College Football Star Michael Sam Says He Is Gay; May Become First Publicly G...

[PortPatriot]

Why is it important to announce that your gay??

Because quite a few other players knew he was gay and instead of rumor and innuendo spreading around NFL circles he decided to address it on his own terms. It obviously meant something to Sam, so good on him for doing so. Now we can all carry on with whatever it was we were doing.

 

[SB39]

I'm inclined to believe BB would take a top 100 talent pass rusher in round 6 if Sam falls because of this.

What makes you say this? Because of how much Bill Belichick loves media distractions and media circuses following the team around all season long?

 

[BennyBledsoe]

It's important mostly because of how deeply against homosexuality many people are and the negative stereotypes which have been built up about being gay. The more people become aware that there are gay people that are not in traditional gay arenas (anything artsy like acting and singing) who do their job just as well as their straight counterparts, the less likely anyone will need to 'come out'.

 

[patriot1136]

Who really cares if he's gay or not?
If he can pass rush well then draft him

 

[upstater1]

Why is it important to announce that your gay??

Who really cares?

It's one thing if you don't deny it if you're asked...be yourself, sure, but announcing it?? Who cares what type of person you prefer to be romantically involved with.

Look, I'm a vagina man...women do it for me. I think they're fantastic.

I feel better having announced that.

The answer is obvious. Because of rumor campaigns potentially hurting him, etc. You're better off saying, "Yeah I'm gay, so what?"

He's forced to do this.

 

[Mark Morse]

Sam doesn't have the size that Belichick usually likes. I think Sam needs to switch to LB. If NFL teams pass in the 1st 5 rounds then perhaps BB takes a flyer with one of 4 potential 6th round picks (PHI, NE and two potential compensatory).

 

[jah]

too lazy to check the whole thread but has anyone made the obligatory "can he rush the passer" joke?

 

[Avenger]

Good for him! But this may has a negative impact on his draft status. Jason Collins of the NBA should be on an NBA roster, he is good enough to be on someones roster this season yet he isn't. Many attribute that situation because he came out as gay during the off-season.

Jason Collins was out of the NBA before he came out, he was washed up and had little hope of signing even before he came out. This is different, this kid is projected to go in the 4th, and will probably go somewhere in rounds 3-5.

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

What makes you say this? Because of how much Bill Belichick loves media distractions and media circuses following the team around all season long?

The signing of Tebow and keeping him until the final cut shows that BB an manage media circuses pretty well and make football decisions based just on football ability/focus/exceution

 

[PP2]

General Manager's don't care who or what you want to have sex with-- and ultimately an anouncement like that tells people who you enjoy having sex with.

Why is there a need to "come out" in regards to sexuality?

You'd be surprised what GMs and coaches use for criteria. Some of them can be pretty idiotic. At least one coach has admitted to passing over Andy Dalton simply because he had red hair:

red hair is a red flag

In any case I applaud Michael Sam. He is a courageous young man. May the spirit of Jackie Robinson be with him in that even though many people claim not to care about his orientation, he will undoubtedly encounter a great deal of hatred and discrimination.

 

[SalemPats]

Who really cares if he's gay or not?
If he can pass rush well then draft him

exactly. If we can do his job he's a PAtriot

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Food for thought:

NFL scout texts top 5 best locker rooms for Michael Sam: Seahawks, Patriots, Green Bay, Colts, Giants.

 

[Uncle Meat]

As long as we aren't talking about a Center/Quarterback relationship, it should be less uncomfortable.

Joke.

I have gay friends, and I'm straight when I'm not drinking.

People shouldn't act like this doesn't matter at all, although I get where they are coming from. It does matter because it's a fairly big enough part of who he is, if you care about that.

It takes a lot of balls to come out about it at this point in time, though. Wonder why he picked now. Maybe he wanted to be on the Ellen show.

 

[PatsSox363804]

Food for thought:

I would look forward to every "Do you have a football related question, Albert?" at BB's press conferences.

 

[Sciz]

It takes a lot of balls to come out about it at this point in time, though. Wonder why he picked now.

From what I read on Twitter, they wanted to wait until just after the combine, but basically every sports news outlet already knew and they weren't going to wait forever before reporting it. It was probably a good move for him to get out in front of things so this could be done on his terms.

 

[BradyFTW!]

This, unfortunately, could get very interesting and very quickly.

It's 2014 and things like this should not matter at all but the fact a quality FS like Kerry Rhodes couldn't find a team because of a rumor he was gay is kind of worrying.

This is a prospect that CBS gave a top 100 rating - hopefully franchises aren't going to be homophobic and blackball him and instead judge him on his obvious Footballing ability - SEC defensive player of the year is no small task!

If some other teams want to blackball him and that's what makes him available to the Pats in the later rounds, then I'm a-okay with that.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Why is it important to announce that your gay??

Who really cares?

It's one thing if you don't deny it if you're asked...be yourself, sure, but announcing it?? Who cares what type of person you prefer to be romantically involved with.

Look, I'm a vagina man...women do it for me. I think they're fantastic.

I feel better having announced that.

It's important because there's never been an openly gay NFL player. It helps to knock down stereotypes and provide an example for future gay players, and that's never a bad thing.

More important, it was apparently important to him to speak out. Given how politicized the issue is, and the uncertainty that he's probably dealt with because of it, it seems reasonable to accept his judgment and commend him for being brave enough to speak out. Especially knowing that he has much more to lose than he does to gain by speaking now.

 

[Tunescribe]

I have gay friends, and I'm straight when I'm not drinking.

So when you're drinking you lean both ways, eh? Wow, two announcements in one night! (How will this play in Buffalo?)

 

[ausbacker]

The quality of the person should outweigh any negative prejudice society may hold. Good on Sam for doing what he felt was important. I hope he's given every opportunity to show his talent and if that's with the Patriots, so be it.

 

[Tunescribe]

It's important because there's never been an openly gay NFL player.

Not that we know about. Of course, multiple gay NFL players have come forward after their careers were over. Obviously there are gay players on NFL teams at this very moment and I'm sure their sexual orientation is "known" to management and teammates.