Who cares?! Can he play in the NFL at a high level? If not, next man up. I can totally see some teams afraid to draft this guy because if they cut him, they are going to be branded homophobes by the media circus.
yeah, that is a potential negative aspect of drafting him, but it is so not the main reason why a team would be afraid to draft him. That main reason being, of course, that they are homophobes and openly gay guys don't blend well with dressing rooms full of homophobes. Or even one with 3-4 homophobes in it.
It'll be a media circus regardless he's cut or not. That's the problem. I don't think a dysfunctional or losing team can afford to draft him; a losing team by its nature doesn't have the leaders necessary on the roster to keep their teammates focused on what's important and ignore the noise. However a good team with a solid leadership could find itself in a unique position. He's going to have a built-in fanbase that will root for him regardless of where he goes. If he turns out to be a really good player on top of that, he could become one of the most marketable players in the league. It'll be a testing process to get there, though. Read an article that suggested Seattle, and it doesn't sound like a bad idea to me.
Media Circus + Miami Dolphins-type locker room= undraftable Michael Sam. He has to fit in with the right team in order for him to work well as well as a tolerant fanbase. Teams like Seattle, San Diego, Denver, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Philly, would work for this guy.
DeMaurice Smith, STFU http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/1...named-general-managers-downgraded-michael-sam Apparently Sam had a horrible Senior Bowl week because he is transitioning from DE to LB, because he is not big enough for a typical end rusher. And we wonder why teams are going to pass on this guy. Media Circus. Tim Tebow media circus and his over-religiosity killed his NFL career along with his waning talent. The point the teams get sick of this shit because they are tired of spending resources on something that has nothing to do with winning on Sundays. Let's just hope for the sake of the NFL that Sam is good because we won't hear the end of the "Is the NFL homophobic" bullshit for the next 20 years.
It's been interesting watching the media response with its overwhelming outpouring of support for Sam. They're making him sound like Jackie Robinson, Roberto Clemente and Neil Armstrong all rolled up in drag (that was a joke people). No journalist, even if they feel strongly that homosexuality is immoral, is going to speak out against Sam for fear of being on the wrong side of history. Whether you like it or not homosexuality inches closer and closer to full acceptance with every episode of Modern Family, every use of the word "gay" on ESPN and every other media outlet which is made up of homosexuals in an amount disproportionate to their actual numbers in the general populace. I say that to say this : while it definitely took balls for Sam to come out the way he did, he had the good fortune to do so at a time where LGBT interests control so much of what makes it out in the media. Imagine Liberace coming out publicly in his heyday! Ultimately results are all that really matter in the NFL, a business just like any other. I believe results are what he will ultimately be judged on. What is abundantly clear in all this, however, is that journalists now believe that any public indication by anyone that their views on homosexuality are consistent with those espoused by the Bible will result in immediate vilification. When we lose the ability to reasonably disagree we come closer to giving away our freedom.
When your disagreement involves citing the tenets of your religion as justification for the restriction of other people's freedom, it is not "reasonable."
I've seen some film on him now. He isn't going to be a 3-4 OLB; might be able to be an oversized 2 down ILB if the other guy is the one that drops; but his own drops are really stiff and tentative. Basically he's an undersized 4-3 DE, probably never be an every down guy. Nickel package edge rusher. He'll have to be a special teams stalwart to make it; but he seems to have the quickness and discipline to do that, and the long arms won't hurt either. Seattle would be a terrific place for him, given that Avril probably won't re-sign. Atlanta uses enough hybrid third down sets and needs an edge rusher badly enough that that might work too, but they really should be going after Avril themselves...
I'm with you there, I mean believing someone is going to "Hell" for being gay and preventing two homosexual people from entering into a marital contract because of that belief are two different things. However, I guess I don't buy it that everyone is so supportive and that people who might otherwise say something not so supportive because of their personal beliefs aren't doing so for fear of being demonized. I don't remember where I heard or read it but I recall some "expert" saying that above race and some other more prominent "barriers", the single most impactful trait about a man that directly effects his salary, career advancement, mating and dating prospects, etc., is height. Short guys are passed up more often than not for promotions, get paid less and get laid less. And don't even mention how height is generally a preclusion for short men to sports like basketball or football. Just look at all the fuss being made about Manziel, that "great little player" as Elway called him. Don't think you'll ever hear Sam referred to as that "gay player".