MICHAEL SAM REPORTEDLY ENGAGED TO BOYFRIEND VITO CAMMISANO

Unconfirmed reports are coming in that Michael Sam is now engaged to longtime boyfriend Vito Cammisano.

TMZ writes that it's "unclear who asked who ... but one of Vito's friends (who was on the University of Missouri swim team with Vito) is already congratulating the couple about it on Twitter ... and Sam "liked" her post."

Page Six reports the couple got engaged in Rome during their European vacation through Italy and Spain. Sam turned 25 on Wednesday. 

Congrats to the happy couple if reports are true!

Michael Sam Survives First Cut

Michael Sam is a still Ram. Via ESPN:

Michael Sam remains on the St. Louis Rams' roster after the team made the necessary moves to get to the league maximum of 75 players. To reach that number, the Rams made four moves Tuesday afternoon, including placing quarterback Sam Bradford and center Demetrius Rhaney on injured reserve. St. Louis also released safety Matt Daniels and defensive end Sammy Brown. That Sam made it through the first round of cuts is of little surprise after he posted two sacks against the Cleveland Browns on Saturday night. Through three preseason games, Sam -- the first openly gay active player in NFL history -- has five tackles and three sacks. Rams coaches' film review also credits the rookie defensive end with two quarterback pressures and a quarterback hit.

ESPN drew widespread criticism yesterday after it reported on Sam's showering habits after games and practices. Via Yahoo Sports: 

Before Michael Sam, the NFL's first openly gay player, ever set foot on an NFL football field, doubters had claimed that he would be a distraction to his team and shunned by his teammates. However, in the first media flare-up regarding Sam's orientation, he has received the definitive support of one of the strongest voices in his locker room. The precipitating incident was an ESPN report on how Sam, no sure thing to make the Rams' roster, was adjusting to life with his new teammates. And after some initial cliches, the report took a sharp turn, focusing for almost a full minute on Sam's showering habits. The report drew immediate criticism on social media, both for its selectiveness (how many other rookies' shower habits are a story?) and its gaze too deep into the locker room. But there's a larger issue here. For years, people who claim to know NFL culture have said that the locker room wouldn't accept a gay man. But within hours after the report aired, Rams teammate Chris Long shattered that myth with one eight-word tweet.

Michael Sam Sacks Cleveland QB Twice

USA Today reports:

Two of the most scrutinized rookies crossed paths in the fourth quarter of Saturday night’s St. Louis Rams at Cleveland Browns preseason game when Sam, the seventh-round defensive end, sacked the Browns quarterback. Then, the former Missouri star, who is attempting to become the league’s first openly gay player, gave Manziel a dose of his own medicine, flashing Manziel’s signature “Show Me The Money’’ finger rub. Sam sacked Manziel again later in the game. Manziel flashed the money sign after scoring on a 7-yard scramble after replacing sputtering Brian Hoyer in the third quarter. “He’s a talented kid,: Sam said of Manziel. “He isn’t called ‘Johnny Football’ for nothing. It was fun getting to play against Manziel in an NFL game.” Sam now has three sacks this preseason after he recorded his first last week against the Green Bay Packers. Manziel said he made sure to give Sam props after the game.

Michael Sam Makes Historic NFL Preseason Debut: 'I Can Play in This League'

With 5 minutes, 13 seconds to go in the first quarter of a match-up against the St. Louis Rams and New Orleans Saints last night, Michael Sam became the first openly gay player in league history to participate in a NFL preseason game.

As defensive end, Sam played the rest of the first half and about halfway through the third quarter.

Although some scouts continue to question Sam's long-term professional potential, ESPN reports Sam's coach seemed pleased with his initial performance.

"Mike played hard," coach Jeff Fisher said. "I didn't watch him individually but I saw him on the hurry and the great effort outside the pocket. Saw him on a couple other plays. He slid down and made a play in the run game that stood out. We'll watch the tape and see how he did."

The Rams ultimately lost the game 26-24, but Sam said he had some valuable takeaways from the night:

"That I can play in this league," Sam said. "That's the most important. I was kind of nervous. I got some nerves out today. It was a very good learning experience, and I can play in this league."

He added:

"The hardest critic is me, myself. I think I could have done a little bit better. I'm not mad about my first game, but I know I could have done better."

Sam will have three more preseason chances to secure a spot on the Rams' roster before the season starts in September.

LaBarbera: Michael Sam is a ’Bad Role Model,’ Should Become an ’Ex-Gay’

Pete LaBarbera has this image on the ATFAH website. Do you think he’s jealous?  (Source:www.americansfortruth.com)

Peter LaBarbera, head of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) designated anti-gay hate group Americans for the Truth About Homosexuality (ATFAH) once again lifted his voice to the chorus of anti-gay conservatives that include Bryan Fischer and the Texas GOP who are advocating conversion therapy for openly gay NFL rookie, Michael Sam.

In an open letter to Michael Sam, posted to the ATFAH website Wednesday, LaBarbera berated the All-American defensive lineman for being a bad role model by coming out.

"Michael, do we have to tell you that, especially with your current publicity, you are a role model because of your athletic prowess, but since ’coming out’ you are also modeling a lifestyle that the cost for those living it, has been unpublicized but appalling it has for society. The troubling fact is minorities are suffering most and in growing numbers," LaBarbera writes.

The remainder of the letter, which is filled with the kind of misinformation about the LGBT population that has become ATFAH’s stock-in-trade, goes on to suggest that Sam seek out ex-gay therapy.

