LOS ANGELES, CA – JULY 16: NFL player Michael Sam accepts the Arthur Ashe Courage Award onstage during the 2014 ESPYS at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on July 16, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

The SEC Football Media Days are underway in Hooever, AL and the SEC Network has been making a few announcements. One of them deals with the new season of SEC Storied documentaries which are produced by ESPN Films. Five new films will premiere on consecutive Tuesdays starting on September 1 at 9 p.m. ET.

One of particular interest is “SAM” on the first openly-gay football player Michael Sam. According to the synopsis from SEC Network, the film will focus on Sam’s days at Missouri:

“SAM” – Directed by Marquis Daisy

When Michael Sam announced on February 9, 2014 that he was gay, he became football’s first openly gay active player. For most, the revelation was a surprise. For his teammates in Columbia Missouri, it was not news. In the Tigers football family, Michael had found acceptance. The extraordinary bond Sam forged with wide receiver L’Damian Washington and defensive tackle Marvin Foster was bigger than football – they became brothers. That brotherhood helped bring the Tigers together on the field in 2013 and fueled the 12-2 SEC East Championship season.

The film will most likely include the moment when the defensive end was drafted last year by the St. Louis Rams, but may not focus on Sam’s struggles to become a pro since last year. Ever since being drafted by the Rams, Sam has been cut from the Rams, signed to the Dallas Cowboys practice squad but then waived, and is now in the CFL with the Montreal Alouettes, but not after being suspended for leaving the team for “personal reasons.”

“SAM” will premiere on Tuesday, September 22 on SEC Network.

Other films in this season’s SEC Storied are “Wuerffel’s Way” on former Florida quarterback Danny Wuerffel’s work in poor communities in New Orleans and other cities in the Southeast; “Miracles on the Plain” regarding the fall and rise of the Auburn football program and its return of its beloved oak trees after they were poisoned; “The Bo You Don’t Know” which focuses on former coach Robert “Bo” Rein whose live was cut short by a plane crash; and “In Search of Derrick Thomas,” a film on the late Alabama and Kansas City Chiefs linebacker who died at the age of 33.

[ESPN]

About Ken Fang

Ken has been covering the sports media in earnest at his own site, Fang's Bites since May 2007 and at Awful Announcing since March 2013.

He provides a unique perspective having been an award-winning radio news reporter in Providence and having worked in local television.

Fang celebrates the four Boston Red Sox World Championships in the 21st Century, but continues to be a long-suffering Cleveland Browns fan.

Comments are closed.