Sam not satisfied with preseason debut/Wagoner

[RamBill]

Sam not satisfied with preseason debut
By Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/10325/sam-not-satisfied-with-preseason-debut

ST. LOUIS -- Like most rookies playing in their first NFL game, St. Louis Rams defensive end Michael Sam was nervous as he ran down the tunnel before the preseason opener against the New Orleans Saints.

But by the time his night was complete, Sam walked away with plenty of takeaways -- none more meaningful than this:

"That I can play in this league," Sam said. "That's the most important. I was kind of nervous. I got some nerves out today. It was a very good learning experience and I can play in this league."

Sam entered the game with five minutes and 13 seconds to go in the first quarter. Now that the preseason is here, Sam is finally getting his long-awaited opportunity to simply play football and prove whether he belongs in between the white lines.

After entering the game, Sam, who lined up at left defensive end, played the rest of the first half and about halfway through the third quarter.

At first glance, there were some good moments.

"Mike played hard," coach Jeff Fisher said. "I didn't watch him individually but I saw him on the hurry and the great effort outside the pocket. Saw him on a couple other plays. He slid down and made a play in the run game that stood out. We'll watch the tape and see how he did."

And, of course, there were plays that Sam would like to have back.

"I could have got two sacks but one sack I thought was a screen and it wasn't," Sam said. "I was upset."

The unofficial pressbox statistics had Sam down for one tackle and one quarterback hurry, the two plays Fisher mentioned specifically in his instant reaction to Sam's debut. Those plays also drew rousing ovations from the home crowd when Sam's name was announced.

Beyond the contributions to the defense, Sam also got some work on special teams. He got a couple of reps as a blocker on kickoff return and a few more on the kick block units.

With other contenders for a potential ninth defensive lineman roster spot such as Ethan Westbrooks (three tackles) and Sammy Brown (two tackles for loss and a quarterback hurry) flashing their ability, Sam's best route to the roster is still through combining potential as a pass-rusher with special teams contributions.

Asked about Sam's progress on special teams after the game, Fisher made it clear that what he's attempting to do isn't easy.

"Michael is a defensive end," Fisher said. "It's rare to find a defensive end playing special teams in the NFL. They don't do it. It's the linebackers that do it, all the other positions do it ... If Michael can find a way into the core group of special teams and we will give him every opportunity to do so, that's going to help his opportunity to make this team. Again, there's not a lot of defensive ends that play on special teams."

All in all, Sam wasn't upset about his debut performance but came away wanting more.

"The hardest critic is me, myself," Sam said. "I think I could have done a little bit better. I'm not mad about my first game but I know I could have done better."

With the first preseason game out of the way, Sam will have three more chances to prove that he not only can play in the league but that he can do it on the Rams' roster.

 

[mr.stlouis]

I was happy with Sam, I find it hard to imagine a scenario that he doesn't make the team. This is barring an injury, of course.

 

[PhxRam]

jesus christ let me edit this and see now if it reads like any other story.

 

[PhxRam]

oh my god, the horror. Does this read any differently now that it doesnt mention the fact that he is gay?

 

[RamBill]

Burwell: It’s a low-key but solid step for Sam
By BRYAN BURWELL

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...cle_2f0438d5-68b7-5edd-90ed-10c7046b1a75.html

By the middle of the third quarter of the first exhibition game of his NFL career, Michael Sam stood on the sidelines with his helmet tilted on the top of his head, waiting for another chance to get back on the field.

For months, this was the moment he’d been waiting for and now here it was. How good it felt to be standing there with sweat and eye black streaming down his face, with a St. Louis Rams game uniform on his back.

It was Friday night at the Edward Jones Dome, and Sam was in a pro football game — albeit a preseason opener — and everything seemed so normal. He wasn’t fighting for a cause, he was battling for a job.

He wasn’t a symbol of social progress, he was a rookie trying to prove his worth. He wasn’t a distraction, he was an excitable defensive lineman flying all over the football field trying to make a play.

Many in the smallish crowd inside the Edward Jones Dome politely acknowledged his presence when they finally realized the most celebrated seventh-round draft pick the St. Louis Rams have ever known had entered the game in the second quarter of a 26-24 loss to the New Orleans Saints.

He had come into the game with 5 minutes and 13 seconds remaining in the second quarter, but no one actually noticed that the first openly gay player to playon an NFL field had made his historic entrance until a play later when the PA announcer mentioned his name as part of the play.

