Two days after Oprah Winfrey Network announced that they would be producing a Michael Sam reality show chronicling the pass rusher’s journey to make it in the NFL as the first openly gay player in the league, it was announced that the show was being called off.
“After careful consideration and discussion with the St. Louis Rams, ‘The Untitled Michael Sam Project’ has been postponed, allowing Michael the best opportunity to achieve his dreams of making the team,” OWN president Erik Logan said in a statement via ESPN. “OWN is about elevating and empowering people to achieve their best. It’s clear that we, along with the world, recognize the opportunity that Michael has in this moment. We will continue to support him in his journey to earn a spot playing for the Rams.”
The St. Louis Rams and the NFL both said they were not made aware of the project until after the draft, where Sam was selected in the seventh round, 249th overall. Sam’s agent, Cameron Weiss, said the idea behind postponing the show was to allow Sam to focus solely on football and making the team.
“After today’s meeting with the Rams, we felt it is best to postpone the project,” Weiss said. “This will allow for Michael to have total focus on football, and will ensure no distractions to his teammates. Everybody involved remains committed to this project and understands its historical importance as well as its positive message.”
It’s pretty clear that this was an admission by Sam’s team that they made a huge mistake. Sam emphasized before the draft that he only wanted to be seen as a football player and nothing else, but then he did the opposite by agreeing to do a show. The move just seemed so out of the character he was portraying to the public. But this is a tacit acknowledgement that a mistake was made. At least they realized that and called off the show sooner rather than later.
