Michael Sam leaves Montreal Alouettes training camp a day before first CFL preseason game

[DCPatriot]

Michael Sam leaves Montreal Alouettes training camp a day before first CFL preseason game
Marissa Payne


The professional football career of Michael Sam hit another bump on Friday when he left the Montreal Alouettes training camp to return to Texas because of personal reasons. The team confirmed Sam’s departure in a statement.

“Friday morning, Michael asked the team for special permission to leave training camp and return home for personal reasons,” it said. “Out of respect for Michael Sam, the nature of this decision will remain confidential.”

It continued: “The Montreal Alouettes fully respect Michael Sam’s decision and we rally around him to offer all the support needed. The team has left the door open and Michael is welcome to come back whenever he feels ready.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/wp/2015/06/13/michael-sam-leaves-montreal-alouettes-training-camp-a-day-before-first-cfl-preseason-game/

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[DCPatriot]

Was it the 'back' door?   

[jmyrlefuller]

It's almost as if he was only in this for the publicity.

[DCPatriot]

It's almost as if he was only in this for the publicity.

More likely, a 'Reality Show'.   Bruce Jenner just signed a $5 million deal.

[mountaineer]

More likely, a 'Reality Show'.   Bruce Jenner just signed a $5 million deal.

Yeah, let's have a reality show that's just the daily life of Mike and his significant other. In other words, a show about nothing (with apologies to Jerry Seinfeld).

[jmyrlefuller]

Yeah, let's have a reality show that's just the daily life of Mike and his significant other. In other words, a show about nothing (with apologies to Jerry Seinfeld).

I'm not sure the Cammissanos really want cameras peering into The Family's life.

[PzLdr]

The gerbil die?

[mountaineer]

Michael Sam moved to suspended list by Montreal Alouettes
By Sam Cooper
4 hours ago
Shutdown Corner - Yahoo Sports

 
Three days after Michael Sam left Montreal Alouettes camp for “personal reasons,” the team officially moved the defensive lineman to the suspended list Monday morning.

The @MTLAlouettes have officially moved DL Michael Sam to the suspended list. #CFL #CFLTC pic.twitter.com/DyBVyq1qAg
— CFL (@CFL) June 15, 2015

In a statement released Friday afternoon, the Alouettes said Sam “asked a special permission to leave training camp and return home for personal reasons.”

“With all due respect for Michael Sam, the nature of this decision will remain confidential,” the statement said. “The Montreal Alouettes fully respect Michael Sam’s decision and rally around him to offer him all time and support needed. The team has left the door open and Michael is welcome to come back whenever he feels ready.”

Alouettes general manager Jim Popp told the Montreal Gazette Sunday night he “didn’t know why” Sam wanted to return home.

“There’s nothing to tell you. 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," Popp said.

"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.”

Additionally, the Gazette cited two sources who made it sound like Sam’s return to the team is unlikely.

While general manager Jim Popp says the door remains open for his return, another source within the organization virtually guaranteed the likelihood of that happening is non-existent. The source also chided Sam for appearing on the reality TV series Dancing With the Stars instead of preparing for the coming season.

Another team source said Sam may have simply overreacted to a comment that was made to him by another player.

“All I know is I heard somebody made a comment about him, about how he wasn’t very good and wasn’t having a very good camp. He took it personally and was pouting in his room,” the source said. “It’s very strange. I have no idea what’s going on. He might have a personal issue.”

Sam, who became the first openly gay player ever drafted into the NFL when the St. Louis Rams chose him in the seventh round in 2014, signed with Montreal on May 22. After the Rams cut him, Sam spent much of the 2014 season on the Dallas Cowboys’ practice squad.

Sam reportedly started slowly with his adjustment to Canadian rules and was working with the third-team defense. However, the Gazette said in a previous report that he was slowly improving.

[flowers]

Another team source said Sam may have simply overreacted to a comment that was made to him by another player.

“All I know is I heard somebody made a comment about him, about how he wasn’t very good and wasn’t having a very good camp. He took it personally and was pouting in his room,” the source said. “It’s very strange. I have no idea what’s going on. He might have a personal issue.”

Good grief.

[Puss-N-Boots]

Sensitive, isn't he?

[mountaineer]

Sensitive, isn't he?

Just hormonal.

