybe some was taken out of context. It appears that this was an interview that was done weeks and weeks ago."
Fisher added: "Everyone's entitled to their opinions. Inside the building here at Rams Park, it's not an issue. Mike Sam being here is not an issue. He's just one of the guys."
Fisher and general manager Les Snead attended the ESPY awards in Los Angles earlier this month when Sam was presented with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award.
"It was great to be invited to go down there and support Mike," Fisher said. "I thought he did a great job."
