Michael Sam Says He Is Gay; May Become First Publicly Gay Player in N.F.L.

Again, you are convicting people of a crime they can't even commit for months. You are making things up to fit the narrative you want.

The draft rankings at this point are volatile at best. That's the primary point here that you are trying very hard to ignore because it doesn't support your version of the story.

 

You need a control group. You need to look at all the other players ranked around the same place as him in recent drafts by the same publications.

 

Hell, there are guys with third-round grades right now who will go in the first round.

 

And some who will go undrafted.

 

I agree with you, but that's tough to do, especially since these are projections prior to the combine and Pro Days.

I applaud Sam, but the smarter move would have been to wait until a couple weeks before the draft to say anything publicly. Then, at least GMs wouldn't be able to see the combine as a sneak peek of what they're mini-camps and training camp will look like...

 

This is hopelessly naive.

 

Exactly.

The best thing that can happen is for Sam to weigh 275 at the combine and run a 4.5.

 

Ask Matt Barkley about pre-draft projections.

 

Well, I'm not suggesting it will be all warm and fuzzy for a gay player in a NFL locker room even if it's not known publicly, but it becomes a bigger issue when there are a hundred members of the media in there asking every player what it's like to play with a gay teammate.

 

What are these players being distracted from?

It's just bullshit coach speak that old media buy into. It has zero to do with how a team plays.

 

You said "people don't care until it becomes a distraction."

I think most of the players don't. (A few would.)

I also think a very large portion, perhaps a majority, of scouts and GMs are the old fuckers who are actively stopping progress because they don't like Teh Gay. And it isn't because of any "distraction," but because they just don't like it.

 

While I agree that the distraction thing is overblown once you get past his initial presser/training camp appearance wherever he plays, San Francisco might be the worst place for him to wind up.

He'll constantly be dealing with demands from every GLBT group in town that he be more "active in the community/more of a spokesman for the cause."