I'm not going to go back and read what I and others have written that you might be referring to. But if Sam made this deal without the Rams knowledge and it creates a circus around a mostly young team in the form of outside faces constantly poking around, asking other players uncomfortable questions, and the team chemistry being affected in any way shape or form due to this documentary, then you are damn right. I want him cut and I mean yesterday. I could give two shits about his orientation but if it's yet another obstacle for this team, IMO we don't need it.
As to the playoffs, there is no comparison here. It's not as you say - simple as that. No doubt players feel more pressure during the playoffs but they have pretty much the same requirements as far as face time with the press and such as players do during the regular season. There is no production team following them around trying to get juicy tidbits. This is not NFL films. This is the freakin Oprah show.
The Rams drafted Sam. That is the only reason I care about his football career to be honest. I don't wish him or any football player ill will coming out of college. I just don't follow them so therefore I don't care. And if any player brings baggage to the Rams that negatively affects team chemistry or unity then I want them gone. Simple as that .
You'd have to think that the Rams knew what was going on, they may not have known that he had a deal in place, but I have a hard time thinking that Fisher and Snead didn't know there would be camera's following him around. It says they get very limited access which means it's probably going to be them standing on the sidelines during practice and talking to Sam afterwards, and maybe a few others players... Which honestly isn't going to be much more than anyone else gets, I don't think it's going to be anything like a Hard Knocks thing with cameras all over the place and a bunch of different players. I'd be shocked if they get access to film rooms and meetings and things like that, it's likely going to be Sam on the practice field, and Sam at home. It's not like Oprah is going to be there herself or that the cameramen are going to be approaching Fisher saying "Hey, get Sam on the field so we can get a shot of him!"
It was inevitable that people were going to want to follow the story, and it's inevitable that people are going to want to know what our other players think about that. Fisher called in Wade Davis because he knew it was going to happen.
If Sam's production on the field isn't good enough to beat out who he needs to beat, or he's a locker room cancer (which by all accounts he doesn't seem to be) then yeah, give him the boot, I don't want that either. If he's too distracted by the attention then it will be nobodies fault but his own.
Now if the Rams can't handle the extra attention, the locker room isn't strong enough to handle things, then no, I don't think they're ready for that next step. Part of being those elite teams is being able to handle everything, both on and off the field.
Don't get me wrong, I care about the Rams first and I want what is best for them obviously. I just don't think we should automatically assume Michael Sam doesn't care about football and is only a selfish guy looking for attention and fame, or that he's damaging to the team just because people want to know his story (which is because he's gay). If Oprah wants a bigger story then the Rams better make sure they don't give her one. If she finds one then the team failed.
Just because people are poking around doesn't mean that team cohesion is automatically destroyed. I've been in that environment, and we were strong enough that it didn't affect us at all. Those are excuses, and the Rams should have no excuses. If Sam isn't good enough then he wont make the team. If the team can't handle the attention then they're not good enough, end of story.
I believe the coaching staff and the team are good enough to not let a few extra cameras affect them. I wont root against anyone on this team, the better they are the better this team is, and in the end that's what matters.
