Tag: Michael Sam

The Rams Make A Statement With Michael Sam

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140209224957-michael-sam-mizzou-single-image-cutMichael Sam will probably not make it into the NFL Hall of Fame. He may not even play in a Pro Bowl or win a Super Bowl. There’s a slim chance he even wins a spot on the Rams roster this upcoming season. The one thing he will get, thanks to Jeff Fisher and Les Snead, is a chance to compete in the NFL for a job.

After 31 other NFL teams passed up Michael Sam, an openly gay man who came out publicly earlier this year at the end of the college football season, The Rams made him the 249th pick in the 2014 draft and made a statement. They weren’t going to let a man’s sexual preference keep him from being drafted by an NFL team.

Make no mistake. Sam is a helluva football player and an intriguing talent. He is an All American and was co-defensive player of the year in the SEC, one of the toughest conferences in NCAA Football. He made a lot of plays for Mizzou at defensive tackle and can really get after it on a football field.  He deserves a shot at stardom and got it thanks to Fisher showing a pair of brass balls. We live in a day and age where politically correct trumps common sense and unfortunate bias and prejudice is an everyday occurrence.

I wrote a few months ago about this kid after he came out and told the world he was a proud gay man, and the story was crisp for media manipulation. Everybody thought the kid would be drafted for the simple fact that he was the first to make this leap and would be taken without a wink at his actual ability. Fast forward to Saturday night and the kid was sitting around with a handful of picks left for teams to make. It would be foolish to say the 31 other NFL teams were passing on Sam because they weren’t sure about his NFL ability. They were afraid of joining a circus or welcoming in the freak show. They didn’t want to mess with their players locker room. Those are soft ways to think about athletic talent and tells you all you need to know about coaches and general managers. For the most part, they are afraid and gutless. Fisher and Snead may not have a winning football team yet, but they have real guts and like to make bold moves.

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Michael Sam’s Story is Only The Beginning

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Here is my take on the Michael Sam situation.  While some would call it old, I like to think Sam’s courage in coming out BEFORE the draft about his sexuality will help many others shake the boulder’s off their shoulders in the future.  Yes, his sexuality has nothing to do with his play but it will affect his draft position and has given him the chance to help many others.  Athletes, especially football players in a testosterone filled environment, can’t just say this and hope nothing changes.  Unfortunately, that is the world we live in.  Sam’s story never gets old.   If you didn’t see this on Arch City Sports last week, here it is.

Two weeks ago, Missouri football player Michael Sam came out on National Television and said he is gay.  Since then, every media pundit, sports fan and many other imageedit_9_2231058776million or so souls on this earth have weighed in.   Support has come out in droves and everybody has a take on this.  The majority of the comments that aren’t supportive are people wondering why this is news in the first place, which is a good question.

Michael Sam coming out and stating his sexual preference to the world is news because there are so many people out there who can’t accept or root for gay athletes and don’t even support gay marriage.   They make this a debate and one that will wage on until being gay or not isn’t headline news.  This is a story because of all the conservatives and red states who can’t wrap their head around a fact that a football player is gay and can still be great in the game of football.    Heterosexual athletes don’t need to come out during an ESPN interview.   In 2014, gay athletes have to make a statement about their sexual preference and that is one of the many things that isn’t yet right and balanced with this world.

I won’t overload you with football statistics or politics here.  I am not a huge college football fan and won’t bust out my mock draft here because that isn’t the point right now.   The point is that Sam did something heroic and something many athletes would be terrified to do. That needs to be appreciated and talked about.  Imagine telling your parents your secret and how hard that is and then imagine telling your friends and teammates.  After you have digested that scenario, imagine telling the entire world and every NFL franchise that you are gay and dealing with the mega storm that comes with it.   There is nothing easy about what Sam did and making light of the statement he made would be a bad move for any football fan or regular person just reading a story.   Look deeper.

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