NFL Team Official: Michael Sam Is ‘Not A Really Good Athlete’

[R8RFAN]

ST. LOUIS (CBS St. Louis) — It could be a very long weekend for Michael Sam.
The openly gay football player from the University of Missouri is hoping an NFL team takes a chance and makes history by drafting him, but some experts believe he might end up being an undrafted free agent.
Scouts told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that they don’t see Sam’s game transitioning to the NFL.
“Most of his production was hustle stuff,” an NFC personnel official told the Journal Sentinel. “There’s production, but he’s short, he’s not a really good athlete and he doesn’t play good against the run.”
He continued: “He’s kind of a one-task pass rusher. Just run up the field. And they swallow him up and kind of push him around.”
One NFC personnel director stated that Sam doesn’t have a position in the league.
“He’s not a linebacker, and he’s really not a defensive end,” the personnel director told the Journal Sentinel. “I’d certainly take him to camp. You’ve got to admire how hard he plays.”
An AFC executive said Sam was “short and slow.” Sam stands at 6 feet 2 inches and weighs 262 pounds.
Despite the potential setbacks, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is hoping to see Sam succeed in the league.
“I want to see Michael Sam get an opportunity to play in the NFL,” Goodell told ESPN Thursday before the first round of the NFL Draft. “We like to say the NFL is the ultimate meritocracy. If you can play football, they want to see you play. The teams want you. The fans want you. And that’s ultimately what it’s all about.”
Goodell continued: “I have great respect for Michael, his courage, his decision to become public, and I’m optimistic that he’s going to get that opportunity, and hopefully he can play at this level.”
Sam, who was the SEC’s Defensive Player of the Year, will be the first openly active gay player in the league.
http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2014/05/...-good-athlete/

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

He won't.

He's dealing from now on with a constant tug-of-war between a group of people who want him to fail SOLELY because he's a gay and a group of people who want him to succeed ONLY because he's gay.

Like Baby Lee said, very few of these people actually give one crap about Michael Sam.

Or, perhaps there exists a reality where people want him to get a chance and his openness should not impact his ability to do so, and that's what's actually important.

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Did it ever occur to you that a benefit of talking about Sam helps us understand the processes of exclusion that we've practiced in the past so that we might be able to learn from them? Not long ago, Sam would have been denied a chance to earn a living playing football based on an inimical aspect of his humanity. Acknowledging the existence of that barrier and discussing its failings is necessary.

Except absolutely NONE of that is happening.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Or, perhaps there exists a reality where people want him to get a chance and his openness should not impact his ability to do so, and that's what's actually important.

Those people are a SMALL minority. Nearly everybody in this country has an agenda. Politics - nay, partisanism - is a part of our cultural fabric.

[Strongside]

This was the funniest moment of the draft for me:

This happens:



And then they cut back to Eisen:

[BryanBusby]

Originally Posted by Rams Fan

Do you think showing a gay bar's reaction to Sam being drafted was needed for coverage of him being picked?

No. ESPN gave up reporting for sensationalism a long time ago, so it doesn't surprise me.

I stopped watching ESPN almost altogether a long time ago for a reason.

[Chiefs Pantalones]

Gay dudes kissing each other on ESPN, reporters reporting live from gay bars, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria!!! Puke. TMZESPN journalism.

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Or, perhaps there exists a reality where people want him to get a chance and his openness should not impact his ability to do so, and that's what's actually important.

And, perhaps there exists a reality where people who comport themselves in a manner that would enable him to do exactly that aren't accused of wanting him to act in a manner that validates the shame affiliated with stigma

[dirk digler]

Originally Posted by Just Passin' By

Most people don't want to see straight couples doing that shit, either.

That is probably why most sports teams have the kiss-cam just so they can piss off everybody.

[Prison Bitch]

"I'm concerned about the guy in front of me." Actual quote

[OldSchool]

That's golden, lol.

[Strongside]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

"I'm concerned about the guy in front of me." Actual quote

"...when, in actuality, he should be concerned about me."

[notorious]

I don't give a ****.


If the kid can play he will show it. Good luck to him and every other guy out there.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

And, perhaps there exists a reality where people who comport themselves in a manner that would enable him to do exactly that aren't accused of wanting him to act in a manner that validates the shame affiliated with stigma

Sam has acted with class and dignity throughout this entire process. You claim that he's being ventriloquized and that is unadulterated bullshit. You claim that he is being turned into a mascot, and that is, again bullshit.

He came forward, bravely, to admit who he was, making ****ing history in the process, and people cover the story because it's never ****ing happened before, and all of a sudden he's being turned into a puppet, or, as Parker has intimated several times, he's acting disingenuously.

Acknowledging that something has never happened before isn't making a spectacle of it. If you see it as acceptable behavior, showing him kissing his partner isn't making a spectacle of it, either. The cameras followed him for the same reason they followed Manziel, Tebow, Geno Smith, Jimmy Clausen, Thurman Thomas, and even Caleb Campbell--because their draft positions were stories and were of interest to the viewer.

[cosmo20002]

Originally Posted by 3rd&48ers

What I am wondering is the sex part.... Say the little white dude is the husband and the big black dude is the wife....


What does the little white dude do? Stand on a 5 gallon bucket?

You think about gay sex a lot.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

Except absolutely NONE of that is happening.

That is bullshit. There were thousands of articles about its importance in the wake of his announcement. There were hundreds of commentaries on its importance, and a sizable chunk of time spent on this story has considered his integration and acceptance in the workplace and how it may be received.