WATCH: Michael Sam's Return to Football

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WATCH: Michael Sam's Return to Football
After abruptly leaving the Montreal Alouettes, the out player returns for his first game.
 Neal Broverman
          
          Aug 08, 2015
          
        
Neal Broverman
Neal Broverman is the Editorial Director, Print of Pride Media, publishers of The Advocate, Out, Out Traveler, and Plus, spending more than 20 years in journalism. He indulges his interest in transportation and urban planning with regular contributions to Los Angeles magazine, and his work has also appeared in the Los Angeles Times and USA Today. He lives in the City of Angels with his husband, children, and their chiweenie.
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After being the first openly gay player to be drafted by the NFL, Michael Sam segued to a position on the Montreal Alouettes after being cut by the St. Louis Rams and the Dallas Cowboys. But Sam's new job looked shaky when he suddenly took a leave of absence in June for "personal reasons."
Sam returned later in the month, but didn't play the Alouettes first five games. On Friday, he finally got to play. The defensive end got on the field at the end of the first quarter (watch below, via TMZ), but didn't record a tackle. The Alouettes lost to the Ottawa Redblacks, 23-26.

        
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WATCH: Michael Sam's Return to Football

After abruptly leaving the Montreal Alouettes, the out player returns for his first game.

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WATCH: Michael Sam's Return to Football

After abruptly leaving the Montreal Alouettes, the out player returns for his first game.

FROM OUR SPONSORS

The Latest

In this excerpt from Ni De Aqui, Ni De Alla: A Soul Suspended Between Two Worlds, memoirist Jorge Xolalpa shares his family's journey moving to the U.S. as undocumented immigrants.

Judge Eboni K. Williams put the bigoted father on blast in a clip that's racking up millions of views.

President Melissa Gilliam called it a “pause,” not a reversal, after backlash spread across campus.

Cameryn Lovett says she was responding to a student’s anti-gay remarks when the district gave her an ultimatum.

LGBTQ+ stories deserve to betold.

More For You

Most Popular

A new Republican state law restricts Pride flags, but the capital city is finding other ways to show it stands with LGBTQ+ residents.

A teacher in Little Miami had the poster that celebrated diverse identities up for nearly four years before LGBTQ+ flags caused an uproar.

Opinion: A recent Wall Street Journal op-ed divorcing "gay" from "queer" people reinforces a hierarchy of belonging that privileges proximity to straightness, rewards conformity, and marginalizes anyone who cannot or will not meet its terms, argues Josh Ackley.

What’s framed as literacy is a roadmap to marginalize LGBTQ+ students and erode secular education, writes John Casey.

The justices focused on how the law was written, not the science behind conversion therapy. But the impact could still be significant.

The decision means schools can restrict certain books and LGBTQ+ topics in class while courts continue to weigh the law’s constitutionality.