How Far Do You Think Michael Sam Will Fall In The NFL Draft Now That He's Out Of The Closet?
I know a lot of people will say this shouldn’t be a big story or it’s not a big deal because they’re accepting of gays, or the progressive response is to treat the news as completely normal but that totally undersells it. This isn’t normal. This has actually never happened. Saying ” as long as he can play” is ignoring the realities of the situation. The response to this, is the story. Where Michael Sam gets drafted, if he gets drafted at all, is the story. How fans and media and the locker room responds to him is the story. You want to pretend that it doesn’t matter? Fine, but that’s showing your naivety in a big way.
So the most interesting question to me is how far he falls on the draft board now. I’m guessing half of the teams completely took him off their list after last night’s news. They won’t say it publicly, they will never admit to anything close to it but it’s probably true. Jason Collins had the same stats for the past decade, came out of the closet and all of a sudden couldn’t get a contract. Chris Kluwe can no longer get a job in the NFL because he was too outspoken. Kerry Rhodes, a safety that could start on a ton of NFL teams has been effectively blackballed by the league. You may say “If he can play that’s all that matters” but that’s naive thinking. Michael Sam was just downgraded as a player by a ton of teams because of his sexual orientation, if you can’t see that you’re living in La La Land. Only a strong locker room can handle a media circus that this will bring. Just look at some of the quotes from NFL insiders last night.
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Michael Sam came out BEFORE the NFL Draft. That’s a big fucking deal. He knew exactly what he was doing. He basically started a game of chicken with all of the front offices. You may pretend you’re accepting of an openly gay player but do your actions back that up? That to me is fascinating and why this is a huge story. How will teams respond. Teams like the Patriots, Seahawks, Niners, Saints, and Broncos may be able to handle it because they have strong veteran leadership but can others? If he starts to slip on draft day will Roger Goodell twist a team’s arm to take a shot? How will they market him? Will the fans embrace him? Will his teammates be openly accepting but leak things to reporters behind his back? Will he get a shot and then be blackballed like the guys that came before him? The whole thing is completely unprecedented. No active player has ever been out before, that has never happened, and that’s why it matters. In 10 years it may be normal for a gay player to come out but right now it’s not, right now it’s an enormous story that could unfold in a million different ways.
