NFL prospect Michael Sam comes out as gay

[PANDFAN]

wow!!!!!

wow!!!!!

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/12/s...html?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=tw-nytimes&_r=0

 

[wizards8507]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/12/s...html?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=tw-nytimes&_r=0

Sam Sr. loves his son, and he said he hoped his son made it to the N.F.L. “As a black man, we have so many hurdles to cross,” he said. “This is just one he has to cross.”

Oooh double-victim. That's the media-frenzy jackpot.

 

[PANDFAN]

Last Tuesday, Michael Sam Sr. was at a Denny’s near his home outside Dallas to celebrate his birthday when his son sent him a text message.

Dad, I’m gay, he wrote.

The party stopped cold. “I couldn’t eat no more, so I went to Applebee’s to have drinks,” Sam Sr. said. “I don’t want my grandkids raised in that kind of environment.

“I’m old-school,” he added. “I’m a man and a woman type of guy.” As evidence, he pointed out that he had taken an older son to Mexico to lose his virginity.

he expressed discomfort at the very idea of a gay N.F.L. player, even if the player was his son. He grumbled that Deacon Jones, the Hall of Fame defensive end renowned for his toughness, “is turning over in his grave.”

Life had hardly been kind to him or his family. Michael Sr. and his mother, JoAnn Sam, were separated after having eight children. He went to North Texas to work as a trucker. She tried to keep what was left of her family together.


A sister drowned when she was 2, before Michael was born, when another child accidentally knocked her off a fishing pier. Another brother, Russell, was 15 when he was shot and killed trying to break into a home, an incident his father said was part of a gang initiation. Another brother, Julian, has not been heard from since he left for work one day in 1998; his family believes he is dead. Two others are in jail.

THIS JUST FLOORS ME

But it was Sam’s desire to play football that caused a rift with his mother — she believed that sports distracted from the mission of service. Sam simply saw football as salvation.

 

[Jebediah Springfield]

Oooh double-victim. That's the media-frenzy jackpot.

Just wait til he sees his taxes.

The ultimate triple victim

He might go on TV shows and talk about the oppression of gays, blacks and liberty-minded individuals

 

[Emcee77]

Wow, what a great piece. I'll definitely be pulling for Sam to catch on in the NFL. People who come from nothing and have the courage to define themselves and the talent to better themselves ... it's the American dream.

 

[GoIrish41]

He'll be an asset IF he's a good player, not merely because he's brave enough to announce that he's gay.

He was the SEC defensive player of the year. I think he is probably going to be pretty good.

 

[PLACforever]

Just clicked on this for the first time. Anybody get banned yet?

 

[DillonHall]

He was the SEC defensive player of the year. I think he is probably going to be pretty good.

Come on dude, you know that's not the point you were making.

 

[GoIrish41]

Come on dude, you know that's not the point you were making.

I think it is a given that he is good. The character and courage are bonuses. That was the point.

 

[DillonHall]

I think it is a given that he is good. The character and courage are bonuses. That was the point.

Absolutely not a given that he's that good. Plus, how many first round draft picks have been a bust?

 

[GoIrish41]

Absolutely not a given that he's that good. Plus, how many first round draft picks have been a bust?

I've seen him play. He is pretty darn good. Nobody is a sure thing but i think he is going to be a good one.

 

[irishff1014]

I was reading some articles about this whole deal and i think EVERYONE is making this into way more then it should.

Who cares if he is Gay? We are talking about playing football not a massage place. From what little bit of video i have watched he is a good player. I personally don't think he is top 20 however, that doesn't matter. We don't make a big deal about some of those players that have multiple kids with multiple women. Or we don't question these multiple player that go through multiple wives. I understand that until this week with he combine stuff was scheduled it was very slow nfl news wise. But this shouldn't be anything to factor. Is him being gay going to effect his tackling? NO Is him being gay going to effect him reading the offense? NO I could you multiple more examples.

With that said I have to believe that he wanted this attention. I say this for multiple reason. 1. He is probably going to be a first round pick and he will be a bigger name then some of the others that have come out of the closet. 2. I am going to be honest i had never paid attention to the name until this came out so he needed to get his name out more. 3. He thinks this can help himself by being honest now and not have to deal with this during interviews why preparing for the draft. It's a "risk" in some peoples opinions because he could be a problem with media and cause problems in the locker room. But with the standards today the media will pressure someone to take him earlier then they should to try and make their selves look good.

I don't think he is a risk. He puts his pants on just like everyone else one pant leg at a time. For his sake i hope he does well and tells the media i told you all that to clear the air now please leave him the hell alone and let me play football. This could make him become a good leader because he doesn't judge anyone else.

 

[gkIrish]

Michael Sam doing a reality show and NFL people aren't happy.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-s...ary-on-oprah-winfrey-s-network-204836308.html

 

[IrishLax]

Michael Sam doing a reality show and NFL people aren't happy.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-s...ary-on-oprah-winfrey-s-network-204836308.html

Yeah, honestly, he's toeing a dangerous line. NFL teams would have a problem with ANY rookie having their own reality show and not putting 100% focus on football. He keeps saying he "just wants to be a football player" but this is a step towards him clearly wanting to be more than that.

Whenever you ask for attention and celebrity through a reality show, it opens you up as a public figure in a way that isn't very congruent with what he said in his press conference.

