With Michael Sam's NFL future in doubt, is CFL next?

Tom Pelissero | USA TODAY Sports

Monday marks the one-year anniversary of Michael Sam's landmark announcement, and his quest to become the NFL's first openly gay player remains incomplete.

Cut by the St. Louis Rams in August and by the Dallas Cowboys in October after seven weeks on their practice squad, Sam continues to train in Dallas, and the expectation of those close to him remains he'll be playing football again this fall – whether in the NFL or elsewhere.

"When we look at his college story, there's a bunch of myths that are debunked there. When we look at his pro story, it's not yet fully been written," said Wade Davis, the former NFL defensive back who's now executive director of the anti-homophobia You Can Play Project.

"Of course, the NFL and other sports leagues take the idea of diversity and inclusion much more seriously than they may have in the past. I think that there's been some really wonderful conversations. Unfortunately, change in the sports world is glacial. It doesn't happen overnight.

"These sports leagues are set in stone, and to move a stone, it can take a lot of time. But I'm really grateful that he did start a conversation. I'm praying that he's not a victim of that."

Sam, 25, isn't doing media interviews, his publicist, Chris Licata, said in an email. He most recently was seen publicly as part of a Coca-Cola ad during Super Bowl XLIX. He has not received another NFL contract offer, even though rosters expand to 90 in the offseason.

But Sam is expected to be back in the football spotlight soon. The former University of Missouri standout has applied for one of about 100 spots in the NFL's first-ever veteran combine. The hope is that leads to an NFL contract offer and a chance to go to training camp. If not, a one-year contract offer from the Canadian Football League's Montreal Alouettes is waiting for him.

Tear up the CFL for a year, and Sam could find a greater market south of the border, though not everyone believes the primary reason for his unemployment is that he hasn't shown he can play. He was credited with three sacks in four preseason appearances with the Rams despite the holes NFL scouts point out: not long enough, not fast enough, too short, too stiff.

"A year ago, history was being made, and that history got put on hold," said Cyd Zeigler, an advocate and co-founder of Outsports.com who has chronicled Sam's story from the start.

"No one I talk to seems willing to tell me why. But I get the sense from everyone that they have a really good idea of why. And it's not his performance in college, and it's not his performance in the preseason. Nobody will say what the pink elephant in the room is."

According to Zeigler's research, Sam – the 2013 co-defensive player of the year in the Southeastern Conference – is the only player in a major conference in at least the past 20 years to win such an award, get drafted and not make an active roster as a rookie. His preseason statistics also place Sam in a very small minority among defensive players out of work, Zeigler said.

The heaviest public criticism of Sam came with the announcement in May that he'd be the subject of a reality show on The Oprah Winfrey Network that was quickly scuttled after a meeting with the Rams. The network still shot Sam over about five months and aired a 90-minute documentary in December.

The project was an insurance policy as Sam entered a league where opportunities to cash in are limited. A seventh-round draft pick, Sam got a $45,896 signing bonus from the Rams. He collected $44,100 from the Cowboys. He also signed an endorsement deal with VISA, was part of a video campaign for the movie "Unbroken" and was named GQ magazine's Man of the Year.

The idea that media attention is reason not to sign Sam doesn't hold up with Zeigler, even if no NFL executive has directly acknowledged publicly that's why Sam doesn't have a job.

"But they're thinking the same thing," Zeigler said. "Michael Sam is not on a team because he's gay. If Michael Sam had never come out of the closet, he would be on an NFL roster today. Period."

Sam didn't have much choice, though. The word was out even if Sam wasn't by the time he got to last year's Senior Bowl, where multiple reporters asked him to speak on the subject.

What followed – including a televised draft day kiss with his boyfriend, Vito Cammisano, to whom Sam got engaged last month while vacationing in Europe – have left a mark even if Sam's pro football career has yet to do the same.

Davis has done workshops and training with NFL teams and is working with the league on multiple initiatives, including an expansion of the LGBT Community Game Day that debuted last year in Tampa Bay and raised money for You Can Play. He wouldn't speculate when another NFL player might come out but said there are "a lot more beautiful conversations happening with college athletes and pro athletes where they're feeling safer in sports" than ever.

"Anyone who watched the NFL Draft can never say that they didn't see two men being intimate, and I think that in itself is a transformative thing," said Davis, who came out as gay after his playing career ended. "The sport of football was joined by male-on-male intimacy in a way that it had never previously been seen.

"He did what was best for his own mental health. Being not out is something that can be just as problematic as being out. There's no script for how to do this. And I think that one of the things we have to really give Mike credit for is stepping out there on faith and saying, 'Hey, this is who I am. This is who I want to be. And I believe I have the talent to back it up.'"