SEC DPOTY: Michael Sam announced he is gay

[GeorgeKush]

send him to sf

 

[CPHawk]

Artrell Hawkins has said he had 2 teammates on NE who were gay, but they never came out openly but everyone knew. This isn't new, it's just people think it needs to be out in the media.

 

[Mr.Hawkbrah]

As far as his announcing it now. I highly doubt he wants his "15 minutes of fame". By announcing this before the draft, he ensures that the team he goes to is well-aware accepting of him. Otherwise, he could end up in, say, Minnesota.

if its not about attention then why not divulge it during private interviews with teams during different pre draft scouting? seems to make more sense to do it in a private setting since its...his personal private business. i really dont care to hear about it either way, i have little interest in even knowing who the hot arm candy my favorite players are shagging. do mid round prospects not go through much personal interviews? i guess your point would make more sense in that case.

 

[-The Glove-]

As far as his announcing it now. I highly doubt he wants his "15 minutes of fame". By announcing this before the draft, he ensures that the team he goes to is well-aware accepting of him. Otherwise, he could end up in, say, Minnesota.

if its not about attention then why not divulge it during private interviews with teams during different pre draft scouting? seems to make more sense to do it in a private setting since its...his personal private business. i really dont care to hear about it either way, i have little interest in even knowing who the hot arm candy my favorite players are shagging. do mid round prospects not go through much personal interviews? i guess your point would make more sense in that case.

Good point...maybe this article sheds a little light on his true intention

http://www.outsports.com/2014/2/9/5396036/michael-sam-gay-football-player-missouri-nfl-draft

 

[TestMo1337]

I care because this has to happen more and more so it becomes a non-issue. Just like how Ichiro broke the Japanese position barrier and Hideo Nomo broke the Japanese pitcher barrier. Now, no one cared about Tanaka until he signed with the Yankees.

Do I care about a players sexual orientation? Nope... Just as I don't care about a player's religion. Does it affect their ability to play professional sports? Probably not, unless your religion is more interesting than your ability to play.

Sam has already made it clear that he is not interested in being an advocate for the LGBT community due to the fact that his position as the first homosexual player in the NFL before their career has even started will carry enough attention.

Good for this dude for being strong enough to carry the burden of being the 1st openly gay NFL player. I wish it could be a non-issue but it won't because because you always remember the 1st.

 

[Hawkfan77]

He is either a) trying to get his 15 minutes of fame, or b) hoping his stock drops enough as a result so that Pete and John will take him as yet another late round steal in the draft.

I doubt very much most of America cares what people do in their private sexual lives. I also find it somewhat interesting so many feel the compulsion to make a huge deal out of it and make sure everyone else knows damned well what their sexual preferences are, and feel the need to announce it loud and long enough to get a rise out of a few who don't share their beliefs.

The gay community is the new Jehovah's Witnesses. "Knock, knock; I'm wondering if you'll take a few minutes to hear the wonderful story of how I'M GAY!"

This times 1000

 

[seadoc30]

Guys, if he is drafted, he will officially be the FIRST GAY GUY IN THE NFL!!

For those saying that if he can play, draft him.. I say that is the silliest thing. We are just coming off a Super Bowl win and you draft this guy, the VMac will be flooded with reporters, gay activists, possible protests, etc. Any and every attention will be about this gay guy. There wont be anymore football questions in Players/Coaches press conferences. It will be questions about this gay guy. Do you seriously think Pete will accept this?? I don't think Pete/John/Allen are that fond of the gay community to draft this guy just to give him a chance and risk a distraction of this magnitude that can implode and break up this team, who are favored to win the next Super Bowl again?!

Plus, why is this guy even coming out? If, as he claims, that being gay is his personal life, then just keep it personal! I don't see other players sharing their personal life things.

An absolute no for me!

 

[Throwdown]

Either way, reading his scouting report, that dude is a LEO.

 

[Throwdown]

Guys, if he is drafted, he will officially be the FIRST GAY GUY IN THE NFL!!

For those saying that if he can play, draft him.. I say that is the silliest thing. We are just coming off a Super Bowl win and you draft this guy, the VMac will be flooded with reporters, gay activists, possible protests, etc. Any and every attention will be about this gay guy. There wont be anymore football questions in Players/Coaches press conferences. It will be questions about this gay guy. Do you seriously think Pete will accept this?? I don't think Pete/John/Allen are that fond of the gay community to draft this guy just to give him a chance and risk a distraction of this magnitude that can implode and break up this team, who are favored to win the next Super Bowl again?!

