Michael Sam jerseys are flying off the shelves after the defensive end became the first openly gay player drafted by the NFL. The Sam jersey sales are second only to quarterback Johnny Manziel's, and NFLShop.com says it's the biggest weekend for draft sales ever.
Manziel, the Texas A&M star also known as Johnny Football, was a big name going into draft weekend, but it's possible,
CNN pointed out, that his jersey sales are only doing better than Sam's since Manziel was drafted in the first round by the Cleveland Browns on Thursday, and Sam went in the seventh round to the St. Louis Rams on Saturday.
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The NFL online store didn’t release specific numbers of sales.
Sam’s story generated a lot of publicity and support, although an ESPN film of him kissing his boyfriend after he was picked caused some controversy.
Don Jones of the Miami Dolphins was fined and must complete educational training after tweeting “horrible” and “OMG” about the image.
While getting drafted was a huge accomplishment for Sam, he still must prove himself on the field to be included in the season's 53-man roster.
On draft weekend, NFL Network saw a 27 percent increase in viewers over last year, hitting 1.24 million viewers this year.
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