NFL draft prospect reveals his gay sexuality

[Jazzy]

American footballer Michael Sam could become the National Football League's first openly gay player after revealing his sexuality.

The 24-year-old completed his college football career at the University of Missouri in December and is expected to be drafted by an NFL franchise in May.

"I came to tell the world I'm an openly gay man," the defensive lineman told ESPN. "If I work hard, if I make plays - that's all that should matter."

Should Sam be drafted as expected and make an NFL roster in the 2014 season, he would become the first openly gay player to compete in any of North America's four major professional sports leagues - football, baseball, basketball and hockey.

He had revealed his sexuality to his former college team-mates at the University of Missouri's Mizzou Tigers, but admitted doing so publicly was "a weight off his chest".

"I probably may be the first but I won't be the last. And I think only good things will come from this," he added.

In April 2013, basketball player Jason Collins came out during the sport's off-season but was not signed for the next campaign, meaning he never competed as an openly gay player.

Sam is expected to be a mid-draft pick when the NFL's teams hold their annual draft meeting, a process where players from America's college football system are signed for professional franchises.

Former players from the league have come out since retiring, but none have done so during their careers.

Full article

Do you think his 'coming out' will have an influence on whether or not he gets drafted? Why/Why not?

 

[Evil Eye]

It'll undoubtedly have some effect. Everything tends to.
People'll either want him because he's gay (so as not to seem prejudiced), because he's wordt having or they won't want him for much the same reasons.


Either way, I'll never hear about him again

 

[DrLeftover]

Yeah, I do have an opinion about this topic....

The new Cubs Park in Mesa, Ariz., offers more than just a 15,000-seat spring training stadium. It comes complete with six fan-accessible practice fields, a full training facility — which will stay open year-round — and a community park and pond to help residents stomach the $84 million project that kept the Cubs in town instead of picking up roots that dropped in 1979 and moving to Naples, Fla.

Gone are the days of the team’s minor league and major league players being split between Fitch Park and HoHoKam Stadium, which is now closed for renovations for the Oakland A’s to return to next season. Everyone has plenty of room to stretch out on the 140-acre site that opened in time for this year’s spring training.

Don’t call Cubs Park, designed by architectural firm Populous, a mini Wrigley Field, but you can be forgiven if you can’t stop noticing the similarities. The Cubs Park clock is Wrigley-styled, the light standards and cantilevered roofs match those seen in Chicago and a replica of the Wrigley Field marquee is located in the main concourse. Hey, have your picture taken.

The field itself boasts the same dimensions as Wrigley and brick walls circle the playing field. If everyone gets lucky, we might even see a few strands of ivy make their way up the sun-soaked masonry.

But Mesa has one thing Chicago can lack in February and March: plenty of sunshine. The seating bowl — the largest of all spring training facilities — has more than 60 percent of its seats tucked into the shade and all the concourses are completely covered.

http://mlb.si.com/2014/02/21/cubs-park-spring-training-mes-arizona/


The original construction cost of the real Wrigley Field was about a quarter of a million dollars (in 1914, that would be about six million now).

The taxpayers in Mesa, AZ have reason to be pissed off.

http://stadiums.findthebest.com/q/152/1381/How-much-did-Wrigley-Field-located-in-Chicago-Illinois-cost-to-build

 

[DrLeftover]

And then you have....

Los Angeles (AFP) - Jason Collins signed a 10-day contract with the NBA's Brooklyn Nets on Sunday to become the first openly gay man playing in a major US professional sports league.

The Nets confirmed the widely reported deal on their official Twitter feed, and Collins was expected to be in uniform for Sunday night's game against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Collins, 35 and a 13-year NBA veteran, revealed his homosexuality last April.

But that was after his contract with the Washington Wizards had expired, and he had not been picked up by another team since then.

Nets general manager Billy King said the move to sign Collins was "a basketball decision".

"We needed to increase our depth inside, and with his experience and size, we felt he was the right choice for a 10-day contract," King said.

http://news.yahoo.com/nets-collins-first-openly-gay-player-reports-192306987--nba.html;_ylt=AwrTWVVkfQpT5nIAg0zQtDMD

I'm calling "Bullshit" on that 'basketball decision' line.

 

[wirelessguru1]

Maybe he is preparing for a discrimination law suit if he does not get drafted!?

 

[DrLeftover]

Last day of the NFL draft, and these are the headlines:


Michael Sam is starting to look and sound like a man who might not be drafted
http://msn.foxsports.com/kansas-city/story/michael-sam-is-starting-to-look-and-sound-like-a-man-who-might-not-be-drafted-050714


NFL Team Official: Michael Sam Is ‘Not A Really Good Athlete’
May 9, 2014

http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2014/05/09/nfl-team-official-michael-sam-is-not-a-really-good-athlete/

The NFL draft — the league’s Radio City-staged, nationally televised, endlessly hyped off-season spectacle — opens Thursday night, and for the first time an openly gay player will be waiting for a phone call.

But it could be a long wait for Michael Sam, the University of Missouri defender and all-American who came out in February. Draft analysts say he might not be selected until the last picks are made on Saturday — and perhaps not at all.

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-sam-comes-out/michael-sam-waits-call-nfl-draft-n100576

 

[Fatal Dawn]

I watched the draft and he was very close to being undrafted. The Rams picked him up in the 7th round. Here's Sam celebrating with his boyfriend: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW-_fFdkegs

 

[DrLeftover]

He's from Missouri.

They kinda had to take him.

 

[JetWing34]

St. Louis had to take Sam in the draft because he played football for the Missouri Tigers. I exactly get from what Dr. L got his point across from.

 

[DrLeftover]

Thank you

But, at the same time. IF it is 'about football' as the NFL has said all along and not about making some sort of political statement. He has to fairly earn his spot on the roster in training camp.

If, as the reviews from the NFL Combine stated, that he isn't a very good athlete, he'll either end up on their practice squad, which means he is still being paid to play football, or back home with his boyfriend, and his lawyer, suing the Rams for cutting him because he's gay.

But remember, most NFL practice sessions are videotaped. When I covered the Eagles training camp, most mock games and run-throughs were taped, as were several of the group exercise sessions. His talent and ability will be on full display, and that will be admissible evidence for one side or the other.

 

[DrLeftover]

And it gets stupid.

Oprah Winfrey's cable network has greenlighted the untitled project from the team behind "Lindsay."
14 May

Oprah Winfrey's OWN has ordered a docuseries centered on Michael Sam, the gay football player who was just drafted by the NFL's St. Louis Rams.

The series will follow the University of Missouri alum as he prepares to earn a spot on the Rams.

Craig Piligian and director Amy Rice, who were behind Lindsay Lohan's Lindsay, will produce the untitled project.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/own-lands-michael-sam-docuseries-704189

 

[Guardian]

And it gets stupid.

People just trying to make as much money as they can off an already overly hyped situation.

 

[DrLeftover]

True that.

Except he forgot to tell the NFL that little detail BEFORE he went on the table for the draft.

Now the Rams are reconsidering because they don't want the distraction AND they don't want their 'behind the scenes stuff' on TV.