Plus, why is this guy even coming out? If, as he claims, that being gay is his personal life, then just keep it personal! I don't see other players sharing their personal life things.

An absolute no for me!

No disrespect, but that's pretty narrow sighted, and I think you're underestimating this teams ability to ignore any and all outside noise. If the guy is not make a spectacle out of things (which in that SBNation article) it sounds like he is, and is about the team and protecting the team, then I don't see how his sexual preference is a negative.

He also wouldn't be the first, he'd be the first openly gay player, but I'm nitpicking here.

 

[seadoc30]

Guys, if he is drafted, he will officially be the FIRST GAY GUY IN THE NFL!!

For those saying that if he can play, draft him.. I say that is the silliest thing. We are just coming off a Super Bowl win and you draft this guy, the VMac will be flooded with reporters, gay activists, possible protests, etc. Any and every attention will be about this gay guy. There wont be anymore football questions in Players/Coaches press conferences. It will be questions about this gay guy. Do you seriously think Pete will accept this?? I don't think Pete/John/Allen are that fond of the gay community to draft this guy just to give him a chance and risk a distraction of this magnitude that can implode and break up this team, who are favored to win the next Super Bowl again?!

Plus, why is this guy even coming out? If, as he claims, that being gay is his personal life, then just keep it personal! I don't see other players sharing their personal life things.

An absolute no for me!

No disrespect, but that's pretty narrow sighted, and I think you're underestimating this teams ability to ignore any and all outside noise. If the guy is not make a spectacle out of things (which in that SBNation article) it sounds like he is, and is about the team and protecting the team, then I don't see how his sexual preference is a negative.

He also wouldn't be the first, he'd be the first openly gay player, but I'm nitpicking here.

Excuse me for sounding narrow sighted. Its not for me to judge anyone, especially someones personal life. However, this is not your usual testing postive for drugs or a DUI news or a Sherman Rant. This is something which will be spoken about day n night by every talking mouth for a very very long time. If you think Tebow created a media mess where ever he went, this is 10X worst. Why is Tebow not playing football anymore? Dont tell me he isnt better than some qbs on rosters right now. The only reason is that he brings mass media with him and that causes distractions. Pete is usually the first one to officially say no to Hard Knocks and was hesitant to even let Mike Rob do the RRR to keep out distractions, let alone allowing the story of the decade to hit his locker room in a season that could be his most serious one.

 

[sturg78]

I want him drafted before 32. Nor because I wouldn't embrace him as a hawk I would just be super disappointed if one of our guys was against it and was public about it. Like if Russ was against it because of religious reasons I would find it hard to back him with the same Passion I do now....which borders on homoerotic

 

[kearly]

Boy, if Sam goes undrafted, that means he will be the dominant story of the ENTIRE DRAFT. Make no mistake, he will be the dominant storyline of that draft until the moment he gets drafted. And he might not be drafted.

 

[randomation]

I want him drafted before 32. Nor because I wouldn't embrace him as a hawk I would just be super disappointed if one of our guys was against it and was public about it. Like if Russ was against it because of religious reasons I would find it hard to back him with the same Passion I do now....which borders on homoerotic

99.999999999999999% sure you would not have to worry about Russ having any issues with it or if he did he wouldn't voice them that is just is not RW period.

 

[SonicHawk]

He is either a) trying to get his 15 minutes of fame, or b) hoping his stock drops enough as a result so that Pete and John will take him as yet another late round steal in the draft.

I doubt very much most of America cares what people do in their private sexual lives. I also find it somewhat interesting so many feel the compulsion to make a huge deal out of it and make sure everyone else knows damned well what their sexual preferences are, and feel the need to announce it loud and long enough to get a rise out of a few who don't share their beliefs.

The gay community is the new Jehovah's Witnesses. "Knock, knock; I'm wondering if you'll take a few minutes to hear the wonderful story of how I'M GAY!"

Yeah, to level headed normal people it's not an issue. We know people are gay and that their homosexuality has little to do with anything besides who they choose to partner with.

