Michael Sam decides to walk away from football

[86WARD]

Michael Sam's brief professional football career has already had its fair share of updates.


The defensive end's latest news is that he has decided to step away from the game.


On Friday Sam took to social media to announce his decision to stop playing for the Montreal Alouettes. The former SEC Defensive Player of the Year cited mental health as his reasoning to walk away from the CFL.


"The last 12 months have been very difficult for me, to the point where I became concerned with my mental health. Because of this I am going to step away from the game at this time," Sam said. "I thank the Alouettes for this opportunity and hope to be back on the field soon. Thank you all for your understanding and support."

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap300...=Facebook_news

[SteelerFanInStl]

I was a supporter of his, based on what he did at Mizzou, but if he's quitting already, he isn't a real football player.

[86WARD]

Never thought he was into the game...

[tube517]

Who?

[fansince'76]

[smokin3000gt]

Never thought he was into the game...

Nope. It was always about the weight and locker room..

[stillers4me]

Nope. It was always about the weight and locker room..

And being "the first".

[Godfather]

The CFL must be homophobic.

[Count Steeler]

An irrelevant player that only makes the headlines because he is gay. How many other 7th round picks from 2 years ago are out of the game? We only hear about him because he is gay. Sad.

[Drazo85]

I hope media circus about this guy is over.

[BigNastyDefense]

I'm not anti-gay at all, but my following remarks might come off anti-gay.

Michael Sam is out of football because he is gay. No, the NFL & CFL are not homophobic. What I mean is that his focus wasn't on football. It wasn't on being the best damn football player he could be. It was on his celebrity of being the first openly gay NFL player.

He got cut from the Rams for two reasons: because that defensive line was stacked at his position and because I think the coaching staff could tell that he wasn't "all in."

I believe that's part of the reason that he got cut in Dallas.

I don't believe that he has helped the gay community much at all. If anything, he has hurt them more than helped them. I think he expected to stick on a team because he was gay.

And yes, he was a good college player at Mizzou. He was one of the better defensive players in that school's history. But being a really good college player doesn't automatically equal success in the NFL, much less being a high draft pick, especially if your measurables don't compare in the NFL.