[mountaineer]

His personal issue?  US Magazine reports:

It's over! Michael Sam has called off his six-month engagement and broken up with Vito Cammisano, a source close to the athlete confirmed to Us Weekly on Tuesday, June 30. The NFL's first openly gay player, 25, started dating Cammisano in 2011 when they were both students at the University of Missouri.

"They've been rocky for months," a source told Us of the pair, who shared one of the most famous same-sex kisses ever when Sam was drafted to the St. Louis Rams in 2014. ...


More at above  link.

He's returned to the Alouettes.

[Puss-N-Boots]

If a straight guy left the team during preseason because he and his girlfriend broke up, would that team be so forgiving?

[GourmetDan]

If a straight guy left the team during preseason because he and his girlfriend broke up, would that team be so forgiving?

Special classes of people require special treatment because they're... well... special...

[DCPatriot]

I actually feel sorry for Michael Sam.

Anybody who has loved with your whole being and lost that love should understand how it could mess with your head and concentration.

Especially when up in East Jesus and your significant other is thousands of miles away. 

Been there...done that.   

[Puss-N-Boots]

I actually feel sorry for Michael Sam.

Anybody who has loved with your whole being and lost that love should understand how it could mess with your head and concentration.

Especially when up in East Jesus and your significant other is thousands of miles away. 

Been there...done that.   

I've been there... done that... a few times.  Still had to show up to work, though.

[DCPatriot]

I've been there... done that... a few times.  Still had to show up to work, though.

Yep...you and I, perhaps.

But it's obvious to anyone that's followed this saga, that he's an effeminate queen who's been manipulated into making his sexual life public.  And a freaking lineman in the NFL to boot!

IMO, his size belies his fragility.

I hope he can get on with his life....and find somebody who isn't looking for their own 15 minutes.

[jmyrlefuller]

This could be a problem.

As a man in a committed relationship, Mr. Sam could always brush away the talk of locker-room issues by virtue of that, and any player could brush aside any potential advances by reminding him of his fiance.

But now…he's on the prowl. If I were in a locker room with Sam, I'm instantly less comfortable than I would've been before.

The good news, for the CFL and any team or league that potentially wants to hire him, is that with the Cammissanos out of the picture, the ties to the mafia and illegal gambling are now off the table.

[mountaineer]

Good grief.

PGA suspended golfer Steve Elkington for 2 weeks for Michael Sam tweet
By Jim Buzinski  @outsports  on Jul 14, 2015,

He sounds less than repentant and blames everyone but himself.
   


Golfer Steve Elkington revealed he was suspended two weeks and fined $10,000 by the PGA last year for a tweet mocking Michael Sam at the 2014 NFL Combine: "ESPN reporting Michael Sam is leading the handbag throw at NFL combine....No one else expected to throw today."

Elkington revealed the punishment in an article in Golf Magazine where he sounded less than repentant.

Q: You've come under fire for some of your remarks on Twitter. In 2013, you incited controversy after using a word that's derogatory toward Pakistanis. In 2014, you posted what many interpreted to be a homophobic joke about the gay football player Michael Sam. There are other examples. Do you regret any of the tweets?

A: I don't know. You can't win either way. Everyone wants to keep picking on me about Twitter, but they don't want to pick on other people. They don't want to pick on Kelly Tilghman, about what she said about Tiger. [Note: In 2008, Tilghman said during a Golf Channel telecast that young players who wanted to challenge Woods should "lynch him in a back alley."] They don't keep picking on Tripp Isenhour because he killed an eagle. [Note: Isenhour killed a hawk with a golf ball in 2007.] But they want to keep picking on me for something that I got fined for and suspended. I've served my sentence.

Q: But those two examples were one-off incidents. Your critics would argue that you're a repeat offender.

A: Yes, but there's two sides to every one of [the tweets]. In the circles I go in, we [joke around on Twitter] all the time with one another. I'm not saying I'm not responsible for my tweets, but a lot of people are tired of all the political correctness.

Elkington, 52 and from Australia, is a real moron who nonetheless thinks he's funny. Early this year, he tweeted this about Caitlyn Jenner before she changed her name from Bruce: "He was on the wheaties box, now on fruitloop box."

Good for the PGA for suspending him, though given his track record, I am certain he will be tweeting something offensive any day now.

What doesn't offend these morons?