The Sports Xchange

Michael Sam officially made his debut for the Montreal Alouettes on Friday night, becoming the first openly gay player to appear in a Canadian Football League game.

Sam played sparingly and did not have an impact as the Alouettes lost to the Ottawa Redblacks 26-23 in Ottawa, Ontario. He played defensive end and failed to record a tackle.

“I was focusing on my assignments, actually,” Sam said when asked whether he was thinking about the historic moment before kickoff. “I’m not going to lie, there were some big jitters out there, and I was nervous when I first got on the field. I didn’t get any opportunities to make many plays. I had some good pass rushes, I thought, but close enough is not a sack.”

Sam, who signed in May with the Alouettes, was the first openly gay player drafted by an NFL team when he was selected in the seventh round by the St. Louis Rams last year. He was released by the Rams during the preseason and later picked up and let go by the Dallas Cowboys.

Sam left the Alouettes during training camp for still-unexplained personal reasons. He returned after a two-week absence.

The 25-year-old Sam encountered difficulty in the NFL because at 6-foot-2, 260 pounds, he did not exactly fit the prototype of a defensive end or an outside linebacker. Sam was co-defensive player of the year in the Southeastern Conference while at Missouri.