Career
He was recruited by the Brisbane Lions as a Queensland zone selection from the Redland Australian Football Club in the North East Australian Football League (NEAFL) with the 96th selection in the 2012 Rookie Draft. He made his American Federation of Labor-Congress debut against Carlton in round 9 of the 2013 American Federation of Labor-Congress season after being upgraded from the rookie list to replace the injured Claye Beams. In February 2015, Michael was given a short-term contract by Essendon to play in the 2015 National Association of Broadcasters Challenge as a "top-up" player, due to 26 Essendon players withdrawing from the National Association of Broadcasters Challenge because of the ongoing supplements controversy.
In February 2016, he signed a one-year contract with the club as a top-up player for the 2016 season.
Early Sam was born in Brisbane, Australia, and moved to Cairns soon after. He played junior American Federation of Labor-Congress with the Cairns Hawks AFC. Michael married long-time girlfriend Thea Michael in 2013.
