Shelterdog said:Maybe I'm delusional but I think if anything this makes it more likely that the Pats draft him. They seem to have been really focussed lately on picking up guys with mental toughness-Tavon Wilson, Cole and Ebner all lost close family members, Thompkins overcame all kinds of adversity (some self-infliced)--and, at least to me, it would take a hell of a lot of guts and mental fortitude to come out to a SEC football team. Plus it's a reasonably open minded region and it would be pretty surprising if BB and Kraft weren't as welcoming as any senior executives would be in a company in the Boston area.
The biggest question is where you'd fit him in. He's a little big (and maybe slow) for a special teams demon, a little small for DE, and while he's a nice size to convert to a 3-4 ILB we're not running that any more.
Dunno, one of my favorite players broke in as a long time special teams guy at 6'5" 285 as his eventual playing weight. 7th rounder, classic 4-3 transition to 3-4, though he stayed at end. Michael Sam is smaller and faster, a lot about special teams is willingness and enthusiasm. Getting in on special teams and a limited number of sub packages could be the door cracked open for him to nail down a roster spot.