A week after debut, Michael Sam's a noticeable absence. What's his CFL future?

Michael Sam became the first openly-gay player to compete in a CFL game last week against the Ottawa Redblacks, but he's a noticeable omission from the Montreal Alouettes' lineup (PDF) against the Edmonton Eskimos Thursday (7:30 p.m. Eastern, TSN/ESPN2). Sam limped off the practice field Monday and was placed on the one-game injured list with a back injury Tuesday. In most cases, that wouldn't be a big deal; players go on and off those lists all the time, and missing one game isn't a crisis most of the time. When you throw in the Alouettes' depth at defensive end, though, especially with Aaron Lavarias returning from the six-game injured list and veteran John Bowman stepping in, and when you consider some of the talk about Sam's high salary and players' dissatisfaction with his "preferential treatment," some are debating just how much value Sam is bringing to the team. Consider what Herb Zurkowsky of The Montreal Gazette had to say about Sam this week:

It's notable that none of this is particularly Sam's fault. He hasn't been seeking the spotlight during his time with Montreal, and is only doing minimal interviews (and generally only with those at practices and games; there have undoubtedly been plenty of U.S. interviews he's turned down). He hasn't been talking about his trailblazer status, and has in fact been doing everything he can to play it down. He hasn't complained about not getting into a game before last week, something many U.S. players of his proven college record, including his selection as the 2013 co-SEC defensive player of the year, undoubtedly would have griped about before now. All in all, Sam has kept a very low profile, especially when you compare him with past Alouettes like Chad Johnson.

Questioning Sam for his salary is also silly. Yes, he's getting paid more than most CFL rookies, but he's coming in with a better college resume, and he undoubtedly has more off-field options than your average CFL player. The Alouettes paid him what they needed to to bring him in, and we don't know yet that that was a bad decision. Adjusting to the CFL takes time, especially for defensive ends with next-to-no professional game experience, and Sam is young and under contract for two years. This move isn't a failure until Sam is either cut or until his contract runs out and isn't renewed.  

About the only questionable thing Sam has done during his Montreal career to date was leave training camp for personal reasons, which gossip sites have alleged was to break up with his fiancé. Regardless of what his rationale was and whether it was justified or not (something that's really up to him and the team, not outsiders), that decision likely has hurt his play (he missed valuable preseason games, which likely would have done more to help him transition to the CFL than any number of practices) and perhaps his standing with the team as well. Still, that's in the past. It undoubtedly had an impact on how Sam has played to date, but it's notable that Sam returned and has quietly worked since then, and done so without demanding to be put in the lineup.

For the Sam situation to really work out may require a few different things. First, players, fans and media should realize that Sam is in a unique situation; his role as a trailblazer means he gets much more scrutiny than any other rookie who doesn't play much, but his performance should be considered against those of other rookies on the edges of rosters, not with well-established CFL veterans. His limited play so far still isn't great from that perspective, but it's not "why is this guy in the league?" bad, either. Second, the Alouettes are going to need to take more of an organizational stand in support of Sam; there's been far too much anonymous grumbling about Sam from players and coaches, and that's not helping anything. (It's unclear why the players and coaches feel that airing their grievances with Sam through the media is beneficial for the team; it sure doesn't seem to be from this corner.) Thirdly, once he heals up, Sam's going to have to demonstrate with his play in practices and/or games that he deserves to be on this team, and he'll have to do so relatively quickly.

All of this could easily go wrong for Sam. Perhaps the other defensive ends play so well that he falls off the map. Perhaps his injury turns out to be more serious than thought. Perhaps the internal grumblings against him turn into a full-fledged revolt and the team decides to cut its losses. None of that seems particularly likely just as of yet, but it can't be ruled out, either. However, there's substantial potential value in perserverance for both Sam (this is likely his last real shot at pro football) and for the Alouettes (if Sam can return to his Missouri form, they'll have a pass-rusher with a pedigree rarely seen in this league). We'll see if both sides can stick to it and make Sam's stint in the CFL a successful one,  or if it will get derailed somewhere along the way.