My point is that even management isn’t ready until there’s sufficient momentum in society at large. The idea of drafting an openly gay player 20 years ago would have been dismissed out of hand, no matter if there was a receptive GM. Now, a significant portion of the population doesn’t care.
There has to be a certain level of acceptance in society itself first. We hit that with homosexual players a while back. Now it’s just a matter of time.
That’s why I consider it a bit of a distraction from the more salient points about performance. The fact the idea isn’t dismissed out of hand itself means we reached the point that the distraction notion is just an excuse and the last gasps of a homophobia that can no longer openly or directly express itself. The debate itself is a sign we’re already there.
Nobody has suggested he not play for a team or be discriminated against. I don’t think it’s comparable to Jackie Robinson because there was visceral hatred toward him for his race. There may be problems in the NFL with some of the players with a gay player but that’s different then what I brought up. You don’t look at another man’s junk. It’s natural to assume Sam is as normal as any other man and will look at the naked bodies of those he would find attractive. And that assumption is going to make people uncomfortable.
The comparison to Robinson is reasonable, just on a smaller scale.
There is plenty of visceral hatred toward gays, both by players and the public at large. Granted, we have come a great distance but gays are *still *subjected to discrimination, harassment and violence (even murder) because of their sexual preference.
Active NFL players and players from other sports have already made ugly comments about not wanting a gay player in their locker room.
Jonathan Vilma:
What he is saying is that he would be disgusted by his very presence. THAT is visceral. That is comparable to what Robinson faced. Vilma tried to walk back his comments, but that is fairly transparent. It is progress that Vilma would feel the need to walk back his comments for fear of societal backlash.
Sam is going to catch a lot of shit from players and fans. There will probably be threats from the general public. Hopefully, his teammates will rally behind him.
Not in the context I was speaking of. Yes, there are players who don’t like gay people and that is a reasonable comparison. That’s different than feeling uncomfortable in a locker room because of the social constructs of modesty based on nudity/sexuality. this is not rejection or animosity.
No offense, but you chose a really horrible example.
One of the biggest concerns was having white players and black players in the same locker rooms and using the same showers because whites, and particularly southern whites had all sorts of paranoid beliefs about how unclean blacks were and how they carried diseases.
Also, while they didn’t like to admit it white men were often really uncomfortable being naked around naked black men because they were terrified of being confronted by the “fact” that they were sexually and anatomically inferior.
No, not for the point I was making. I don’t think anybody is going to be rejected by a team for their sexuality. I do think social customs of modesty based on sexuality/nudity will come into play on a minor level. Locker rooms may evolve into something more unisex with shower stalls.
I’m bumping this because the draft is starting soon.
For those of you who don’t follow football and may have been looking at this draft strictly for the possibly historic drafting of Michael Sam… well don’t hold your breath.
And none of the scouts are talking about his lifestyle. He is a tweener (too small and weak for one position, too slow for another) and more importantly he had a bad showing at the combine. A good performance at the combine could have silenced the critics and placed him much higher in the draft. At best he is looking like a 5th rounder with many scouts saying he doesn’t fit in the pros. Nate Silver is saying 6th round. Article here.
Of course you never know till all the names are called. But don’t look for any movement until Saturday, the third and last day of the draft.
Yes that’s what I mentioned on page one. But there was always the chance that a good showing at the combine would raise his stock. But that didn’t happen. He is small for the position he played in college and slow for a pro linebacker. He may not make a team even if drafted.
I already explained why I was satisfied with my subject line. If the shallowness of my knowledge of football, especially at the college level, has led me astray, fine. If Sam ends up being undrafted, fine. But as things stand right now, I don’t regret a thing. We’ll see what happens, and why.
I’d say there is an 80% chance Sam will be starting for a CFL team within five years. He will be drafted by the NFL, but he’s troublesome to find a place for. His size is disadvantageous for the NFL, but in the smaller and more mobile CFL he could be an All-Star and have a nice little career beating the holy bejeezus out of quarterbacks in Montreal.
They said that about Vontaze Burfict. Maybe Mike Zimmer will give him a shot in Minnesota…or Marvin with the Bengals. As a UFA of course. Someone will invite him to a camp.
We’ll see what happens, and why.