 

[gkIrish]

Yeah, honestly, he's toeing a dangerous line. NFL teams would have a problem with ANY rookie having their own reality show and not putting 100% focus on football. He keeps saying he "just wants to be a football player" but this is a step towards him clearly wanting to be more than that.

Yeah that's what is bothering me. He is saying one thing but acting in a completely opposite manner. The Rams are in a tough spot now. If they want to cut him they are going to get ripped by the media.

 

[AdmiralBackhand]

The show is called three and out?

 

[IrishLax]

Michael Sam Is Doing A Reality Show, And That Sucks

This Drew Magary article really hits the nail on the head. The issue is with how fake and contrived reality shows inherently are... and the implicit message Sam sends by signing up for one.

For lots of reasons, I hope this ends better than I'm expecting it to.

 

[STLDomer]

Les Snead (Rams GM) two days ago: "Whatever is out of the realm of what a seventh-round pick does we made it clear: Don’t do it."

Welp....

 

[IrishLax]

Les Snead (Rams GM) two days ago: "Whatever is out of the realm of what a seventh-round pick does we made it clear: Don’t do it."

Welp....

Some other quotes from his presser (some paraphrased):

Q: There's a report that after watching you get drafted a 15 year old found the courage to come out to his family, and the family thanked you for being a role model. How do you feel about that?
A: I'm honored that I helped someone to be comfortable with who they are. But right now I'm just focused on my dream [of playing in the NFL].

Q: How was your reception by the team?
A: They came to me and said welcome to the family and let's get to work and that's what we're going to do.

Q: How have you dealt with stuff in the past...
A: (scoffs at question saying it hasn't been a big deal before) thank God for YOU guys *gestures at media* making this all a big deal (said sarcastically, implying he doesn't want it to be a big deal).

And a bunch of other stuff he's said before about it not being a big deal, wasn't a big deal at Mizzou, stop making it a big deal... all public quotes to this point have been heading in the direction of "let me be a football player." Then he goes and signs up for a reality TV show with Oprah?

 

[tko]

The show is called three and out?

The muddy helmet.

 

[johnnycando]

The muddy helmet.

Omg!

Lmao!

Reps.

The sequel: "The Blind Backside."

 

[IrishJayhawk]

*Mediocre gay joke*

 

[irishog77]

The show is called three and out?

The muddy helmet.

Omg!

Lmao!

Reps.

The sequel: "The Blind Backside."

Tight End U

 

[greyhammer90]

*Mediocre gay joke*

Way to plug the hole before we got carried away...

 

[ResLife Hero]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Welcome to Montreal Michael Sam!

DETAILS -> <a href="http://t.co/SSa9jTb864">http://t.co/SSa9jTb864</a>

<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IsItJuneYet?src=hash">#IsItJuneYet</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Alouettes?src=hash">#Alouettes</a> <a href="http://t.co/mc3GCuUiQV">pic.twitter.com/mc3GCuUiQV</a></p>— Montreal Alouettes (@MTLAlouettes) <a href="https://twitter.com/MTLAlouettes/status/601758859691167744">May 22, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[kmoose]

The show is called three and out?

Queer Eye for the Goal Line.

 

[Black Irish]

Some other quotes from his presser (some paraphrased):

Q: There's a report that after watching you get drafted a 15 year old found the courage to come out to his family, and the family thanked you for being a role model. How do you feel about that?
A: I'm honored that I helped someone to be comfortable with who they are. But right now I'm just focused on my dream [of playing in the NFL].

Q: How was your reception by the team?
A: They came to me and said welcome to the family and let's get to work and that's what we're going to do.

Q: How have you dealt with stuff in the past...
A: (scoffs at question saying it hasn't been a big deal before) thank God for YOU guys *gestures at media* making this all a big deal (said sarcastically, implying he doesn't want it to be a big deal).

And a bunch of other stuff he's said before about it not being a big deal, wasn't a big deal at Mizzou, stop making it a big deal... all public quotes to this point have been heading in the direction of "let me be a football player." Then he goes and signs up for a reality TV show with Oprah?

This is what bothers me about Sam. If he's gay, fine, whatever, live your life. But his painfully transparent "Oh, I'm so not making a big deal of this" pose is just groan-inducing. How many other seventh round picks are getting this level of attention? And he conveniently comes out just before declaring for the draft? Hmmm, nothing strategically calculated about that, is there? It just looks a little too much like Sam is cynically cashing in on his sexual preference. Funny how so many people are turning a blind eye to this because they are busy swooning over what a brave trailblazer he is.

 

[connor_in]

Rams Made Deal With NFL To Draft Michael Sam To Not Film ‘Hard Knocks’ « CBS New York

Rams head coach Jeff Fisher called the report “absolutely absurd.”

“That in itself is absolutely absurd, it’s 100 percent incorrect,” Fisher told ESPN’s “Mike and Mike” on Thursday. “I was really taken aback by those comments. It’s insulting, from my standpoint, as it relates to Michael. We had three seventh-round picks. When we drafted Michael he was the best player on the board. Who in their right mind would think that you give up a draft choice to avoid doing something like that?”

He continued, “It’s really unfair to Michael. Michael worked so hard. It’s really not fair to Michael because of all the hard work he put in.”

The Rams, who recently moved to Los Angeles, will be the featured team on “Hard Knocks” this year.

Sam, fhe former University of Missouri defensive end, was cut by the Rams before the beginning of the 2014 regular season. He was then signed to the Dallas Cowboys practice squad, where he only lasted seven weeks.