You really couldn’t help yourself ESPN, could you?
During the noon hour of SportsCenter, NFL reporter Josina Anderson checked in live with a report from the St. Louis Rams preseason camp about Michael Sam and his behavior around his teammates, including his showering habits.
“Another Rams defensive player told me that ‘Sam is respecting our space’ and that, from his perspective, he seems to think that Michael Sam is kind of waiting to take a shower, as not to make his teammates feel uncomfortable.”
Rams defensive starters Kendall Langford and Alec Ogletree were also asked about Sam’s after-practice shower schedule, both of whom told Anderson they were not keeping track.
If he makes the final team roster, Sam will become the first openly gay NFL player in league history. By 4 p.m. EST Tuesday, NFL rosters had to be sliced to 75, and to 53 by Saturday at 4 p.m. (with a practice squad of ten players).
Unsurprisingly, after his two sack performance Saturday night, Sam made the 75-man roster.
During a segment supposedly about Sam’s chances of making today’s roster cut and the Rams quarterback situation, ESPN decided to talk about how Sam is ‘fitting in with his teammates thus far.’
Come on ESPN. I’d like to think you’re better than that.
The core question still centers around whether or not Michael Sam (a seventh round draft pick) will actually make the Rams final 53 man roster. The answer to that question was not even explored.
It wasn’t even discussed following Anderson’s report. They cut to Ron Jaworski to talk about the Rams QB situation with Sam Bradford going down with a blown out knee.
They didn’t even dangle that carrot. They threw away the carrot before the idea of even dangling it was thrown around.
While these anecdotes are interesting tidbits, they need to be explored once he’s actually part of a real, live NFL roster.
During the season is one thing. Prior to his rookie season with no guarantee of a roster spot is an entirely different matter.
Putting the cart before the horse, are we ESPN?