Michael Sam returns to Montreal to resume football career

Michael Sam returned to Montreal, is expected to report to the CFL’s Alouettes as soon as Saturday, and will then resume his football career.

Les Carpenter of the Guardian reported that Sam should return to his football team soon, which was likely his only hope of playing football at a high level again. Sam left the Alouettes on June 12, right before their exhibition season began. The team played its regular-season opener on Thursday. Sam already had work to do to convince an NFL team he deserves a roster spot, and quitting his CFL team after struggling in training camp wouldn’t have looked good on his football résumé. According to The Guardian, Sam returned to Montreal earlier this week; he has been seen around the city the past couple days.

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Sam, the pass rusher who was the first openly gay player to be drafted in the NFL, was said to have needed a break. Alouettes general manager Jim Popp, who said he stayed in communication with Sam after he left, speculated that the instant fame Sam received after coming out before the 2014 NFL draft was overwhelming. But Popp said he believed Sam would return to the Alouettes.

Sam probably didn’t do himself any favors by leaving. He’ll now need to re-establish himself on the depth chart and then show he belongs. Sam presumably wants to get back to the NFL — the CFL player has never changed his Twitter handle from @MichaelSamNFL and his profile picture is from when he was on the Dallas Cowboys’ practice squad — but he needs to show something on film in Canada to change the perception of him around the NFL.

That definitely wasn’t going to happen if he didn’t play again. It looks like Sam is ready to get back on the field. Now we can see where this opportunity leads him.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab