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Michael Sam, a College Football Standout, Says He Is Gay


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Michael Sam, a College Football Standout, Says He Is Gay

Michael Sam, a college football standout at the University of Missouri who is expected to be chosen in the early rounds of the National Football League draft, said Sunday that he is gay.
By coming out, Mr. Sam is positioned to be the first publicly gay player in the N.F.L. As a senior last season, Mr. Sam was a first-team All-American at defensive end, leading Missouri to a 12-2 record and a victory in the Cotton Bowl. He was the defensive player of the year in the prestigious Southeastern Conference.
In an interview on Sunday with The New York Times, he recalled how he told his teammates last August, I looked in their eyes, and they just starting shaking their heads like, finally, he came out.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/10/sports/michael-sam-college-football-star-says-he-is-gay-ahead-of-nfl-draft.html?emc=edit_na_20140209

I hope this creates positive change and understanding.
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Not sure if coming out before they're drafted is a shrewd tactical move though.

Yea, sucks that this is the topic but I agree. Happy for the guy being comfortable coming out, but I can't help but think about how this will likely negatively effect his pocketbook. Good luck to him.

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Yea, sucks that this is the topic but I agree. Happy for the guy being comfortable coming out, but I can't help but think about how this will likely negatively effect his pocketbook. Good luck to him.

 

 

+1

 

I hope it doesn't....

I can only root for this dude now....unless he goes to the stealers.....then screw that fag...

 

 

 

:ninja:

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According to this SI article, most teams already knew and had already lowered him on their boards.

I read that Sam wanted to control the truth and got out in front of it. Amazing that this is an issue.

From SI:

The news that former Missouri defensive end Michael Sam is gay holds significant social and cultural ramifications. But from a purely football perspective, his decision to come out prior to May's NFL draft will make his path to the league daunting, eight NFL executives and coaches told SI.com.

In blunt terms, they project a significant drop in Sam's draft stock, a publicity circus and an NFL locker room culture not prepared to deal with an openly gay player. Sam, the SEC Defensive Player of the Year, was projected as a mid- to late-round draft pick prior to his announcement.
While none of the executives overtly condemned Sam's decision, their opinions illuminated an NFL culture in which an openly gay player -- from the draft room to the locker room -- faces long odds and a lonely path.

The executives and coaches were granted anonymity by SI.com for their honesty and their answers were consistently unsparing.

"I don't think football is ready for it just yet," said an NFL player personnel assistant. "In the coming decade or two, it's going to be acceptable, but at this point in time it's still a man's man game. To call somebody a [gay slur] is still so commonplace. It'd chemically imbalance an NFL locker room and meeting room."

All the NFL personnel interviewed agreed that Sam's announcement will cause him to drop in the draft; he was projected between the third and seventh round prior to the announcement. The question will be how far he falls and if he gets chosen at all.

"I just know with this going on this is going to drop him down," said a veteran NFL scout. "There's no question about it. It's human nature. Do you want to be the team to quote-unquote 'break that barrier?'"

Before his announcement, Sam had already emerged as a divisive prospect. Some look at his SEC-best 11.5 sacks and 19 tackles for loss and see a high motor pass rusher who could have gone as high as the third round. Others see Sam, who is 6-foot-2 and 260 pounds, as undersized defensive end without a true position in the NFL. Of his 11.5 sacks, nine came in three games against what one scout called "garbage competition" -- Vanderbilt, Arkansas State and Florida. "His numbers are inflated," a scout said. "You've got to see through that."

One former NFL general manager described how Sam's future could play out in the draft room. He said when a team is getting in position to make a pick, there's typically a declaration in the draft room that they're nine slots from choosing and will pick from six different players, or five spots away and choose from three players.

If Sam is among that group of players, the potential distraction of his presence -- both in the media and the locker room -- could prevent him from being selected.

