Did Michael Sam play in the NFL? All about the career of Barcelona Dragons’ DL

Michael Sam is currently playing on the defensive line for the Barcelona Dragons in the World League of American Football, but did he ever play in the NFL?

Sam played college football at the University of Missouri from 2009 until 2013 and red-shirted his first season.

In his red-shirt freshman season, Sam recorded 3.5 quarterback sacks, 24 tackles, including seven tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, one interception, and one blocked kick.

Michael Sam followed it up with three more solid seasons. He ended his career with 123 tackles, including 36 for loss, 21 sacks, six forced fumbles, and two interceptions.

He did participate in the senior bowl, but the knock on Sam going into the 2014 NFL Draft was his size, as many front offices felt he was too small to play on the defensive line.

Entering the draft, Sam was projected to be a mid-round pick but a bad combine experience lowered expectations. He ended up being selected with the 249th pick in the seventh round by the St. Louis Rams.

When Michael Sam was drafted, he became the first publicly gay player to be drafted into the NFL. After being drafted, his jersey was the second best-selling rookie jersey, and from April until July, Sam's jersey ranked sixth in sales among all NFL players.

However, with the Rams, Michael Sam played in the preseason but did not make the team out of training camp and wasn't brought back to the practice squad. Some made the accusation that it was due to him being gay but this hasn't been proven.

Just a few weeks later, Sam was signed to the Dallas Cowboys practice squad but was released just several weeks later. After failing to land another NFL contract for the 2014 season, on May 22, 2015, Sam signed a two-year contract with the Montreal Alouettes. He became the first openly gay player in the league's history.

Although Sam signed with the Montreal Alouettes in the CFL, he missed the first five games due to personal reasons. After playing one game, he left the team again citing mental health issues and revealed on a radio interview he never wanted to play in the CFL.

Michael Sam ended up stepping away from professional football due to mental health reasons in 2015. But, in 2022, the former NFL draft pick signed with the Barcelona Dragons of the European League of Football.

Sam was originally hired as the assistant defensive line coach, but after a roster spot opened, he signed as a player and ended up playing in the team's first game.

Although Michael Sam was drafted into the NFL, he never officially played a game in the regular season, but did play in pre-season games.