Even when the NFL tries to manufacture a PR win, they come out looking like clowns.
That said, I do have some sympathy for the league here, if only because Michael Sam was the worst kind of prospect to be the first openly gay player in the draft. His weaknesses were obvious enough that the likelihood of him getting drafted on his own merits was quite low. But he had performed well enough in the SEC to provide some ammo that moral crusaders could use to 'prove' that homophobia was what made him go undrafted.
Anyone who knew football understood that he was a borderline prospect at best, but "how could someone who performed so well in the SEC not be a viable draft prospect?" is an argument that would play very well with people who are casual fans or non-fans. It would've been much better for the NFL if Sam was either clearly not NFL-caliber or if he clearly was NFL-caliber (in which case I believe he would have been drafted by someone on his own merits).
I was happy when he got drafted. Figured the Rams saw enough talent to be worth taking a shot on, and it was hilarious watching homophobes go nuts for being 'forced' to watch him kiss his boyfriend. I rooted for him to succeed, in part because eventually an openly gay player in a major American sport will succeed, and when that happens I think a lot of people holding onto outdated beliefs will gradually come to confront and dismiss them. Stuff like that is exactly why sports are a fantastic vehicle for social progress. They bring people into your life, and by watching those people they occasionally motivate you to question beliefs that maybe need to be questioned. There's no doubt in my mind that a whole lot of New Englanders who might have otherwise been more inclined to racism were nudged in the right direction by years of watching Boston sports icons like Bill Russell, David Ortiz, Paul Pierce, KG, Wilfork, etc. This certainly didn't fix the problem, but even if it softens what would have been a more hardline stance, that's progress. It counts for something.
Michael Sam didn't end up being that guy, and that's fine. For what I just described to work, it's absolutely vital that the player in question make it on his own merits. Trying to manufacture it will, if anything, have the opposite effect. It will further entrench prejudices, further the idea that some have that a gay man can't succeed in the NFL on his own merits, etc. Proving, once again, that the league cares way more about image than it does about doing the right thing (or even allowing the right thing to be done). To the point that it'll gladly work against the latter in service to the former.