But that's not reality for much of the world. Stop acting like because it's not an issue for you it isn't an issue for many.

 

[SonicHawk]

I want him drafted before 32. Nor because I wouldn't embrace him as a hawk I would just be super disappointed if one of our guys was against it and was public about it. Like if Russ was against it because of religious reasons I would find it hard to back him with the same Passion I do now....which borders on homoerotic

I don't think you have to worry about us drafting an undersized DE in the first round. Again.

And yes, it doesn't just border on homoerotic, it just is. When Wilson held up that trophy you know you wanted to hit that.

 

[SonicHawk]

Boy, if Sam goes undrafted, that means he will be the dominant story of the ENTIRE DRAFT. Make no mistake, he will be the dominant storyline of that draft until the moment he gets drafted. And he might not be drafted.

Tough to predict if a guy gets drafted when he's projected as a 4th rounder.

Watching video of him in an every down sense he's very very undersized. He'll never be a hand in the dirt kind of guy although he has a really good 'smell' for where the hole is & I think he has better hands than Irvin in college (Irvin is way faster off the ground).

Its tough to predict guys like this because he has to play a different position in the NFL then you have tape for.

 

[CornerHawk]

I want him drafted before 32. Nor because I wouldn't embrace him as a hawk I would just be super disappointed if one of our guys was against it and was public about it. Like if Russ was against it because of religious reasons I would find it hard to back him with the same Passion I do now....which borders on homoerotic

Russ already said it wouldn't be a problem and would treat an openly gay player with respect.

 

[SonicHawk]

The unfortunate thing for Sam is that as an openly gay player he has to perform better than a straight person of the same talent. Just like black QBs (RW being only the SECOND black QB to win a SB).

For anyone who suggests he keep it to himself, I completely disagree. Gay people are not treated equally in this world and breaking down stereotypes and proving that they are of equal worth is important. He might not be actively seeking a role as an activist, but he certainly will be.

 

[Sarlacc83]

Boy, if Sam goes undrafted, that means he will be the dominant story of the ENTIRE DRAFT. Make no mistake, he will be the dominant storyline of that draft until the moment he gets drafted. And he might not be drafted.

I think kearly is spot on with both his posts. If the guy gets cut or if he goes undrafted, it'll be because of his sexual orientation, not because of how he might have played on the field or because of his physical tangibles. The media will do everyone a disservice by not treating him as a regular player - in turn dumbing down the narrative about his real potential.

On the other hand, some NFL owner might persuade his GM to draft the guy out of sheer desire to have the media/nation's goodwill. Cynical or smart, I guess the individual can decide.

 

[SonicHawk]

Boy, if Sam goes undrafted, that means he will be the dominant story of the ENTIRE DRAFT. Make no mistake, he will be the dominant storyline of that draft until the moment he gets drafted. And he might not be drafted.

I think kearly is spot on with both his posts. If the guy gets cut or if he goes undrafted, it'll be because of his sexual orientation, not because of how he might have played on the field or because of his physical tangibles. The media will do everyone a disservice by not treating him as a regular player - in turn dumbing down the narrative about his real potential.

On the other hand, some NFL owner might persuade his GM to draft the guy out of sheer desire to have the media/nation's goodwill. Cynical or smart, I guess the individual can decide.

Unfortunately he's not a regular player. The reason this is a story is because it IS a story. How the NFL and how the world in general views gay people is something of interest and something that is for the first time on the forefront of media and debate. The movie Philadelphia was big because it was a great movie but also because it happened at a time in which the true view of AIDS and gays were of what the characters in the movie dealt with. This is real life and just because we want to view players and this sport as something outside the realm of reality it's just not possible.

Whether he gets drafted or plays in the NFL will be in large part of whether he has the ability to do it. If he doesn't get drafted some will ask a legitimate question whether his sexuality had something to do with it, doesn't mean it's the case, but it certainly would be a question.

Until homosexuality is accepted in mainstream culture fully his career will have much to do with that. Whether he's a terrible NFL player, an average player or a great.

I don't see any NFL owner drafting him because he's gay. The NFL doesn't need stories to get in the newspaper or talked about in the media. If Tebow isn't signed by Jacksonville for PR and ticket sales why would you think a gay player is signed by a team?

His sexuality can only be a deterrent and that's why it's an issue.