It wasn’t a rousing ovation or some gushing recognition for a ground-breaking social pioneer. It wasn’t a gasp-and-swoon salutation for a man who was creating the sort of history that seemed unimaginable less than 12 months ago.

What Sam received from the home crowd simply was the polite recognition accorded a favorite son of Mizzou; it was not much different from the applause heard when another former Tiger, rookie E.J. Gaines, was mentioned after a play he made.

The small crowd in the Dome wasn’t all that interested in the greater sense of the historic story of the evening, because here in St. Louis the Michael Sam story is not quite the same as it is everywhere else.

We know Sam and his story as well as anybody in the land. We watched him grow into a special player at Mizzou. We knew — or at least had an inkling — of his personal back story for a while. And surprisingly it didn’t seem to matter when we found out that he is gay, which is somewhat of a surprise when you consider the bright-red conservative leanings and politics of this state.

We’ve long ago settled into the notion that the Michael Sam story is that of a football player trying to earn a job. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing that the rest of the world sees things a bit differently.

“Everywhere else in the country, they’re watching this game because of Michael,” said Cyd Zeigler, founder and columnist for Outsports.com and Sbnation.com. “He’s the story to everyone else because of what it means.”

And what it means to everyone else is the monumental moment when an openly gay athlete stepped onto an NFL field for the first time and played in a football game. Whatever your politics, you have to understand why so many people beyond the local borders think this merits heavy media attention.

That’s why on Friday night, the Dome press box did have a surprisingly large presence of national media for such a meaningless contest. Zeigler was part of a contingent that included USA Today, ESPN, NFL Network and Yahoo Sports.

To them, everything Sam did Friday night was landmark stuff.

Yet to most of the spectators in the Dome — and by and large the local media contingent — the documentation of his every movement simply was part of a less historically significant depth-chart obsession.

“Here in St. Louis, the story is their football team,” Zeigler said. “They just want to know how the Rams are doing. To them, the story is the team and Michael is just a small part of that story.”

And with so many of the starting players for both teams on the sidelines in sweat suits or T-shirts and shorts, this was a game that was being played for the benefit of bottom-of-the-roster dreamers such as Sam.

This was the first opportunity to get substantial playing time, to put something on game film for the coaches and personnel people to see. After a few weeks in training camp, the reps for Sam had begun to dwindle — and quite frankly, so had his play over the last week of practice.

After so many practices against the same teammates, it starts to get difficult to fool the guy across the line of scrimmage with your moves. So a game against new competition was a decidedly important change of pace.

According to several NFL scouts who were in attendance, what they saw out of Sam was impressive.

He had some explosion off the line of scrimmage. You could see a different, higher energy from him from the start. He had several quarterback pressures, showed some excellent bursts of speed off the line of scrimmage on pass plays, chased down Saints backup quarterback Ryan Griffin a couple of times in the backfield and did a decent job on the few running plays that came in his direction.

His first tackle came with 11:57 left in the second quarter, when he split through two blockers and nearly tackled running back Khiry Robinson in the backfield then dragged him down for no gain.

As Rams coach Jeff Fisher said after the game, Sam needs to get more game action with his hand in the dirt because he is a pure pass-rushing defensive end, and it’s quite rare to find a pass-rushing DE who ends up as special-teams demon racing down on kick or punt coverage.

By the end of Friday’s game, as he walked off the field with a TV camera trailing him, Sam didn’t look like a social pioneer. He just looked like a very happy and satisfied football player pleased with a good night’s work.

If he can keep this sort of activity up in the next three exhibition games — and make some impact on special teams — by September Sam really will be able to make NFL history by stepping on the field for a regular-season game.

That would be the sort of history that really would matter.

 

[RamBill]

St. Louis Rams defensive end Michael Sam reacts to his first NFL game. (4:19)

Watch Sam Interview

 

[CGI_Ram]

Where's the article on Demetrius Rhaney?

I am happy for MSam. But, he's just another guy trying to make the roster. The attention he gets is getting on my nerves.

I get it! He's gay! Big friggin deal!

 

[RamBill]

Michael Sam confident after Rams debut, but scouts have doubts
By Tom Pelissero

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...l-sam-st-louis-rams-preseason-debut/13809111/

ST. LOUIS – Michael Sam says there's no doubt in his mind about what he should take away from his first NFL game action.