"That will break a tie against that player," he said. "Every time. Unless he's Superman. Why? Not that they're against gay people. It's more that some players are going to look at you upside down. Every Tom, Dick and Harry in the media is going to show up, from Good Housekeeping to the Today Show. A general manager is going to ask, 'Why are we going to do that to ourselves?'"
The former general manager said that it would take an NFL franchise with a strong owner, savvy general manager and veteran coach to make it work. He rattled off franchises like Pittsburgh, Green Bay, San Francisco, Baltimore and Indianapolis as destinations where that could happen. He said that a team with a rookie head coach would not be an ideal destination.

Sam's announcement did not come as a surprise to most NFL teams. Sam's sexual orientation was considered an open secret in his college town of Columbia, Mo., and the assistant personnel man said he believed "90-percent of teams" had already known about that Sam was gay and had dropped him on their draft boards. He estimated that of the 32 NFL franchises, only two or three didn't know prior the news. He projected that it will impact Sam's draft status "quite a bit."

"You're going to have to have one confident general manager or head coach that is certainly entrenched in his position and established to draft a player like that," the assistant personnel director said. "It's one thing to have Chris Kluwe or Brendon Ayanbadejo, advocates for gay rights, on your team. It's another to have a current confirmed player."

Multiple NFL executives questioned the decision to come out now, as Sam will be the biggest story in football between now and the NFL Draft on May 8. The NFL combine from Feb. 22-25 will be a four-day referendum on Sam's professional future. And his place in the NFL Draft will be endlessly debated between now and May.

An NFL assistant coach called Sam's decision "not a smart move," as he said it "legitimately affects your potential earnings." It wasn't lost on the NFL executives that former NBA player Jason Collins, who came out last April in a Sports Illustrated story, hasn't been signed by an NBA team this year.

"You shouldn't have to live your life in secrecy," the assistant coach said, "but do you really want to be the top of the conversation for everything without ever having played a down in this league?"

The assistant coach said that the decision to draft Sam will ultimately rest on the desire of a franchise to risk disrupting the dynamic of the locker room.

"There are guys in locker rooms that maturity-wise cannot handle it or deal with the thought of that," the assistant coach said. "There's nothing more sensitive than the heartbeat of the locker room. If you knowingly bring someone in there with that sexual orientation, how are the other guys going to deal with it? It's going to be a big distraction. That's the reality. It shouldn't be, but it will be."


Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20140209/michael-sam-draft-stock/#ixzz2sscNFUmC
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That article pisses me off a bit. This is 2014. Nobody cares where you like to put your dick unless it's in animals or underage children. If football is a "man's man" game, then grow the fuck up and deal with your phobia of the gays.

 

 

you are thinking a little to logical for this article....

People just aren't going to think like you/us.....

 

Gay is bad...mkay

 

 

and I am not talking about anyone on this site at all...just America in general.

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I don't get how this lowers his stock. Has anyone ever been in a  locker room before? The dude would come in, light dudes up and no one would care after 2 weeks. Also, a media circus for a backup DE/LB gets more attention for your team and puts more butts in seats and gets more people watching your team. A whole bunch of people who didn't watch or care before might suddenly start caring. That's a good thing.

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I don't get how this lowers his stock. Has anyone ever been in a  locker room before? The dude would come in, light dudes up and no one would care after 2 weeks. Also, a media circus for a backup DE/LB gets more attention for your team and puts more butts in seats and gets more people watching your team. A whole bunch of people who didn't watch or care before might suddenly start caring. That's a good thing.

I wish I could agree with you but can't.  An NFL locker room bares little semblance to the rest of society.  The culture is more of that of the medieval Vikings than anything else. I doubt most GMs or players would want the distraction even if the guy is a good player.

 

Its sad that is the case but it is reality.  Maybe the 49ers would take him being in San Francisco and all.  Not ment to be a joke, the city has a large gay population. 

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Truth be told, I find this whole, "I'm Gay",  thing here lately overplayed and

quite boring.  Personally, I'm tired of all of this.   Why does someones sexual

preference have a forum anyway?  Every week someone is coming out gay and

then everyone says: "You go girl".  Gay this, gay that, every week.   

