When you turn back the clock just one week ago, NFL draft analysts were looking at Michael Sam as an ultra productive, team leader, with great ability to rush the passer. All of which sounds sexy to NFL GMs, desperate to emulate the Seahawks defensive success this season. The Senior DE/LB was Co-Defensive Player of the Year (along with Alabama stud MLB and first round prospect, C.J. Mosley) in the most daunting of football conferences; the SEC.
Courtesy: Sports Illustrated/CNN
There may have been knocks on his smaller frame and lack of ideal height. There may have been knocks on his ability to drop back in coverage or lack of an ideal position for the NFL. Could he hold up physically as a 4-3 DE? Does he have the speed and quickness to play without his hands in the dirt? The one question that would not be asked a week ago; Can he handle being the first openly gay athlete in an American major sport?
But that is not really the question that front offices should be asking, while scouting the Missouri 1st Team All-American. The only query about the player is whether or not he can help them win games; whether he can attack the QB with the same ferocity as he did in college. His resume is certainly filled with those qualifications; there would have been no shortage of teams that would sign up for his production and leadership, especially at a premium position as a pass-rusher.
Michael Sam will need to be a strong-willed man, mature beyond his 24 years suggest, to handle the scrutiny of the NFL locker room and playing field. Each team needs to look at themselves and answer their own questions: Can our team handle the public outcry and media coverage to comes with drafting a gay athlete? How will his future teammates accept him within the confines of our facility?
Though not a knock on many of the well-run organizations across the NFL, some teams may be better prepared to handle this foreign situation. Several franchises are equipped to control and temper the ensuing controversial decision.
Teams that are best suited to draft Michael Sam:
3. Indianapolis Colts:
Courtesy: LA Times
The Colts have one of the best young infrastructures in the NFL, led by their Head Coach Chuck Pagano and QB Andrew Luck. The team certainly has a need to add more depth at the pass-rush positions, with Robert Mathis getting older and the uncertainty of last year’s first round pick, Bjoern Werner.
Pagano has proven to be a toughest of men, let alone NFL coaches, surviving a cancer scare in 2012. He could be the strong personality, that Sam could lean on for guidance, which he will certainly need through the trying times as a gay athlete.
Also, the Colts current GM, Ryan Grigson, is no stranger to controversy as he was a cog in the brain-trust that brought Michael Vick to Philadelphia. He understands how to handle massive media attention that coincides with such a rare occurrence.
2. New England Patriots:
Courtesy: Yahoo Sports
New England has been a business like operation, with a system in place, second to none in the NFL. Bill Belicheck is a no nonsense coach, who only concerns himself with on field production. Also, with Tom Brady as the established captain, he could set the tone for the rest of the roster in the locker room.
The Patriots have never shied away from adding headline-grabbing figures to their roster. In the past several seasons, the franchise brought media mayhem to their facilities with the signings of Randy Moss, Chad Ochocinco, Albert Haynesworth and Tim Tebow. Though only Moss had success with the team, there were no hitches in the daily operations, even with the added attention. All the hoopla seemed to slip under the radar for football’s gold standard of consistency.
The NFL would embrace their crowning franchise’s inclusion in the rarity that is a ground-breaking moment. Belicheck has treated each of his players equally, no matter standing on the roster, how big their contract or how highly they were drafted. He also utilizes a draft strategy, picking the best player available, no matter their background.
1. Philadelphia Eagles:
Courtesy: USA Today
No team in any professional sport could be more prepared for such a situation than the Eagles. Jeffrey Lurie and company have handled similar circumstances rather successfully. Between past digressions of the Michael Vick signing or Riley Cooper racist comments, the team has proved to hold up admirably in the face of public back lash.
Media hoards have traveled to Philadelphia for the scoop on how the NFL, and its fans, will react to controversy. Last season the team kept Cooper on the roster, even though some of his teammates were notably and justifiably perturbed by his actions. The maturity of the organization proved to admonish his transgressions to realize as a person, he was not enveloped by one mishap and it would benefit the team to keep him around.
Players like Vick and Cooper can be a shining example on how to circumvent the unwanted issues Sam will likely incur. The veterans on the roster can also look beyond their own beliefs, as they did in 2013, to embrace the rookie as one of their own. Add in the fact, building upon the pass rush will be a priority this off season, Philadelphia may do the NFL, and themselves, a favor by drafting Sam.