"That I can play in this league," the St. Louis Rams' rookie defensive end told reporters Friday night. "That's the most important. I was kind of nervous. I got some nerves out today. It was a very good learning experience, and I can play in this league."

For better or worse, Sam was as advertised in a 26-24 exhibition loss to the New Orleans Saints that made him the first openly gay player to participate in an NFL game when he entered with about 5 minutes remaining in the first quarter.

He hustled for a hit on New Orleans third-string quarterback Ryan Griffin outside the pocket. He added a couple QB pressures, one wiped out by a defensive holding penalty and the other on what looked like a blown protection. He also stopped Khiry Robinson on a run for no gain.

"I make plays," Sam said. "That's what you're supposed to do."

But the athletic limitations that have raised questions about Sam's pro potential also were on display for the dozen scouts for other NFL and CFL teams on hand at the Edward Jones Dome.

"I think he's going to struggle against the run. But he does have a little juice off the edge," one of the NFL scouts in attendance told USA TODAY Sports on condition of anonymity for competitive reasons.

"He's a chase player right now. He's too stiff to play inside. He's got straight-line speed. I don't think he has very good quickness. It's a bit surprising he played left end because he's not that strong."

Listed at 6-foot-2 and 261 pounds on the flip card the Rams distributed in the press box, Sam is relatively undersized to go up against big right tackles. Yet most of his roughly 30 snaps Friday night came on the left side.

It may be a reflection that coaches don't feel Sam has the first step to beat more athletic left tackles. He did use a speed rush on one play to beat Saints backup right tackle Thomas Welch, who got the better of Sam later on a third down, punching him to the ground.

"He does fly around a little bit," the scout said. "He's a good hustle player. I just wonder if that's enough. He's a stiff dude. But if you can run and hustle, you give yourself a chance."

There were times all that hustle seemed to catch up to Sam. He called for a sub before one third-down play, and Rams coach Jeff Fisher acknowledged he looked tired.

The hit on Griffin was the clear highlight Friday for Sam, 24, who said he "should've dove at (Griffin's) legs earlier" and missed the chance for another sack because he pulled up, thinking it was a screen.

A cheer went up from the alleged crowd of 54,850 – perhaps half that many actually were in the building – when the PA announcer said Sam's name after the hit.

"When I'm in game mode, I stay in game mode," Sam said. "But if there was the crowd yelling for me, I think that's pretty cool."

The reaction was rare for a seventh-round draft pick, as was the crowd of several dozen reporters surrounding Sam in the locker room after most teammates had left. But Sam is, of course, a rare case in a lot of ways.

How does a player who profiles as a designated pass rusher convince coaches he's worth a spot on a team that has no interest in taking starting ends Robert Quinn and Chris Long off the field for third downs? Sam has about three more weeks to figure it out.

 

[LACHAMP46]

Maybe the surprise is a gay guy played well. Or can play NFL football. I get it...

Let me be the first to say..It looks like Sam can play...I mean, he was causing havoc, slipping blocks, disrupting the offense. Like some will say, it's one game, but really, for rookies, first impressions are crucial. I liked him....As compared to Westbrooks who I woulda cut last night..LOL

 

[ramsince62]

oh my god, the horror. Does this read any differently now that it doesnt mention the fact that he is gay?

I'm soooo relieved that it is....

 

[kurtfaulk]

oh my god, the horror. Does this read any differently now that it doesnt mention the fact that he is gay?

i don't know i can't read any sam articles because the media is so fixated about him being gay. after the first couple of articles about him i haven't been able to read another. they have turned me off him badly. why should fisher spend most of his time talking about a 7th rounder fighting to make the team. the media are a clown show.

.

 

[Blue and Gold]

"He's a chase player right now. He's too stiff to play inside. He's got straight-line speed. I don't think he has very good quickness. It's a bit surprising he played left end because he's not that strong."
"He does fly around a little bit," the scout said. "He's a good hustle player. I just wonder if that's enough. He's a stiff dude. But if you can run and hustle, you give yourself a chance.
__________________________________________
Benn saying that since rookie OTAs. He hustles, but is stiff and does not have explosion. But, as we saw he does run hard and as the scout said "flies around" a bit.

But, Westbrook had a better game, played RDE, RDT, LDT and even a couple plays at LDE. But Westbooks is too heavy, they had him put on weight to play some inside and we cannot see his real quicklness and smoothness. He does have power, though. So far, a good leverage player.