Heaver forbid someone not be on board with the Gay thing.  I don't care one  

bit what someone does in the bedroom.  Media whores this to no end and

it's really stale.

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Truth be told, I find this whole, "I'm Gay",  thing here lately overplayed and

quite boring.  Personally, I'm tired of all of this.   Why does someones sexual

preference have a forum anyway?  Every week someone is coming out gay and

then everyone says: "You go girl".  Gay this, gay that, every week.   

Heaver forbid someone not be on board with the Gay thing.  I don't care one  

bit what someone does in the bedroom.  Media whores this to no end and

it's really stale.

 

 

some people, like Michael Sam, do it so that they can control the story and have it happen on their own terms.

 

In this case, it sounds like many NFL scouts had already found out and Sam knew it would come out.  There were already a lot of rumors swirling online.  So he came out and announced it himself rather than say his friends and family finding out in the media.  

 

It also frankly helps his draft stock if teams did know.  If the public didn't know, teams could drop him on their draft boards and the public wouldn't have known the real reason why.  Now, teams would be hesitant to take the media backlash if they choose to pass over him multiple times when his on-the-field play would dictate otherwise.

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The folks that still care are in a rapidly shrinking minority.

A few days after Robbie Rogers (MLS player) came out, my kids and I happened to be at a Carolina Railhawks game against the Rogers' L.A. Galaxy. He checked in at halftime. There were a couple fans in our section that hollered insults. The kids asked me what was going on and I told them Robbie Rogers was the first openly gay player, they couldn't have been LESS impressed. On the ride home, we talked about it and they refused to believe that no one else had come out before Rogers.
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I don't get how this lowers his stock. Has anyone ever been in a  locker room before? The dude would come in, light dudes up and no one would care after 2 weeks. Also, a media circus for a backup DE/LB gets more attention for your team and puts more butts in seats and gets more people watching your team. A whole bunch of people who didn't watch or care before might suddenly start caring. That's a good thing.

 

LOL....have YOU ever been in a locker room before?   All societal norms, mores etc... don't apply there.   None of those considerations are made by the players....none.   All they see when they see him is a gay dude.   A majority I should say, not all players but it dominates the lockerroom. 

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LOL....have YOU ever been in a locker room before?   All societal norms, mores etc... don't apply there.   None of those considerations are made by the players....none.   All they see when they see him is a gay dude.   A majority I should say, not all players but it dominates the lockerroom. 

Just look at the Incognito Martin brew ha ha.  What is laughable is people seem to think Incognito is far from the norm.  He isn't.   

 

Very similar to what goes on during combat operations.  The mindset completely changes and societal norms go completely out the window.  What they do in front of the camera is ACTING.

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LOL....have YOU ever been in a locker room before?   All societal norms, mores etc... don't apply there.   None of those considerations are made by the players....none.   All they see when they see him is a gay dude.   A majority I should say, not all players but it dominates the lockerroom. 

 

 

That may be true..

I really don't know how this will go...  It's obviously more accepted in society, also more and more players are going to be coming out in the future. It may not be totally accepted now, but I am not sure if they will totally alienate him.

 

I know it's a totally different scenario...but look at the Manti Te'o thing..everybody just assumed that whoever drafted him would have a shit storm on their hands... did we ever hear a word about it?

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That may be true..

I really don't know how this will go...  It's obviously more accepted in society, also more and more players are going to be coming out in the future. It may not be totally accepted now, but I am not sure if they will totally alienate him.

 

I know it's a totally different scenario...but look at the Manti Te'o thing..everybody just assumed that whoever drafted him would have a shit storm on their hands... did we ever hear a word about it?

 

The other issue for the team is if this dude gets an issue based backing like Tebow had.  So now everything he does is a circus even if the team itself has no internal issues.  Coaches don't play him - are they homophobes or does the dude suck?  I can see a team not being thrilled with this prospect.

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