Michael Sam and the Vikings

[dead_poet]

16th ranked DE in the draft with all the media crap that will come with him? No thanks. If his "choice" of lifestyle is no big deal than I have to wonder WHY he made a big deal about it by announcing it to the world before the draft. My guess is to try to up his draft status

UP his draft status? HOW? Everybody is saying how this move will dampen it, some suggesting he'll now fall out of the draft entirely. I can't see how that was his plan. As for his motives, Sam himself stated: '“I just wanted to make sure I could tell my story the way I wanted to." I don't see any reason to doubt this. It may have come out (pardon the expression), then he would've had to deal with the speculation and questions then, likely during the season. It may have been an even bigger story at that time, and caused even more locker room disruption.

http://mmqb.si.com/2014/02/09/michael-s ... arterback/

[dead_poet]

Who is the picture you posted suppose to represent? George Washington??

Just some dude in a tricorn hat and powder wig.

[Funkytown]

16th ranked DE in the draft with all the media crap that will come with him? No thanks. If his "choice" of lifestyle is no big deal than I have to wonder WHY he made a big deal about it by announcing it to the world before the draft. My guess is to try to up his draft status

I've only heard of this *possibly* hurting his draft status, if anything, so I doubt what you are suggesting is true.

Also, as I shared earlier, most are saying the timing was preferable. It gives the NFL and its fans time to get used to the idea. And if people must obsess over it, they can do that for the next few months, and hopefully it will have died down some once the season starts. Makes sense.

[Mothman]

Just some dude in a tricorn hat and powder wig.

In other words, it's you.

I've only heard of this *possibly* hurting his draft status, if anything, so I doubt what you are suggesting is true.

Also, as I shared earlier, most are saying the timing was preferable. It gives the NFL and its fans time to get used to the idea. And if people must obsess over it, they can do that for the next few months, and hopefully it will have died down some once the season starts. Makes sense.

I agree. It's a smart move. It diffuses the situation before the draft, gives teams time to to adjust to the the idea and to consider whether or not it will impact their willingness to add Sam to their locker rooms, etc. However, while the announcement undoubtedly raised Sam's profile, I doubt it raise his draft status.

[dead_poet]

In other words, it's you.

Sadly, no. I'm much more handsome than that gentleman.

[Laserman]

UP his draft status? HOW? Everybody is saying how this move will dampen it, some suggesting he'll now fall out of the draft entirely. I can't see how that was his plan. As for his motives, Sam himself stated: '“I just wanted to make sure I could tell my story the way I wanted to." I don't see any reason to doubt this. It may have come out (pardon the expression), then he would've had to deal with the speculation and questions then, likely during the season. It may have been an even bigger story at that time, and caused even more locker room disruption.

http://mmqb.si.com/2014/02/09/michael-s ... arterback/

Well, Everybody is talking about him . Seems to me he did well drawing attention to himself . Would we have noticed him at all if he didn't announce it. the number 10-15th ranked DEs in this draft are not getting this much attention.

[King James]

What's gonna get annoying is that he's a mid-round prospect and if he gets cut or falls in the draft you know the moronic media and people like Chris Kluwe will rush to say it's because he's gay.

Exactly. But many "smart" people on this board are to blind to realize it. Even if the intentions of cutting him are a good reason, the media will say it was because of his sexual preference just to cause a stir.

[Funkytown]

Exactly. But many "smart" people on this board are to blind to realize it. Even if the intentions of cutting him are a good reason, the media will say it was because of his sexual preference just to cause a stir.

No no no. "Falling in the draft" is a possibility. It's already been discussed. As far as being cut and whatnot, I don't think that makes sense. This is why the timing is good. NFL teams already know, and if some team takes a chance on him, they are prepared to deal with it and WANT him on their team for the FOOTBALL PLAYER that he is.

I think it's unlikely he doesn't make a roster, but if that does happen, I think it would be hard to blame that team and suggest that the organization had issues with his sexuality. That doesn't add up. Why waste a 4th or 5th round pick? Now, if he was drafted by a team and this came out later on, and THEN he was released...maybe then. But again, that's why the timing is good. I just don't think the argument about him being cut (...and the potential issues to follow) makes a lot of sense at this point.

[PacificNorseWest]

Has anyone mentioned Pfiefer in here yet?

I don't think there is any way Zimmer drafts Sam because of the awkward tension there could be between Sam, who is gay, and Pfiefer, because of the comments he alledgedly made. Maybe it'd be fine, but the media would LOVE it.

[King James]

I ask again, what difference does media attention make? Plus, this is Minnesota. It's not like the media attention he'd be subject to in New York. Even then, has it been proven that media attention = losing football games? Isn't that what really matters at the end of the day? Say you're gay, say you're Mormon, say you're agnostic, whatever. The media will focus on it for awhile. Big deal. I contend it has nothing to do with on-the-field performance. Aren't people always complaining about how the media ignores or has some kind of bias against the Vikings? Well, then, this would be a way to get them talking about the team.
Yeah, that's why they do it.
Nope. We need those days where black people were slaves and women couldn't vote. Thems the good 'ol days!

