http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/10429030/michael-sam-missouri-tigers-says-gay
This is pretty fuckin' huge.
This is pretty fuckin' huge.
[NFL] Michael Sam, SEC co-defensive player of the year and All American, comes out as gay before NFL Draft
- Thread starter Charlie Don't Surf
- Start date
I admire his bravery and support his decision whole heartedly. What a great day when a player for the NFL feels confident enough to admit who they are. Now lets see others who stop being afraid and band together to prevent the homophobes from frightening and bullying others who feel they must hide who they are for fear of recrimination.
I am mostly saddened that this is still considered something that takes bravery and confidence. Outing yourself as gay should be as eventful as outing yourself as being blond.
I too long for the days when we can finally be open about our hatred of blonds.
...oh, that's not what you meant, is it?
I originally wrote "ginger" and thought better of it.
On a more on-topic note, unfortunately, this conversation is already happening. Note, the NPR piece is a take-down piece of an SI article where a bunch of anonymous NFL officials pretty much say straight out that being gay will hurt Sam's chances a lot.
NPR: Defining Masculinity Down The Man's Man Game
NPR: Defining Masculinity Down The Man's Man Game
yeah, this is kinda offensive
He's just referring to the 49ers recent success with Mizzou defensive linemen such as Aldon and Justin Smith.
Seriously though, I think it also would be a good fit because after the Chris Culliver incident, the team immediately chastised him.
Does it make you feel better that I don't care about this?
To who exactly? San Fransico for being known as an open and accepting city?
Implying San Francisco is the only homosexual-accepting city in the country. I am loathe to defend Texas, but Houston is one of the only cities (maybe THE only?) with a homosexual mayor.
Dave
Staff member
I find it telling that he's apparently been out to his college teammates for some time now...and none of them (that I know of) gave a shit. Also, it's rumored that the NFL has known for some time and has not been that much of a secret.
Frankly, I worry more about the idiot fans than I do the NFL or its players.
Frankly, I worry more about the idiot fans than I do the NFL or its players.
It's not the fans so much, but the idiot coaching assistants who aren't comfortable with their sexuality I think will cause problems. Time will tell.
Dave
Staff member
Really? You don't think the opposing fans won't heap homophobic abuse, especially when his team plays away games? I'd hate to play in Philly as an openly gay man.
I dunno. There's dealing with drunk asshole fans of the other team and then there is daily hell from a moron who thinks he's top shit despite not being the head coach. Four hours vs every day of the week.... yeah, I think one will be tougher than the other. Like I said, we'll see.
Going by that SI article, I'm actually a lot more worried about the coaching assistants who are busy having the vapors about what a gay player might do to "the locker room". It's full on "I'm not homophobic, but I'm worried about how it will affect the team dynamic" horseshit over there. It's that special kind of "concern" homophobia, and it could definitely affect his employment chances.
100% agreed. Which is why I'm much more worried about those people than asshole fans or the vast majority of players.
No. I don't want him here. We've got enough of those kinds of people around here already.
And by that I mean defensive ends. We need a receiver, dammit!
I'm not so sure about who'll be worse. In football (the proper kind....oh, fine, "soccer" ), there are quite few openly gay players, and they pretty much all agree that dealing with trainers/assistent trainers/etc can be a challenge (but the coach/trainer/whatever has to be very careful not to be seen as homophobic - it's illegal in most sufficiently advanced countries after all - they're under a lot of scrutiny too), but the fans are far and away worse. Much like the first black/colored players, the abuse, especially in less open-minded regions/countries (Italy for example...Good Lord are they behind on racism and such) can get extremely aggressive and disturbing. Especially when the mental game starts they can be at least as much of a problem. Regular heckling is one thing - death threats, rape threats (because of course a "real man" raping you will turn you straight 
, and it's a straight thing to threaten to rape a guy!), assault off the field,.... Oh, and openly anti-gay referees, of course.
), there are quite few openly gay players, and they pretty much all agree that dealing with trainers/assistent trainers/etc can be a challenge (but the coach/trainer/whatever has to be very careful not to be seen as homophobic - it's illegal in most sufficiently advanced countries after all - they're under a lot of scrutiny too), but the fans are far and away worse. Much like the first black/colored players, the abuse, especially in less open-minded regions/countries (Italy for example...Good Lord are they behind on racism and such) can get extremely aggressive and disturbing. Especially when the mental game starts they can be at least as much of a problem. Regular heckling is one thing - death threats, rape threats (because of course a "real man" raping you will turn you straight , and it's a straight thing to threaten to rape a guy!), assault off the field,.... Oh, and openly anti-gay referees, of course.
The question was raised by some here in Wisconsin whether or not the Packers should draft him, if available.
The way our defense was playing last year, I'd say, "I don't care if he's a one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater. If he can make stops on the d-line and be a shutdown player, DRAFT him."
The way our defense was playing last year, I'd say, "I don't care if he's a one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater. If he can make stops on the d-line and be a shutdown player, DRAFT him."
One of the great things about sports, is that solid play and winning tends to negate petty little differences like ethnicity, race, and sexual preferences.
...I'm sorry, were you serious? Because if so....
Oh sure, blame it on the Europeans; I'm sure we're oh so much worse than Americans as regards to bigotry in sports (it's also silly to generalize - Italy is completely different than France, for example, in this regard). I'm just going to ignore that ad hominem as it serves no purpose whatsoever.
Sure, people of color are accepted in some sports. Claiming that "just being good at what you do" is enough to break down entry barriers is beyond ridiculous. The fact that this is the first ever man to come out as gay before being drafted or while in the NFL alone should tell you something. People of color have had to fight their way into being accepted tooth and nail. Tiger Woods was the first ever black person to break through to the top of golfing. The number of black top tennis players is still incredibly slim (the Venus sisters notwithstanding). There are plenty of other sports where people of color are still completely absent - most notably most of the more "elite" sports and more "local" sports - polo, golf, tennis, darts, F1, swimming all equastrian sports, on one hand; darts, petanque, cyclocross, track racing, cycling, etc on the other other.
And that's looking at black people. They're more accepted in the "poorer" sports and the "more American" sports because, for A, they don't need much in the way of facilities and are more open to the poor (duh); for the other because quite literally every major American sports has "bigger is better" writen all over it (Football, hockey, basketball - less true for baseball), and specific ethnicities tend to be heavier/bigger built.
Anyway - you tell me how accepting your sports are, based just on performance...How many arabs are currently at the top in any of those sports? Oh, right, sorry, those ethnicities are still A-OK to discriminate against, because they're the current scape goats.