Silent Sam

It is now more than a week since the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League put defensive end Michael Sam on the suspended list. It seems less likely now than ever that Sam will play professional football.

Once heralded as the NFL’s first openly gay player, Sam never actually got on the field in the NFL, spending time last season on the practice squads of the St. Louis Rams and the Dallas Cowboys. The Alouettes signed him in late May. Then he left training camp abruptly and never returned.

The Als open the season on Thursday night at home against the Ottawa Redblacks.
Various stories have surfaced about Sam – that he wasn’t playing well, that he feared not making the team, but he has been, well, Silent Sam. The Alouettes took a chance on him and he walked away.
“He wanted to go home, and that’s what he did. I don’t know why. When a guy wants to go home, they go home. He had some personal things to take care of,” general manager Jim Popp told the Montreal Gazette last week.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he returns. I’m surprised he left. I was very surprised. If he doesn’t come back, I would think football’s over for him. He’s the one that has to face that. But I don’t think he doesn’t want to play football. That’s why he came here.”

Only Sam can answer those questions now, and he hasn’t said a word.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman.