Well this could become reality for one NFL hopeful Michael Sam who on Sunday, Feb. 9,2014 announced his sexual orientation to the world via ESPN.
This was only a matter of time that the door of separation between heterosexual and homosexual in Men’s sports was broken, there was time that the wall of segregation between black and white athlete came crumbling down with a strong black man by the name of Jackie Robinson.
Sam was an All-American defensive end and SEC Player of the year his senior season with the Missouri Tigers. Helping lead them to a 12-1 record and a Cotton Bowl win over former Big 12 rival Oklahoma State.
Sam shared that his teammates and coaches have known since August. Sam’s teammate for five years, Missouri linebacker Donovan Bonner, was aware of Sam’s status and published the announcement on Twitter.
“We knew of his status for 5 years and not one team member, coach, or staff member said anything says a lot about our family atmosphere,” he told ESPN.
Michael Sam is projected to go high in the 3rd round of this years NFL Draft according to ESPN Draft Analyst, Todd McShay. If things work out Sam could be the first ever active pro athlete.
This may not hurt his draft stock but may help his stock because not only can Michael play the game of football, but this player can bring the NFL and what ever team drafts him extra revenue from the L.G.B.T. community. We all know that money talks to people regardless of race, gender, and in this case sexual orientation.
This was made prevalent in the comments made by Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, reported by Jame Walker.
“Michael Sam’s announcement is a significant step in sports and I respect the choice that he made publicly. His announcement will have no bearing either way on our evaluation of him as a player.
Dennis Hickey, Joe Philbin and I all agree on the same thing; we’ll draft the best players that can help us win football games, have high character and contribute to the community.
If he is a member of our organization, Michael will be welcomed here with open arms as part of our family,” Ross told ESPN.
Students from Cerritos College are supporting Sam’s sexual orientation and believe his intimate preference is irrelevant to the game he plays.
“I think it’s cool he has all my respect, to have the character to come out when you know this is frowned upon in the black community.
There a stigma about men in the gay community that they act feminine and once you here about a gay man play football it doesn’t add up to some people.
It might hurt his draft stock with team that don’t want that extra attention to the team.” said Cerritos college football sophomore, Osborn Umeh.
But everyone does not feel the same about his big announcement. His father told the New York Times he is not comfortable with his son’s sexual orientation stating.
“I don’t want my grandkids raised in that kind of environment,” I’m old school. I’m a man-and-a-woman type of guy,” his father told the New York Times.
This statement comes as no surprise for someone who comes from Hitchcock, Texas.
The world needs to prepare for openly gay athletes, Sam has paved a road for athletes to be ok with their sexual preference, there are surely more additional hurdles that he will face over the average rookie next season but with his support group he can handle it.
