Michael Sam - NFL's first openly gay prospect

[33anda3rd]

It really is a great story.

That said, I look forward to the day when athletes being gay is not news, and they're not 'gay athletes' but just 'athletes'. When the Michaels of the world simply being themselves isn't an act that requires courage.

[JL21]

So I realize I'm basically coming back from the dead to post this, but...

As someone who is gay and has been dealing with the "coming out process" for the last year or two, I can't even imagine how much courage Michael Sam must have to tackle (haha, football pun) this issue head-on at this point in his career. I've been going through some tough times recently, so this story has significantly brightened my mood tonight. It gives me a lot of hope, and I love that he's not afraid to be himself. "Being yourself" may sound cliche, but I've been afraid to be myself for a large part of my life, so this really hits home. Though negativity obviously still exists, the response has been pretty awesome so far.

Anyhow, just wanted to voice my support for Michael. What he's doing is really meaningful to a lot of people.

Welcome back! And great comment, yo.

After three [expletive] teams gave Tim Tebow a job, I don't want to hear anyone talk about locker room distractions pertaining to Michael Sam.

[slide_into_first]

fwiw

http://www.outsports.com/2014/2/9/53960 ... -nfl-draft

[Vidor]

So I realize I'm basically coming back from the dead to post this, but...

As someone who is gay and has been dealing with the "coming out process" for the last year or two, I can't even imagine how much courage Michael Sam must have to tackle (haha, football pun) this issue head-on at this point in his career. I've been going through some tough times recently, so this story has significantly brightened my mood tonight. It gives me a lot of hope, and I love that he's not afraid to be himself. "Being yourself" may sound cliche, but I've been afraid to be myself for a large part of my life, so this really hits home. Though negativity obviously still exists, the response has been pretty awesome so far.

Anyhow, just wanted to voice my support for Michael. What he's doing is really meaningful to a lot of people.

Now that you're coming back from the dead, don't forget to post in the baseball forum.

[Freed Roger]

Really taking courage with the timing. Heading into the week, this is headline news.

[MrCrowesGarden]

I'm glad to see so much positivity surrounding Michael's announcement; good luck to him in his career.

That said, ESPN's interview with Herm Edwards was so painful: http://deadspin.com/herm-edwards-sugges ... socialflow

[ZigZagCardsFan]

You can watch the sweat leave Herm Edwards pores in that video.

In regards to Michael Sam, good for him. It's about time. I really hope this leads to an outpouring of athletes coming out and hopefully we can reach the point where one day, there's more acceptance and this isn't a big deal.

[heyzeus]

So I realize I'm basically coming back from the dead to post this, but...

As someone who is gay and has been dealing with the "coming out process" for the last year or two, I can't even imagine how much courage Michael Sam must have to tackle (haha, football pun) this issue head-on at this point in his career. I've been going through some tough times recently, so this story has significantly brightened my mood tonight. It gives me a lot of hope, and I love that he's not afraid to be himself. "Being yourself" may sound cliche, but I've been afraid to be myself for a large part of my life, so this really hits home. Though negativity obviously still exists, the response has been pretty awesome so far.

Anyhow, just wanted to voice my support for Michael. What he's doing is really meaningful to a lot of people.

Welcome back man, and thanks for sharing your thoughts. I think the overwhelming reaction to the Sam story shows how our country has changed just within the last decade, and it's changing in a way that makes life better for so many people. That really makes me proud.

[StL Dan]

Good for Sam! I hope he has a fantastic NFL career. He was a stallion for our Tigers.

[thrill]

You can watch the sweat leave Herm Edwards pores in that video.

It's probably unfair for me to characterize Herm Edwards this way, but that video seemed to me like a guy with some old fashioned (bad) views re: homosexuality realizing that it's no longer professionally tenable to speak those views. Probably smart, but you can see the effort it's taking him to stay neutral and I doubt it's because he wants to shout from the mountain tops how having a gay player on his team wouldn't bother him or cause him to worry about "distractions" at all.


I've been impressed with how much of a non-story this has been so far and I think it's a credit to how gracefully Michael Sam has gone about the business of coming out. No Kerry Rhoades instagram outing by his boyfriend or whispers of Aaron Rodgers' having a live-in boyfriend. Just a dude behaving naturally and without shame or agenda other than being himself. I hope it inspires other gay athletes to do the same.