While everyone knows how Michael Sam landed on the St. Louis Rams roster a year ago – through the 2014 NFL Draft – you might not be as familiar with the Canadian Football League’s processes.
At some point last year, Sam was placed on the CFL Negotiation List. This is like the NFL's waiver list, where each team has the chance to add a player to its roster. Each CFL team can have a maximum of 35 players on its list, which consists mostly of players coming out of the NCAA or who are on the NFL bubble.
Montreal was one of two CFL teams to officially request the rights to Sam last year. Because the Alouettes finished with a worse record than Sam's other suitor the season before, they got him. They finished sixth in the 2013 season, which means neither the Winnipeg Blue Bombers nor Edmonton Eskimoes wanted him. One of the other five teams did want the rights to him, but the CFL was not willing to share the team's identity with Outsports
Sam joins wideout Chad Johnson and quarterback John Skelton – two former NFL players – on the Alouettes team. If Montreal can handle Johnson and his antics, the team can certainly handle a couple extra cameras for Sam's first game. That first game is Thursday, June 24, against Ottama – the CFL's kickoff game.
