When Michael Sam signed an endorsement deal with Visa days before the NFL draft, it was remarkable. He hadn't played a single down of professional football.

In his first commercial, Sam is seen working out, and in the voice-over, viewers are urged to judge him as a football player.

As the draft grew near, it appeared that Sam would be taken in the later rounds -- if he was going to be taken at all -- because of his poor performance at the combine.

As the seventh and final round began, Sam was still on the board, waiting for one of 32 teams to take a chance on him.