So, a gay football player came out of the closet today.
From ESPN: Michael Sam, an All-American defensive lineman from Missouri and the Associated Press' SEC Defensive Player of the Year, said that he is gay in an interview with ESPN's "Outside the Lines" on Sunday.
Sam stated publicly what his teammates and coaches at Mizzou have known since August: "I am an openly, proud gay man."
Sam is eligible for the NFL draft in May. Assuming that he is drafted, Sam could become the first openly gay player in the history of the NFL.
"I understand how big this is," he said. "It's a big deal. No one has done this before. And it's kind of a nervous process, but I know what I want to be ... I want to be a football player in the NFL." http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/10429030/michael-sam-missouri-tigers-says-gay
For me, it's not that big of deal. I'd rather have him recognized for this:
It was an upbringing, he said, filled with adversity.
"I endured so much in my past: seeing my older brother killed from a gunshot wound, not knowing that my oldest sister died when she was a baby and I never got the chance to meet her. My second oldest brother went missing in 1998, and me and my little sister were the last ones to see him ... my other two brothers have been in and out of jail since 8th grade, currently both in jail.
For overcoming these obstacles, he has done quite well, he made it to college, graduated and is a very successful football player.
Will a team draft him? I'm sure he will go in the 3-4th round because he is a smart, strong and fast and comes from a winning program, so he knows how to win.
But any team that takes him will have to deal with the liberal media, paparazzi, and the liberal/gay groups that will follow him around everywhere he goes. He will make Tim Tebow's media and conservative group following look small in comparison.
Any team that takes will have to hire someone to micromanage his life. They will have to schedule his interviews and then keep other press away. He won't have much of a social life because of the paparazzi following him, taking pictures. And the liberal/gay groups will demand that he talk to them in every city he goes to and if doesn't, they will call him an Uncle Tom/sell out. Just like what many liberals say about conservative/GOP people who are gay.
And what happens if a team says he is too small to play defensive end and cuts him? He is only 6'1 and 260 pounds, very small for a defensive end. The team will be accused of cutting him because he is gay.
And on the field, will referees be afraid to penalize him because they don't want to be anti-gay? If he is hit hard, will the opposing player be accused of singling him out because he is gay?
And then there are the egos. Will a team owner like Jerry Jones of the Cowboys draft him, even though Sam will overshadow him when it comes to media?
Will players treat him like other rookies, like pulling pranks on him or making him doing extra work or will they shy away from that strong tradition because they don't want to be accused of being insensitive, like what happened with the Miami Dolphins and Richie Incognito?
I hope Sam has a nice long career as an NFL player, though, because of his size, it will be a longshot. But what will drag him down more than anything are the liberals in the media and the liberal gay groups.
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