trill wrote:Perhaps he wants to show young kids who may be ashamed of who they are that they don't have to be. Perhaps he wants to be part of the slow destruction of stereotypes that cast gay men as effeminate and not potent athletes. Perhaps he just wants to be famous. Probably not, but it's possible though I don't see why anyone would rush to believe anyone would have wrong intentions for just being themselves.
My point is that I would prefer that a guy like him just "be himself". I mean, it doesn't NEED to be a secret....... but as I said, there's a lot of territory between keeping a secret and making a public announcement on ESPN. Come out privately........ eventually folks will find out. Kids aren't going to be able to relate to this. If the "acceptable" way of coming out is to announce it on ESPN, then every gay kid in America is screwed.
At some point, it just seems disingenuous. Yeah, I'm probably overly cynical.
The back Story of how he came out is relevant here. Sam found out that several news outlets were working on a story about his sexuality. His teammates already knew, but the public and national media did not. So he and his people got out ahead of the story by making their own announcement first. If he didn't tell his story, someone else was going to tell the story for him.
Mike Silver of the NFL Network was in the Rams war room all weekend. If you believe him, it sure seems like Jeff Fisher was the driving force for picking Sam.
I don't know a ton about NFL, but couldn't he hang out with the practice squad, if not clear out at the end of the special teams bench without much strain on the Rams?
MrSaigon wrote:I don't know a ton about NFL, but couldn't he hang out with the practice squad, if not clear out at the end of the special teams bench without much strain on the Rams?
lukethedrifter wrote:I hope the dude can play football because they're gonna cut his ass if he can't. Oh the humanity!
According to Bill Barnwell, At least one team was worried about drafting him due the PR fallout if they ended up cutting him.
it is hard to imagine the Rams getting serious fallout if they cut him. Would a team that drafted a player knowing he was gay, turn around and cut him because he is gay, rather than for football reasons? Sure, the argument would be made by some that he didn't get a fair try , but the logic-fail would beat that argument down. Sam said something about how he wants to be treated like any football player - and many football players drafted in the 7th round get cut.
He was going to be signed to some roster regardless, but I would think there's a matter of pride for any football player to hear that they've been drafted instead of being picked up as an undrafted free agent. And I don't think there's going to be some huge backlash against the Rams if Sam gets cut, unless he clearly outplays someone else at the same position who makes the squad.
I don't think it's a slam dunk Sam makes the team, but it's not exactly a foregone conclusion he won't, either. Yes, the Rams have the best D-line in football, but he doesn't have to beat out Chris Long and Robert Quinn; he has to beat out Eugene Sims (or Sammy Brown if they want to try him at linebacker). A fine player, but no world-beater.
Regardless, I'm glad Sam is getting the opportunity. Especially when the walking POS Aldon Smith just got his option picked up for a 5th year.
MrSaigon wrote:I don't know a ton about NFL, but couldn't he hang out with the practice squad, if not clear out at the end of the special teams bench without much strain on the Rams?
Yep.
I disagree with this. Those last spots on the bench are a big deal in the NFL. Considering a 53 man game day roster and only 8 practice squad players, there is no room to just keep someone on the roster "just because". A player must be able to contribute.
