Rams coach Jeff Fisher said after his team made Michael Sam the NFL’s first openly gay player that he has no worries about off-field distractions.
Fisher said on NFL Network that he believes there will be a lot of media attention at first, and then Sam will quickly get to work with his teammates.
“I don’t have any concern whatsoever,” Fisher said. “We drafted a good football player, and I’m excited to get him on the practice field and get him going. It’s going to be a little extra attention for a couple days.”
The Rams drafted Sam with the 249th pick and then drafted Tennessee State center Demetrius Rhaney with the 250th pick, and Fisher said Sam, Rhaney and all of the other draft picks will be treated the same.
“We were very fortunate to have the supplemental choice, and we felt that you use those to pick players you want to give an opportunity to, that you think you want to draft,” Fisher said. “He’s a good football player, and we got a good football player right after him, so I’m excited about our draft, excited about our production, excited about the possibility of adding him to our defensive front.”
Now Sam will get to work, and Fisher will get to work on coaching Sam and evaluating him, determining whether Sam has what it takes to make the Rams’ 53-man roster. In Fisher’s eyes, Sam is just another young player trying to make the team.