"I Think I Was the SEC Defensive Player of the Year Last Year ... So I Don't Think It Had to Do with Talent."

It's the thing these days to play the victim.

So why shouldn't Michael Sam do the thing:

Michael Sam believes he's not on a NFL roster because of the fact he's openly gay -- telling TMZ Sports he strongly believes he's got the talent to play in the league. 
Sam was at LAX this morning when he was asked if he thinks NFL teams are shying away from him because of his sexual orientation ... or if it has to do with the level of talent he faced after college.
"I think I was the SEC Defensive Player of the Year last year ... so I don't think it had to do with talent."
Translation -- he believes he's on the outs because he's out.  

The NFL bent over backwards to give this guy a shot... with a number of different teams... and yet, we get this out of the man.

Mr. Sam... you're not in the NFL... because you're not good enough to be in the NFL.

Period.

Now please... your 15 minutes has expired.

Exit stage left.