April 11, 2022
Out Former NFL Player Michael Sam to Coach European Team
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 1 MIN.
Michael Sam, the out NFL player who was drafted, and then cut, by the Rams in 2014, will now be coaching European football team the Barcelona Dragons, sports site Ram Digest reported.
The site recalled that "in his brief time on the Dallas Cowboys 2014 practice squad" the openly gay player "earned praise for his work in preparing offensive line teammates for game days," and explained that he "will now do the same as a [defensive line] coach."
"I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity to join the Barcelona Dragons organization," Sam said in a statement from the team, AFI reported. Sam went on to add: "I hope to contribute however I can to help the defensive line to be the best pass rushers in the European League."
"Sam, 32, was a trailblazer in the NFL boldly coming out as gay prior to the 2014 NFL Draft," AFI recalled.
"Later that year, he made history by becoming the first publicly gay player to be drafted into the NFL" when he was drafted by the Rams, AFI went on to say. Sam was cut from the Rams during the 2014 preseason, however.
"The NFL's first-ever openly gay player then went on to play one season in the Canadian Football League with the Montreal Alouettes," AFI said.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
