Alouettes GM unsure why Michael Sam left training camp for home
Montreal Alouettes general manager Jim Popp said he was unsure why Michael Sam decided to leave training camp for home last week, reports the Montreal Gazette’s Herb Zurkowsky. The Canadian Football League announced Sam was moved to the suspended list on Monday morning.
The Alouettes announced on Friday that Sam had left camp due to personal reasons. The team said it fully respected Sam’s decision, but did not provide additional details. It did say the team “has left the door open and Michael is welcome to back whenever he feels ready.”
Popp also told the Gazette that he did not have additional details.
“There’s nothing to tell you,” he said. “He wanted to go home, and that’s what he did. I don’t know why. When a guy wants to go home, they go home. He had some personal things to take care of.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he returns. I’m surprised he left. I was very surprised. If he doesn’t come back, I would think football’s over for him. He’s the one that has to face that. But I don’t think he doesn’t want to play football. That’s why he came here.”
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The Gazette also cites a team source who said, “Sam may have simply overreacted to a comment that was made to him by another player.”
Sam, 25, signed with the Alouettes on May 22 after he was released from Dallas Cowboys practice squad in October.
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Sam, the first openly gay player selected in the NFL draft, was a seventh-round draft pick of the St. Louis Rams in 2014. The Rams cut Sam at the end of the subsequent training camp.
- Mike Fiammetta