Jason Collins - NBA Player

Darren Young - Professional Wrester

Michael Sam -College Football Player

All 3 of them were nobodies but as soon as they told world, "I'm gay!! I'm gay," they get put on the spotlight. Atleast all the NBA teams had some balls and didn't get intimidated by signing some has-been player just because they didn't want to get accused of discrimination.

Darren Young wasn't really being utilized on WWE. He was constantly jobbing (in wrestling terms, his character is scripted to lose) and when he came out, they start promoting him like he's one of the top entertainers in the company. Not because of his wrestling ability because he announced he was gay.

Michael Sam- He's going to be the same way. Some team is going to reach on him just to show everybody that they accept the gay community.

And I wish people will stop comparing slavery for homosexuality. The ONLY reason why black people were slaves was because they were forced out of their own countries by their African masters and sold to the white man for a little bit of nothing. If you took any type of college level history you should know that. Don't blame our founding fathers for that, it was a young country back then and the thing about the government is that we have or had the power as citizens to vote on laws we didn't like.

I made the comment about this not being the country our founder father's built because we are losing our voice as citizens. It has gotten to the point now that you can't voice your disapproval of something without being looked down upon as a bigot. It's basically accept gays or you're a bad person now.

[chicagopurple]

I cant fault the guy for just being honest....with todays media they would have dug this up and used it in some way...he just cleared the air ahead of time. If he is a better player than what we currently have, it would be foolish (or bigoted) to NOT take him and upgrade. Given the piss-poor performance of our team, any failure to upgrade would be inexcusable.

[Cliff]

Michael Sam -College Football Player

All 3 of them were nobodies but as soon as they told world, "I'm gay!! I'm gay," they get put on the spotlight.

Uhhh ...

CBS dropped Michael Sam 70 spots in its draft rankings, the day after his announcement

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutd ... --nfl.html

[Cliff]

I made the comment about this not being the country our founder father's built because we are losing our voice as citizens. It has gotten to the point now that you can't voice your disapproval of something without being looked down upon as a bigot. It's basically accept gays or you're a bad person now.

Are you losing your voice or are other people gaining theirs and want to make them quiet again? Isn't your main point that you think Sam should be quiet?

[dead_poet]

All 3 of them were nobodies but as soon as they told world, "I'm gay!! I'm gay," they get put on the spotlight.

It doesn't matter who the person is. The "first X player to play in the X league" is always going to get coverage. I imagine there were a few stories about Jackie Robinson in various news outlets when he became the first African American professional baseball player. I don't see how you really fault the guy. SOMEBODY was going to be the first. And that somebody doesn't necessarily have to be a media-hounding diva. I guarantee a guy like T.O. or Chad "Ocho Cinco" will have been considered much more media-centric than Sam will ever be.

Darren Young wasn't really being utilized on WWE. He was constantly jobbing (in wrestling terms, his character is scripted to lose) and when he came out, they start promoting him like he's one of the top entertainers in the company. Not because of his wrestling ability because he announced he was gay.

Uh, maybe because it's a STORYLINE? Please don't compare WWE to the NFL. And are you really blaming Darren Young for something that was clearly out of his control (the story creators obviously determined this would draw media attention and crafted a more prominent role). You understand that, right?

Michael Sam- He's going to be the same way. Some team is going to reach on him just to show everybody that they accept the gay community.

Ha! That's absurd. No GM is going to sign the guy just because he's gay. Again, there's too much riding on their jobs to take a player based on something other than what they (and their scouting department) evaluate as a player. He's going to be selected as a football player first, as he should be.

Don't blame our founding fathers for that, it was a young country back then and the thing about the government is that we have or had the power as citizens to vote on laws we didn't like.

Don't blame them for owning slaves? Oooookay. I guess they had to own other humans. It was just "the way."

nd the thing about the government is that we have or had the power as citizens to vote on laws we didn't like.

Like repealing DOMA?

I made the comment about this not being the country our founder father's built because we are losing our voice as citizens.

Um...disagree. There's never been more ways and opportunities to voice your opinions.

It has gotten to the point now that you can't voice your disapproval of something without being looked down upon as a bigot. It's basically accept gays or you're a bad person now.

Well the definition of a bigot is a person who strongly and unfairly dislikes other people, ideas, etc./ a person who hates or refuses to accept the members of a particular group.

[King James]

Are you losing your voice or are other people gaining theirs and want to make them quiet again? Isn't your main point that you think Sam should be quiet?

Yes he should be quiet, for the sake of his professional career, not because of my views on gays. Like one example I provided earlier; Jason Collins came out and hasn't been signed to a team since. The type of attention Michael Sam is getting right now might be a distraction later down the road when he signs to a team.

I'm losing my voice because if I express my disapproval on homosexuality then I'm considered a bigot. A bigot is a term used by people who don't want you to express your distaste on how a certain group of people behave, so they pull out the discrimination card.