Michael Sam May Be Headed To Las Vegas Outlaws Arena Football Team


Just days after Fox Sports Kansas City’s Sean Keeler suggested that Michael Sam, the first openly gay football player to be drafted into the NFL, make a play to the Canadian Football League to keep his hopes for an NFL career alive, comes word from the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the Arena Football League Las Vegas Outlaws, owned by Motley Crue lead singer Vince Neil, may soon be hoping to lure Sam to Sin City.

Sam was drafted in April by the St. Louis Rams but was released during the preseason, wherein he racked up 11 tackles with 3 sacks. He was picked up by the Dallas Cowboys, but was released again in October. Sam was 2013’s SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year.

In Keeler’s piece, the writer cites Russ Lande, former NFL scout and founder of GM Jr. Scouting, in suggesting that, in the event Sam not be signed to a futures contract within the next couple of months, that Sam try his hand in the CFL, where smaller, quicker pass rushers have the opportunity to showcase their skills in hopes that Sam can prove his ability to play at an elite level. Lande recalls the journey of Cordarro Law, who traversed a near identical path to Sam before catching on with the Calgary Stampeders, caught the attention of the San Diego Chargers, and re-signed with the same team that drafted him, leading him to appear in three games so far this season for the team. Lande suggests that Sam could find success following a similar path.

“Sam could star in the CFL. The reality is, in the CFL, a lot of their pass rushers are 250-pound, smallish guys who’ve got quick feet. Sam can run, he uses his hands well, he’s got a nose for the quarterback. Even the guys who are marginal NFL guys, those guys could go up and be really good pass rushers there.”

Should Sam take a change with the Arena Football League, another name he might do well to keep in mind is Kurt Warner. Warner went undrafted in 1994 and was released from the Green Bay Packers training camp before the regular season began. He then turned to the arena league, signing with the Iowa Barnstormers in 1995, where he was named First-team All-Arena in 1996 and 1997, leading the Barnstormers to the Arena Bowl both years. He then hopscotched over to the Amsterdam Admirals of the now-defunct NFL Europe before signing on with the St. Louis Rams in 1998. Warner would go on to win three MVP’s as well as a Super Bowl.

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