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

Mosley had a bunch of tackles (108), but didn't have a great year otherwise. No interceptions, no sacks, only one forced fumble.

 

Exactly what I was thinking. This is an old fuck who's speaking for his entire team full of guys 40 years younger than he is. My honest opinion is that most GMs don't have a fucking clue what their players think about anything. Guy is a fucking idiot.

 

So, is this the strategy? We'll start downgrading our assessment of his skills so we can cIaim we passed on him for legit reasons? I'd love to hear that GM's take on Sam's abilities before this announcement, something tells me it wouldn't have been nearly as harsh.

And I'm not sure how the SEC Defensive Player of the Year, an award he won over mega-hyped guys like Jadeveon Clowney, is "not a very good football player." How exactly do you win that award without being good at football?

The NFL will have an embarrassing pile of egg on its face if this kid gets snubbed in the draft. This isn't like the Jason Collins situation where him going unsigned was entirely justified by his crappy play in his final years. The SEC Defensive Player of the Year is supposed to get drafted (when's the last time one wasn't?), and drafted highly. There will be no hiding that snub.

 

No doubt he'll be asked so it will be interesting to see what former Mizzou teammate and current Def ROY Sheldon Richardson has to say. He does not seem to be someone
who's afraid to speak his mind.

As far as publicity it's hard to think of any NFL team that really requires it to be
successful. It's the NFL and the deck is already stacked because of tv money.

You could make a case that Jacksonville could use the publicity but if they want a circus they would be better off signing Tebow.

If a team takes Sam it will be because of a valid football need and not to be part of
a social engineering event.

A lot of people said that Teo would be a circus and that he would never make it. A lot different circumstance but all in all he did ok this year.

 

I don't think the players care nearly as much as people are saying, but it only takes one out of 53 to turn this into something that no team will be willing to deal with for a mid-round pick.

 

Which one of them wasn't given a chance to play?

 

You can be a great college player and not be a very good pro prospect. It happens every year.

 

Yeah, nobody has him ranked as the top DE prospect even on his own team.

But I don't know anyone who saw him going below the 5th. If he goes undrafted, the league will not look good.

 

You have some very high draft choices among that group.

And, while they may not have all been great pro prospects, I'm not sure anyone would say they weren't good players. Someone might point out their lack of size, or arm strength, or passing ability, but you wouldn't just label them not very good. You'd explain why their talents didn't lend themselves to the pro game.

The Boston Red Sox admire the way this guy is getting trashed.

 

And if he's not given a chance to play, it'll be a fucking joke. But my guess is M.C. was just trying to reign in what was starting to sound like "He's SEC D POY, he must be a great NFL prospect!" talk.

 

The Te'o situation is different for several reasons. He was always considered a first or second-round pick. Hell, there were places where at one point, he was rated as a top 10 pick.

Also, even as much publicity as the Te'o deal got, it's nothing compared to what will happen to Sam if he winds up on a team.

Te'o is also a situation where he went to an ideal place. A team that is covered less than almost any other team in the NFL. It would have been a lot different for him than if he had gone to the Jets.

I'm not sure how it is now, but when I was covering the NFL, the Chargers had the smallest media contingent in the NFL.

 

I don't think it will come to that (undrafted) though. There are so many teams desperate for pass rushers, I just can't see the entire league taking a pass on a mid-round talent with the potential to be pretty good. If you are good, it has and always will trump all.