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Sam Disappoints at First Veterans Combine

Michael Sam's poor veteran's combine performance will likely send him to Canada.

The Inaugural NFL Veterans Combine landed with a thud Sunday in Tempe, Ariz. After speculation of players like former Dallas Cowboys running back Felix Jones and Cleveland Browns quarterback Brady Quinn working out for another shot at NFL stardom, there were few standouts and the biggest name at the combine, former SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year Michael Sam is unlikely to land on a team after a lackluster performance.

Sam’s performance Sunday was worse, by a good bit, than his 2014 NFL combine that resulted in him landing with the St. Louis Rams as a seventh-round pick and then on the Cowboys’ practice squad after being beaten out by undrafted rookie Ethan Westbrooks. His 40-yard dash of 5.07 seconds was 0.16 seconds slower than the one he posted at the combine. He looked stiff and showed no explosion. Though leaner looking, Sam’s a step slower and for a guy that was teetering on the edge of ever playing a down in the NFL in the first place, Sunday may have sealed his fate.

Sam isn’t shutting the door to possibly joining the Canadian Football League. As for what he did show Sunday? Sam was still positive when he talked to the NFL Network’s Steve Wyche.

“(I showed) my ability and my work-ethic, my ability to show what I can do on the field,” Sam said. “My main goal is to be on a team, whether it’s on a practice squad or an active roster. I’m still working hard. I did the best I can today with the time I had. It’s still the offseason and there’s still plenty of time before the OTA’s. There’s time left.”

According to Sam he has been contacted by multiple NFL teams before the Combine, but no offers have been made.

“There’s talks, but that’s all there is right now,” Sam said. “I’m a fighter. I’m going to keep on fighting until I can’t fight any more.”

As for who did raise their stock at the combine? Oddly enough no player that you’d expect. Former Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson spun the ball well in his passing drills as did former Philadelphia Eagles QB Mike Kafka. With the shortage of arms in this year’s draft and the poor level of back-up quarterbacks currently in the league, both men are likely to rejuvenate their NFL chances. Former Browns QB Brady Quinn? Not so much.

None of the running backs stood out and former Oakland Raiders runner Michael Bush all but ended any hope of his career by laying down a 4.91 40-yard dash. And that’s not just my opinion. It’s his too.

“You got to be (expletive) me,” Bush said when he found out from a reporter. “ A 4.91? There you go. There goes my career.”

Jones wasn’t much faster with a surprisingly pedestrian 4.63. For a guy that was a speed back coming into the league, that’s a number that should send him right back to civilian life.

Besides the two quarterbacks, the only real standout appeared to be former Atlanta Falcons defensive end Jamaal Anderson, who has remained in football shape and looked solid enough in his drills. At 6-foot-6 and 282 pounds, and just 29 years old, Anderson is likely to be one of the few success stories from the veterans combine.

Former Rams defensive tackle Adam Carriker is trying to come back from a bad knee injury. He showed off by doing 40 reps of 225 pounds in the bench press, the only player at the combine to lift. Carriker did three more reps than rookie combine champ Erick Flowers.

Harrison will play two more years 

A year after “retiring” then coming back for 11 games in 2014, outside linebacker James Harrison will stay in the league, signing a two-year contract to remain with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Harrison will begin his 13th season in the league this fall and has just turned 37. Last year Harrison bounced back from a down season with the Cincinnati Bengals, recording 45 tackles and 5.5 sacks.

With the loss of Jason Worilds to retirement/free agency, the Steelers needed to shore up the outside linebacker position and Harrison was a natural fit to return. At the NFL Owner’s Meeting Sunday, Steelers GM Kevin Colbert discussed Harrison’s return.

“Real happy to have James stay,” Colbert said. “This offseason James has been great with our young defenders and particularly our linebackers. I think he’s taken on a mentorship role and he seems to really be enjoying it. Plus we think he can still help us on the field.”

Two seasons ago Harrison, as a free agent, left the Steelers when they expressed no real desire to re-sign him, spending a year with the Bengals. Now two years later the Steelers had to beat out the Tennessee Titans for Harrison’s services.

The Steelers still need to address the position long-term, but luckily for them this draft is full of them, but they’ll have to grab one in the first round. In January the Steelers signed Calgary Stampeders star linebacker Shawn Lemon and re-signed Arthur Moats.

Written by Adam Greene

Adam Greene is a writer and photographer based out of East Tennessee. His work has appeared on Cracked.com, in USA Today, the Associated Press, the Chicago Cubs Vineline Magazine, AskMen.com and many other publications.

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