Brad Hubbard CFL, Football

The Sam Saga

By Brad Hubbard | @bradhubbard

Michael Sam’s professional football career is on life support. He left the Montreal Alouettes training camp late last week citing ‘personal reasons.’ While we don’t know the true reason why Sam left Quebec, we do know that his chances of making a roster in professional football (CFL or otherwise) are dissipating quickly.

Michael Sam at practice

Sam has every right to want to go home and not be put under the media microscope. The banality of being asked the same questions over & over again. He also has the right to pursue a career in his industry of choice, however in this case his industry of choice has a very small window. Sam is a smart guy and  probably understands this better than most which makes his decision to leave the Al’s all the more shocking.

Sam’s window of making an impact on a roster in the CFL or NFL is very small. While most people in the NFL cited Sam’s lack of size and speed, it is also the same league that once didn’t have an African-American quarterback for no reason other than the individual was black. Sam can prove his football critics wrong but he has to be on a field in order to do so.

Like we said before, Sam has the potential to be one of the best pass rushers the CFL has every seen. Being successful there could lead to an opportunity in the NFL a la Cameron Wake. But it may not be the right path for Sam. Maybe the game, culture and not being in the NFL are too much for him. Maybe he was tired of being the center of attention when he hasn’t proved his worth on a professional field yet. Maybe being the poster boy for the LGBT community weighed on him too much and he couldn’t put everything he had into his trade. We don’t know. The facts are that he is on the Al’s suspended list and not playing football.

We hope Sam’s ‘personal reasons’ are not serious and that he returns to the Al’s. We think he is a heck of a player and could really do well in the pass happy CFL. If he decides to not go back to the Al’s that’s fine too but this guy was meant to pin his ears back and get after a quarterback in a passing situation.

 

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Brad Hubbard CFL, Football, NHL

The Sunday: Goodbye Is Such Sweet Sorrow

By Brad Hubbard | @bradhubbard

Such

Two Filipino divers gave two of the worst dives ever. No really, we mean ever. Even before the advent of social media there couldn’t have been worse dives then the ones you will witness in the video. Odds are, these two are not going to the Olympics.

Sweet 

Kucherov into post

‘Jesus that must have hurt’, is what most people must have said after Nikita Kucherov went shoulder first into the Chicago Blackhawks goal. He went to the locker room and did not return to Game Five of the Stanley Cup Final. On Sunday it was noted that he was doing ‘considerably better’ .

Sorrow

Michael Sam left the Montreal Alouettes camp on Friday, the day before their first pre season game. While the team issued a statement which cited ‘personal reasons’ for Sam’s departure, we can’t help thinking that this all might be too much for a 25 year old. We do still think that the CFL is the right move and he should pursue it with everything he has.

Brad Hubbard CFL, Football, NFL

Go North Young Man

By Brad Hubbard | @bradhubbard

Michael Sam is going to get his shot at professional football alright but it will be north of the border. Sam signed a two year deal with the Canadian Football League’s (CFL) Montreal Alouettes. It’s not only the right move but a smart one.

Michael Sam

Sam is a pass rusher plain and simple. He may not be the prototypical NFL pass rusher but he is a pass rusher none the less. Well that’s what you do in the CFL. With only three downs, a wider field and unlimited motion, the game is tailored for someone with Sam’s skill set.  He can pretty much pin his ears back and get after the quarterback all day long. People seem to forget that Sam was a consensus first team All-American, SEC Defensive Player of the Year and pretty much a bad ass on a very good Missouri team in 2013.

On paper Sam doesn’t fit the NFL mold for an outside rusher. So be it. A lot of players weren’t good enough ‘on paper’ and went on to have tremendous careers in the NFL while cutting their teeth in the CFL (Warren Moon for example). Now Sam has an opportunity to prove to the NFL that paper doesn’t matter, it’s what you do on the field that matters. Sam can follow in the footsteps of current NFL standout Cameron Wake who has gone on to be one of the better pass rushers in the league. If Sam can put up some decent numbers and show improvement when it comes to setting the edge then he will get another shot in the NFL.

Sam is in the right place. He has a chance to not just be a solid pass rusher for the Al’s but he has a chance to be one of the more dominant pass rushers the CFL has seen in a long time. Throw in a great city like Montreal and Sam may just decide that Canada suits him just fine.

Brad Hubbard College Football, Football

The Other Takeaway

By Brad Hubbard | @bradhubbard

While the sports landscape is being dominated by Donald Sterling and Michael Sam one interesting detail flew below the headlines this past weekend. The University of Texas did not have a player drafted in the NFL Draft for the first time since 1937.

Texas Longhorns

The players that were eligible for the 2014 draft were part of the 2009 recruiting class (more or less). The 2009 recruiting class at Texas ranked #3 according to ESPN and #5 according to Rivals respectively. Not one of the them was drafted by an NFL team. In fact, that class had a 31-20 record at Texas.

This should be a clear indicator as to why former Texas Head Coach Mack Brown is out of a job. It should also point to why the new Head Coach is Charlie Strong was hired on.

Coach Strong’s previous team, Louisville, had three players taken in the first round of this years draft and four overall. According to Rivals.com,  the 2009 recruiting class at Louisville ranked 77th.

That brings us to the other major take away, recruiting rankings mean nothing at the end of the day. NOTHING.

 

Brad Hubbard Basketball, College Football, Football, NBA, NFL

Pushed to the Back

By Brad Hubbard | @bradhubbard 

Marcus Smart and Michael Sam are two names you’ve been hearing a lot about over the last few days. Sam, the SEC Defensive Player of the year, announced he was gay and, a few hours before that, Smart was suspended three games for shoving a fan.

Sam’s story is historic any way you cut it. He will, in all likely hood, be the first openly gay player to be drafted by an NFL team and make, NFL roster and play in an NFL game.

Smart’s suspension is not historic but it is important. Because of the incident, Smart could see his draft stock drop because of the dreaded “character” issue.

Smart can take solace in the fact that Sam took the media spotlight away from him.

If Sam’s announcement had not happened when it did then the major sports stories for the week would have been Smart’s shove of a fan and the Winter Olympics.

Make no mistake, Smart’s actions and following suspension is big news in the sports world but Sam’s news is on another level.