Every SEC Defensive Player of the Year since 2006 eventually went on to be drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft.

Well, almost every player.

Oddly enough, the one player that openly admitted he was gay was not drafted in Round 1, or Round 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6.

Michael Sam (the first openly gay football player) was selected in the seventh round of the 2014 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Rams. He appeared in four preseason games with the Rams before the team released him. Sam then signed onto the Dallas Cowboys’ practice squad that ended without him playing a regular season down in the NFL. With the NFL showing little interest in Sam he decided to recently sign a contract in the Canadian Football League with the Montreal Alouettes.

“I’m just here to play football,” Sam said. “I’m not trying to do anything historic, I’m just trying to win some games.”

Whether Sam likes it or not, there is going to be some historic moments in his future if he plays like the player that earned him his SEC Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2013. His freshman year at Missouri he developed into a solid contributor and made enough of an impression to win second-team Freshman All-American honors. He continued to raise his level of play and during his redshirt senior season Sam won an award (SEC DPOY) that usually ensures an extremely high entry into the NFL Draft. That insurance seemed to fade after he announced his homosexuality.

There does seem to be a consensus that Sam was slighted by the NFL. Considering that the previous seven players before him and the one following him (in regards to winning the SEC PLOY) all went in the first round. It is a bit boggling to think that he would dramatically fall to the final round of the draft and never earn one regular season snap.

Yet a silver lining remains in Sam’s future.

There remains one possibility for Sam to claim his fame in the NFL for his ability and not for identifying his sexuality.

His style of play is reminiscent to former B.C. Lions and current Miami Dolphins four-time Pro Bowl defensive linemen Cameron Wake. Going undrafted out of Penn State (2005), Wake found his niche in the CFL where he accumulated an astonishing 39 sacks in two seasons. Wake’s play was too much for the NFL to ignore and the Dolphins signed Wake who has been their best defensive player since his arrival (2009) in South Beach.

“My size fits as a pass-rusher,” said Sam (6-foot-2, 260 pounds). “I led [the Rams] in pre-season in sacks and that was in the NFL, so I’m a pass-rusher. Doesn’t matter where I’m at.”

The comparisons between Wake and Sam as players are nearly identical. Their height and weight are almost a carbon copy of each other and both are viewed as a hybrid defensive end that can bring a bounty of pressure off the edge with their hand in the dirt or standing up.

Wake transitioned from linebacker to defensive end once he arrived in the CFL that led to him becoming the Jackie Parker Trophy (Most Outstanding Rookie West Division) winner. Sam’s opportunity to follow the same path towards NFL stardom lays in the ‘Wake’ (no pun intended) of the2007 award winner.

“I decided to come to Canada when I figured I wasn’t going to be in an NFL camp. Montreal had my rights, we’ve been negotiating with Jim Popp (General Manager), and now here I am,” Sam said.

Here is where this story really gets interesting.

Wake proved NFL evaluators had him pegged wrong in their analysis of him as a player. Once they realized their miscue Wake was quickly signed after two seasons of success in the CFL.

The burning question now begins to glimmer on the horizon.

Will the NFL take the same approach if Sam matches the ability Wake displayed in his short-stint in the CFL?

Imagine the outcry if Sam excels in the CFL. His sack numbers climb game after game. The recognition Sam creates is not due to his sexual preferences but because of his athleticism on the field. The NFL will have to act or the ‘Shield’ will appear to be an anti-homosexual organization if they elect to bypass Sam if he blossoms in the CFL.

From the way his first stint in the NFL went I would not bet against the notion that there is not an owner or two hoping that déjà vu does not strike and Sam fades away from the world of football completely.

The better ending is that he emerges as one of the elite CFL prospects next to arrive in the NFL.