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

[Songbird]

Pete Carroll would take him.

 

[Dick Whitman]

You can sugarcoat it if you want, but people anonymously predicting he won't be accepted, won't be drafted, will hurt his career, will hurt the locker room's "chemical balance" are all disparaging Sam's decision to come out. It just is.

No, it's not, and you would be irresponsibly inaccurate to write that. People make a lot of good decisions that have consequences. Pointing out the consequences in no way disparages the decision. By not robbing a jewelry store this morning, I have to continue to live on my salary.

 

[Point of Order]

You can sugarcoat it if you want, but people anonymously predicting he won't be accepted, won't be drafted, will hurt his career, will hurt the locker room's "chemical balance" are all disparaging Sam's decision to come out. It just is.

I'm sure you could say the same thing about multiple players who declared for the draft rather than return to school.

Definitely. That's my whole point. If an anonymous NFL guy says so-and-so declaring for the draft rather than return to school is a bad career move, then it is fair to say they are disparaging the decision.

An anonymous NFL guy saying Sam coming out rather than staying in the closet is disparaging his decision. That's why I worded my comment as I did. I didn't say they were disparaging him. That would be unfair. Saying they are disparaging his decision is just factual.

 

[Guy_Incognito]

I think that's probably true everywhere; message boards included.

Really? You don't think people have made good points here? That's surprising. I think it's been great conversation, probably as good of conversation as is going on anywhere on the Internet on this topic.

I don't regret sitting it out.

 

[Point of Order]

Public shaming of ignorance is something we need more, not less of, in this country.

Nope,what we need is tolerance for all points of view to have an honest discussion
then anonymous quotes won't be needed.

Shaming and tolerance aren't mutually exclusive.

 

[Smallpotatoes]

Public shaming of ignorance is something we need more, not less of, in this country.

Nope,what we need is tolerance for all points of view to have an honest discussion
then anonymous quotes won't be needed.

More tolerance of intolerance?

 

[Dick Whitman]

I think that's probably true everywhere; message boards included.

Really? You don't think people have made good points here? That's surprising. I think it's been great conversation, probably as good of conversation as is going on anywhere on the Internet on this topic.

I don't regret sitting it out.

I always love the posts where someone drops into a popular thread and lets everyone know how above it they are.

If you think people are being ignorant or whatever, tell us why. Don't just make some drive-by post where you (wait for it) disparage the people participating. That's low-rent.

 

[Dick Whitman]

You can sugarcoat it if you want, but people anonymously predicting he won't be accepted, won't be drafted, will hurt his career, will hurt the locker room's "chemical balance" are all disparaging Sam's decision to come out. It just is.

I'm sure you could say the same thing about multiple players who declared for the draft rather than return to school.

Definitely. That's my whole point. If an anonymous NFL guy says so-and-so declaring for the draft rather than return to school is a bad career move, then it is fair to say they are disparaging the decision.

An anonymous NFL guy saying Sam coming out rather than staying in the closet is disparaging his decision. That's why I worded my comment as I did. I didn't say they were disparaging him. That would be unfair. Saying they are disparaging his decision is just factual.

No, it's not. They didn't disparage his decision.

 

[Boom_70]

I'm just surprised that Robbie Rogers coming out did not generate near the media
attention that this story has. At the time I thought that it was going to be a huge
story but really there has been little.

 

[qtlaw]

I don't care what the NFL is, they need to get on board and not tolerate those clowns with outdated mores and join the mainstream.

We the fans/consumers need to tell the clowns who refuse to do so that they will no longer be supported.

To the players who feel the need to "call each other faggots/gays/homos" go play elsewhere.

The NFL is an employer in the USA, they are treated like every other corporation/employer with employees, they have access to tax benefits; accordingly they MUST act like every other corp and follow the applicable state and federal laws.

Its not just a sport; its a billion dollar industry; locker rooms are workplaces and the laws provide that there is no place for discrimination based on sexual orientation.

So to the front office types, employees, players, etc. who don't want to work with Mr. Sam, go work somewhere else.

No more excuses that the locker room is "different", I'm sick of that, the only reason its even somewhat different now is because we've allowed it to be.

Thank you Mr. Sam for forcing the issue.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

This is hardly the first time a scout or NFL exec has made disparaging and anonymous quotes about a player in the upcoming draft.

I had a respected NFL exec tell me Matt Leinart was "The World's biggest pussy" and that was hours after he interviewed him.

 

[Point of Order]

deck,

If I'm following your posts correctly, you're take is that these anonymous sources have deemed themselves the evaluators of whether the NFL's "locker room culture" is ready for an openly gay player, and their evaluation is that it is not.

That's another way of saying they are disparaging his decision. Frankly, I find it odd that's where you chose to throw down the gauntlet in challenging my post. But whatever.