Michael Sam maintenant "one of the guys"

Après qu'il eut dévoilé son homosexualité pendant la dernière année, on se demandait si Michael Sam allait être repêché, et si oui, par quelle équipe et à quel rang. Ce sont les Rams de St-Louis qui ont retenu les services de Sam en le sélectionnant au septième tour (249e au total). Un moment historique particulièrement émouvant pour Sam, mais il devra maintenant faire ses preuves comme toutes les recrues.

 "Sam's draft status fell to the seventh round because his game was deemed to have some weaknesses. He's not quite big enough to play defensive end, and not quite enough of an elite athlete to handle all the duties of a pass-rushing outside linebacker. His pursuit skills and ability to be a disruptive playmaker are his strong suits, but he needs development in pass coverage technique if he's asked to play in that role. Right now, he may only be able to get on the field as a situational pass rusher. His wait for that phone call from Fisher was long, and the emotion Sam showed when the historic moment finally came was touching. But we've seen countless other NFL hopefuls have roughly the same experience on draft weekend.

 It may not seem it to many, but the NFL in this case treated Sam as it would any other prospect. The teams inspected him thoroughly, found the good and the flaws, and graded him accordingly. Just because it wasn't an easy road doesn't mean the process wasn't fair. The league passed judgment on Sam, and saw just enough promise to warrant a longer look. It happens all the time that way. Like every other NFL hopeful, Sam's task is to now go make the team in St. Louis and make the most of his long-awaited opportunity. If he can do that, how and where he entered the league won't really matter in time. That's as much equality as the NFL ever promises.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nfl/news/20140510/michael-sam-st-louis-rams-2014-nfl-draft/?eref=sihp