Re: Do you agree or disagree with Tony Dungys's comments about gay player Michael Sam
And he still was after coming out, until 2 weeks later where he had a disastrous combine. Those type of athletic tests generally count for more than college results in the NFL draft. It's why you see college record setters like Jordan Lynch not even get drafted.
Nope (and sorry to others to have to repeat myself) - CBS dropped him 70 spots the next day and then there was the SI poll of current coaches : *8* admitted they expect him to fall in the draft, "they project a significant drop in Sam's draft stock, a publicity circus and an NFL locker room culture not prepared to deal with an openly gay player.....All the NFL personnel members interviewed believed that Sam's announcement will cause him to drop in the draft. He was projected between the third and seventh rounds prior to the announcement."
Another whopper: ""I don't think football is ready for [an openly gay player] just yet," said an NFL player personnel assistant. "In the coming decade or two, it's going to be acceptable, but at this point in time it's still a man's-man game. To call somebody a [gay slur] is still so commonplace. It'd chemically imbalance an NFL locker room and meeting room."
Now if the Rams can handle it, good for them for being the exception, i applaud them fully for living in 21st century.
He's not much more if any of a distraction than Manti Te'o. Te'o was a 1st round talent who got bumped to the 2nd because of the same type of problems with media exposure. Still he was obviously good enough that it didn't hurt his stock all that much.
Te'o never came out, that's my point. He obviously feared he wouldn't get drafted. He kept denying the obvious even after the dead girlfriend was discovered to be fake. All it did was lead GMs to ask at rookie interviews "do you like girls?" Do you need more evidence the NFL is deeply homophobic? I can go pull up quotes from any player who came out after leaving.
He obviously shouldn't have because Dungy was an excellent coach. When you are a good player/coach/whatever the potential for distraction hardly matters. When there are tons of other players with about equal talent to yours that can be picked in the same place, the potential for distraction becomes the type of thing that could push others over the top.
And that is completely wrong and it says a lot about you to not see that. "Win at all cost" mentality won't ever win me over. If they all have "equal talent" then why don't the GMs just toss a coin and let that run the 3rd-7th picks for em.
I'd say its probably the media's fault for making such a gigantic deal out of it. Luckily it really only matters for the first one. The next openly gay players in the NFL won't have the same distraction potential.
Why would it change minds on *other* teams? You're right it would eliminate that *excuse* and prove that a team can function with a gay player. It wouldn't make the bigotry disappear though, cause it has little to do with football. There's indications the rookies entering the league now are more tolerant. Like we saw with the general population, it'll take 5-7 years for the old guard to die off to see real change.
Maybe. If he's good enough they will. Jackie Robinson was more than just the first black baseball player. He was a six time allstar, an MVP, and helped take his team to the World Series in his first year. He's a deserving Hall of Famer. Does history remember Earl Lloyd, Nat Clifton, or Chuck Cooper, the first three black NBA players? Not really. The first black player people remember is Wilt Chamberlain, because he's one of the all time greats.
Partly yeah. The real consideration is, was there much opposition to them joining NBA? Did they have a senator trying to ban black players? Was there media circus or open hatred of this sort? Also, Cooper was the 1st drafted, Clifton signed the contract 1st, and Lloyd played first. Who do you celebrate then? People easily get confused and lose interest by this. If 3 enter at the same time, i'm guessing they did not face the same adversity as Jackie did or Sam might. There was opportunity. People forget it because not much happened.
``I didn't have the race-biting and the heat all on my shoulders like Jackie Robinson,'' Cooper said before he died of cancer in 1984 at the age of 57. ``Besides, any black coming after Jackie, in any sport, had it easy compared to the turmoil he lived through.''
They remember Wilt cause he was phenomenal but i never heard anyone say he was the first
