Monday, February 10, 2014

The Sam Sack

        On a sports day when the biggest story was Oklahoma State’s sophomore Marcus Smart, projected to be a lottery pick in this years NBA draft, got a 3 game suspension for pushing a Texas Tech fan on the road, University of Missouri’s Co-SEC defensive player of the year Michael Sam shocked the sporting world. Michael Sam, a 6’2 255 lb. linebacker, announced to the sporting world he was gay. 
        Before we get into this historic event lets look at Sam and what he deserves to be looked at as, a FOOTBALL PLAYER. Sam finished his senior year with 11.5 sacks, 19 tackles for loss, and 48 tackles overall. He finished his 4 year career at Missouri with 21 sacks, 36 TFL, and 123 tackles. Sam was named first team all SEC, and an All American by Walter Camp and the Sporting News. ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. projects Sam as a 4th round pick and has compared him to Kansas City’s Justin Houston, Seattle’s (former Lions) defensive end Cliff Avril, and Indianapolis’s Robert Mathis. Houston and Avril were third round picks, while Mathis was a 5th round pick. Sam’s strengths are his quickness and acceleration but lacks in size and some are skeptical if he has a fit at a position in the NFL. Kiper believes that his announcement will not affect his draft status, while others disagree. One veteran NFL scout told Sports Illustrated reporters Pete Thamel and Thayer Evans that it will most likely hurt his draft stock. "I just know with this going on this is going to drop him down," a veteran NFL scout told Sports Illustrated. "There's no question about it. It's human nature. Do you want to be the team to quote-unquote 'break that barrier?'" Many believe that it would bring too much media attention to the team drafting him and others believe the NFL simply isn’t ready for an openly gay player. One NFL assistant coach told Sports Illustrated that "There are guys in locker rooms that maturity-wise cannot handle it or deal with the thought of that," the assistant coach told Thamel and Evans. "There's nothing more sensitive than the heartbeat of the locker room. If you knowingly bring someone in there with that sexual orientation, how are the other guys going to deal with it? It's going to be a big distraction. That's the reality. It shouldn't be, but it will be." It is sad to think that a player’s sexual orientation would affect his draft status, but we will see come April where Sam lands. Now that we’ve looked at Sam’s draft stock, lets look at one of the biggest sports stories in history.
        Michael Sam should be commended for his courage. We have seen through the Richie Incognito and Jonathon Martin debacle that the NFL, and locker rooms more specifically, are not PC places. Adrian Peterson described it as 50 alpha males in one room. Now we hope that Sam would be accepted in NFL locker rooms but like an assistant coach told Sports Illustrated some might not be okay with it. However there is hope. Former Pittsburgh Steelers great Jerome Bettis stated during Sportscenter on ESPN that he believes 90-95% of players in the NFL would accept Michael Sam. Of course there will always be those players and people in the world who have differing views on every subject. The fact is Michael Sam can play football. The guy was a stud in the SEC, a conference known for its defense. If this hurts his draft stock that would be extremely unfortunate, however I think its safe to say that his name will be called on draft day. He could easily make a roster and have an impact his rookie year in my opinion. Jason Collins up to this point was the biggest ambassador for gay athletes in American pro sports. Collins the season before he came out was picked up by the Washington Wizards after the New Year. He was never a star in the league but a center that could contribute in small facets. The media frenzy that would have ensued made it to big of a task for any NBA team to pick him up this year. However Sam is a 24 year old young man who has all the potential in the world. There is no chance he doesn’t get a shot, and he definitely should. Sam has a chance to be one of the most important sports figure in history. If Sam even has somewhat of an NFL career, where the average length of a career is 3 years, he will go down with the likes of Jackie Robinson, Magic Johnson, and Billie Jean King. All who were amazing athletes in their own respective sports but also were able to educate, and be ambassadors for more important issues in life. Michael Sam when it’s all said and done has solidified his place in history. He didn’t come out for attention; he didn’t do it for fame. He did it for is desire to live a happy open life. The fact that he’s a football player, and a damn good one is why this is so important to this blog. He is the first openly gay NFL draft prospect and will be the first openly gay NFL player. This is a big day not only for the sporting universe, but the entire world. I hope Michael Sam the best and will personally be rooting for him during his NFL career. Hell if the Lions could snag him I’m sure he could help out our struggling defense immensely.

Here are some reactions from around the NFL:








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