Michael Sam, professional football’s first openly-gay player, is apparently close to returning to the Montreal Alouettes and resuming his career – perhaps as soon as this weekend. Team officials would not confirm Sam’s potential return after Montreal’s season-opening loss to Ottawa on Thursday night but one source said “he is in town” and there have been several reports of the player’s presence in the city.
“I told you I expected him to come back,” the Alouettes vice president and general manager, Jim Popp, told the Guardian on Thursday night. “I wouldn’t have said that if I didn’t expect him to be back.”
Sam, a defensive end, left the team on 12 July, just two and a half weeks after signing with Montreal telling Popp he had to take care of a personal matter. The team put Sam on a suspended list as part of a procedural move and rumors flew that Sam was quitting.
But in a lengthy interview with the Guardian on Wednesday evening Popp said he had been in daily contact with either Sam or his agents and said several times he expected the player to return. At one point during the interview Popp smiled and said: “I think it will be sooner rather than later.”
During Thursday’s game, Joey Alfieri a reporter for TSN radio in Montreal sent a tweet that read: “Been informed that Michael Sam is back in Montreal.” A team official said he had been told Sam was seen in the city with one of the team’s players. They did not expect him to come to the game because he hadn’t been with the team in recent weeks.
Since the Alouettes played on Thursday, Sam wouldn’t be required to report to the team until Saturday. Montreal is not scheduled to practice again until Monday, which is the first time media will have access to the players.
After being named the SEC’s defensive player of the year in 2013, his senior season at Missouri, Sam announced on in February 2014 that he is gay. In April, he became the first openly-gay player to be drafted when the St Louis Rams took him in the seventh round. He was cut before the start of the season, however. He spent nearly two months on the Dallas Cowboys practice squad before being released in October of that season.
He signed with the Alouettes as a last-chance measure to keep his career alive. Popp has said he believes Sam has the potential to be a good pass rusher – a skill in demand in professional football. On Wednesday, Popp said he thought Sam left the team because he was exhausted from the constant attention he has come with being the first openly-gay NFL player.
“I think he needed a break,” Popp said. “That’s my personal belief. I think it was just overwhelming to some degree and he needs to clear his mind, clear his head.”
