Yet Another Reason To Love Harry Styles

You might've felt a slight emptiness from watching the 2014 VMA's on Sunday. Beyoncé killed it, Blue Ivy ousted Taylor Swift as Best Audience Dancer, and Sam Smith made the world cry slow, heartfelt tears... But, something was missing: One Direction. Don't worry, it was not in vain. Because, while Nicki Minaj showed us her "Anaconda" donk, Harry Styles was on tour with his band, and not only was he singing, he spent one of his tour dates making a pretty awesome statement. Harry Styles wore a Michael Sam jersey at his concert at the Edward Jones Dome on Wednesday.

If you're a football fan (and, I'm not going to pretend that I am), you know that the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, Mo. houses the St. Louis Rams. And, if you follow news at all, you'll know that this year marks the first time the NFL drafted an openly gay player and that man, Michael Sam, is almost on the Rams' team. Sam hasn't officially made it on just yet. During the preseason games, Sam made it past the first round of cuts. The team was reduced from all drafted players to 75 contenders for the final roster. With one cut to go, which will reduce the team to 53 players, the Rams will announce who exactly will be playing next season by Saturday.

To get back to Styles, the star-studded VMA's was five lads short, because when you're young, talented, and ridiculously attractive with an terrifyingly passionate fan base, ain't nobody got time to take a night off just to grace our televisions with coordinated-but-not-matching outfits. Now on the Midwest leg of their Where We Are tour, One Direction stopped by the St. Louis on Aug. 27. There, Harry Styles made a not-so-subtle statement about who should be on that final 53-player roster.

His professional football career might be in limbo, but Sam already has some fans in high places. I mean, Harry Styles — heartthrob of heartthrobs — endorsed him by rocking his jersey onstage. Quite the (awesome) statement, right there. By donning the Rams "96" apparel, Styles showed his support for a historic player, one who's path to professional football has met many obstacles.

Most recently, reporting on Sam's locker room habits have raised some eyebrows. When ESPN aired a controversial segment on how Sam was "respecting [his teammates'] space" by taking a beat before joining them all in the shower, the world reacted accordingly. As per usual, the situation — and, more broadly, the problem with reports like these — was best summed up by The Daily Show.

Regardless of what happens on Saturday, Sam has the support of a One Direction band member — so, basically, he's unstoppable.