"Believe it or not, no one is born ’gay,’" LaBarbera writes. "Molestation, emotional deprivation, parental or peer rejection, or other traumatic factors can foster same-sex attraction-but many men and women have managed it, diminished it, or eliminated it altogether. [See these heartwarmingex-"gay" testimonies.] Many accomplished this through Reparative Therapy and counseling, despite the relentless, unwarranted condemnation of and campaign against both by self-serving "gay" activists."

Michael Sam Signed to Four-Year, $2.65 Million Contract with St. Louis Rams

The St. Louis Rams have officially signed gay NFL rookie Michael Sam and the rest of the Rams' Rookie class, NFL.com reports:

NFL Media's Albert Breer reported Thursday that the Rams have signed all 11 players selected by the team last month at Radio City Music Hall, according to a team source.

The complete list of signed Rams rookies includes: OT Greg Robinson, DT Aaron Donald, CB Lamarcus Joyner, RB Tre Mason, SS Mo Alexander, CB E.J. Gaines, QB Garrett Gilbert, OT Mitchell Van Dyk, FS C.B. Bryant, DE Michael Sam and C Demetrius Rhaney.

FOX Sports reports that Sam was offered a four-year, $2.65 million contract, with $46,000 of it guaranteed.

Sam tweeted on Thursday: "Grateful, humbled, and motivated after officially signing with all my Rams rookie brothers. Let's do this!! #RamUp "

Grateful, humbled, and motivated after officially signing with all my Rams rookie brothers. Let's do this!! #RamUp pic.twitter.com/quFCf01tJw
— Michael Sam (@MichaelSamNFL) June 12, 2014

Bryan Fischer Says Michael Sam Has a Bomb Under the Floorboards Of His Life:

Hot on the tails of saying that Michael Sam needs therapy and comparing his orientation to aconcussion, Bryan Fischer's love affair with Michael Sam continues as he claims that Sam is just a bomb waiting to go off, saying,

[L]iterally has got an improvised explosive device sitting under the floorboards of his life, and the NFL apparently doesn't care.

Ignoring the fact that Fischer doesn't understand the difference between "literally" and "figuratively", he goes on to cite the standard outdated junk health statistics from the 80s and 90s during the height of the AIDS epidemic to assert that Sam is going to shorten his life. If Fischer were really concerned about Sam's health and not just an opportunist troll latching onto the latest trending topic in gay news, he would be addressing the literal (not figurative) concussion rates among defensive ends in the NFL.

Right Wing Extremists Are Boycotting The NFL Because Michael Sam Was Drafted

Morality is defined as the differentiation of intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are “good” (or right) and those that are “bad” (or wrong). Morality can be a body of standards or principles derived from a code of conduct from a particular philosophy, religion, culture, or it can derive from a standard that an arrogant person believes should be what they say it should be. Throughout history morality was defined and enforced by tyrannical religious leaders, and although most of the world except Pakistan, Iran, and Talban-controlled Afghanistan put a stop to religious extremists defining and enforcing their version of morality, America is still in the grips of Christian fundamentalists’ attempting to define and legislate morality.

One extremist in the Christian movement has set his sights on the sporting world because as a fine upstanding evangelical Christian K-Street lobbyist, Jack Burkman said “if the NFL doesn’t have any morals, and people like (Commissioner) Roger Goodell just want to appease advertisers, appease corporate America and all that stuff…I figured, well, it is time for conservatives in Congress to step in and define morality for them.” The GOP lobbyist is Jack Burkman, who two months ago was pushing hard for Congressional legislation to ban openly gay athletes from the National Football League after news that Missouri defensive lineman Michael Sam announced he was gay. At the time Burkman said “conservatives really hate imposing policy on private business,” but that all went out the window because of the “reason of great urgency and necessity of forcing the NFL’s moral standing.”

Now that Michael Sam was drafted by the St. Louis Rams because of his football skills and not because he is gay, they will have to look forward to dealing with Burkman who intends to include as part of his campaign to pass legislation banning gay football players from playing in the NFL, “unleashing a relentless boycott against the team that drafted him.” Burkman warned NFL teams he has “a coalition of extremist Christian leaders from across the nation” ready to unleash Hell on the Rams to teach the entire NFL a Christ-like lesson that when Christians are not allowed to enforce their definition of morality on the public “there will be a terrible financial price to pay.”

Bigots Claim Rams Violated their Religious Freedoms by Drafting Gay Player

The NFL’s St. Louis Rams must be quaking in its boots after drafting Mizzou defensive end Michael Sam, where he was consensus All-American and the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Defensive Player of the Year as a senior. And no, not because, as Andy Kerman quipped in a tweet. “A man with TWO first names?”

This is a big deal. The White House demonstrated an awareness of this when it released a congratulatory statement:

The President congratulates Michael Sam, the Rams and the NFL for taking an important step forward today in our Nation’s journey. From the playing field to the corporate boardroom, LGBT Americans prove everyday that you should be judged by what you do and not who you are.

Sam was selected in the 7th round of the NFL draft on Saturday by the St. Louis Rams, and this was a historic milestone in NFL history. He is the NFL’s first openly gay player, and that makes bigots very angry. “What right does somebody have to be gay?” they thunder as brains sizzle and pop. “And on my TV!” Why, their rights are being trampled, by God! To make matters worse, Sam kissed his boyfriend when he found out he’d been drafted, not a girlfriend!

ST. LOUIS RAMS DRAFT MICHAEL SAM, SETTING STAGE FOR FIRST OPENLY GAY NFL PLAYER

Michael Sam has been drafted by the St. Louis Rams and will become the first openly gay NFL player.

Sam was picked late in the 7^th round of the draft and was the 249th pick overall.

POSTED MAY. 10,2014 AT 6:58 PM EST BY