The simple presence of Michael Sam in the Saint Louis Rams preseason has been attracting attention from the media and sports critics. All because he is the first openly gay American football player to be in the official league for the St. Louis Rams.
If, on the one hand, he received criticism from his former coach, Tony Dungy, who stated that he would not choose him precisely because he was gay, on the other hand he was praised by the current coach, John Fassel, who focused on his work in the field. What's more: Sam is the sixth best-selling t-shirt in the league.
"I wouldn't have picked him. Not because I don't believe Michael would have a chance to play. But because I wouldn't want to deal with all of that. It's not going to be smooth... things are going to happen," Tony declared.
+ Michael Sam says he came out of the closet so he wouldn't have to hide his boyfriend
John praised the performance and sublimated any reference to the athlete's sexual orientation. "I think he lost maybe 15 kilos, and you can see the difference when he runs, like we did today with 30, 50 and 70 meter sprints. At the end of the last part of training, he did a very good job as a blocker. I can see him as a guy who’s good at different types of blocking.”
In a recent post on Twitter, he showed that his biggest concern is staying focused on work: "Improving and learning something every day. This is the mission. A goal in mind."
It is worth remembering that, before coming out as homosexual, Sam was elected Defensive Player of the Year in the Southeastern Conference, when he played for Missouri University. Kiss on the shoulder!
Look at the number of journalists wanting to talk to him
During training
