One of the most popular jerseys ringing up NFL cash registers in the days following the draft doesn’t usually belong to a late 7th-round pick.
But as we’ve seen, the story of Michael Sam is pretty unique in the annals of the National Football League.
Therefore, we guess it shouldn’t be too big a shock that the St. Louis Rams’ jersey for the first openly gay player in league history was the second-most popular purchase among the new class of NFL rookies, according to a report on Crave sports site NESN.
According to NFL sales figures over the past weekend first released to Outsports.com, Sam’s jersey was second in sales only to new Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel. Manziel’s fellow first-rounders Jadeveon Clowney (Houston Texans), Teddy Bridgewater (Minnesota Vikings) and Blake Bortles (Jacksonville Jaguars) rounded out the top 5.
“This is unprecedented for a Day 3 pick, let alone a seventh round pick, to crack the top five rookies sold following Draft weekend,” said NFL spokesperson Joanna Hunter.
It’s so unprecedented particularly because fans had 48 fewer hours to buy the Sam jersey. The linebacker’s new no. 10 Rams jersey only went on sale after he was picked Saturday night, a full two days after Manziel and the other first-rounders had their names called.
