Yesterday I was fairly upset by the NFL Draft. Just minutes before he went to the St. Louis Rams, I started pulling up statistics on Michael Sam, because I was convinced that he would go undrafted. I was getting ready to send a sharply worded letter to the NFL, ESPN, and Fox, letting them know that I would no longer be watching football, playing fantasy football, and that I would be contacting their sponsors after I would cancel my subscription to the Weekend Ticket. But voila at the second the Rams saved the day.
And then after I woke up today, I saw this video:
Uggh.. need insulin..too sweet.. too endearing... and no I'm not crying, I long ago established that I have no soul and am incapable of any real human emotions, so my eyes just be super dry.
Ok back to the statistics.
I complied a spreadsheet (the gay's best friend) of all the SEC Player-of-the-Year winners since the SEC started giving them out to defenders in 2003.
| Year |
Name |
Position |
Team |
Round |
Overall |
| 2003 |
Eli Manning |
QB |
Ole Miss (Offense) |
Round: 1 |
Pick: 1 |
| 2003 |
Chad Lavalais |
DT |
LSU (Defense) |
Round: 5 |
Pick: 142 |
| 2004 |
Jason Campbell |
QB |
Auburn (Offense) |
Round: 1 |
Pick: 25 |
| 2004 |
David Pollack |
DE |
Georgia (Defense) |
Round: 1 |
Pick: 17 |
| 2004 |
Carnell Williams |
RB |
Auburn (Special Teams) |
Round: 1 |
Pick: 5 |
| 2005 |
Jay Cutler |
QB |
Vanderbilt (Offense) |
Round: 1 |
Pick: 11 |
| 2005 |
DeMeco Ryans |
LB |
Alabama (Defense) |
Round: 2 |
Pick: 33 |
| 2005 |
Skyler Green |
RS |
LSU (Special Teams) |
Round: 4 |
Pick: 125 |
| 2006 |
Darren McFadden |
RB |
Arkansas (Offense) |
Round: 1 |
Pick: 4 |
| 2006 |
Patrick Willis |
LB |
Ole Miss (Defense) |
Round: 1 |
Pick: 11 |
| 2006 |
John Vaughn |
PK |
Auburn (Special Teams) |
Undrafted in 2007 |
|
| 2007 |
Glenn Dorsey |
DT |
LSU (Defense) |
Round: 1 |
Pick: 5 |
| 2007 |
Felix Jones |
RS |
Arkansas (Special Teams) |
Round: 1 |
Pick: 22 |
| 2008 |
Tim Tebow |
QB |
Florida (Offense) |
Round: 1 |
Pick: 25 |
| 2008 |
Brandon James |
RS |
Florida (Special Teams) |
Undrafted in 2010 |
|
| 2008 |
Eric Berry |
DB |
Tennessee (Defense) |
Round: 1 |
Pick: 5 |
| 2009 |
Rolando McClain |
LB |
Alabama (Defense) |
Round: 1 |
Pick: 8 |
| 2009 |
Javier Arenas |
RS |
Alabama (Special Teams) |
Round: 2 |
Pick: 50 |
| 2010 |
Cam Newton |
QB |
Auburn (Offense) |
Round: 1 |
Pick: 1 |
| 2010 |
Nick Fairley |
DT |
Auburn (Defense) |
Round: 1 |
Pick: 13 |
| 2010 |
Patrick Peterson |
RS |
LSU (Special Teams) |
Round: 1 |
Pick: 5 |
| 2011 |
Trent Richardson |
RB |
Alabama (Offense) |
Round: 1 |
Pick: 3 |
| 2011 |
Morris Claiborne |
CB |
LSU (Defense) |
Round: 1 |
Pick: 6 |
| 2011 |
Joe Adams |
RS |
Arkansas (Special Teams) |
Round: 4 |
Pick: 104 |
| 2012 |
Johnny Manziel |
QB |
Texas A&M (Offense) |
Round: 1 |
Pick: 22 |
| 2012 |
Jadeveon Clowney |
DE |
South Carolina (Defense) |
Round: 1 |
Pick: 1 |
| 2012 |
Caleb Sturgis |
PK |
Florida (Special Teams) |
Round: 5 |
Pick: 166 |
| 2012 |
Ace Sanders |
RS |
South Carolina (Special Teams) |
Round: 4 |
Pick: 101 |
| 2012 |
Jarvis Jones |
LB |
Georgia (Defense) |
Round: 1 |
Pick: 17 |
| 2013 |
Tre Mason |
RB |
Auburn (Offense) |
Round: 3 |
Pick: 75 |
| 2013 |
C.J. Mosley |
LB |
Alabama (Defense) |
Round: 1 |
Pick: 17 |
| 2013 |
Michael Sam |
DE |
Missouri (Defense) |
Round: 7 |
Pick: 249 |
| 2013 |
Christion Jones |
|
Alabama (Special Teams) |
Junior in College |
|
On this list, three players were undrafted: one was a Return Specialist; one was a Place Kicker; and one is still in college.
Michael Sam is by far the lowest drafted excluding Special Teams. Out of the 30 people drafted, they had an average pick position of 42.3 and a standard deviation of 60.35 meaning any pick below 102.65 is low.
In fact besides Michael Sam, the only other defensive player on this list to have been picked below 112 is Chad Lavalais who was picked at 142. The three-sigma value is 223.05, and yet Michael Sam was drafted 26 spots lower.
So how and why did Michael Sam go from being a possible first or second round choice in January to being a seventh round pick?
He had what many consider to be a poor showing at the combine; he also might not fit in well in the tradition 4-3 scheme due to his height; or perhaps it's the fact that he came out.
There is no way of telling how he will do in the NFL. He might fizzle out like Tebow or become an average player with a long career in the NFL or perhaps even go all-pro.
No matter what there are a lot of people out there wishing him and his partner the best.
Congratulations Michael Sam.
'Liam 14
New rule: drink every time you hear that Michael Sam is "ramming" his gayness down someone's throat.
