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Any comments on Michael Sam being cut?

jakeleyman

By jakeleyman
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jakeleyman

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Michael Sam had what most experts term a good preseason, even sacking Johnny Manzeil. Yet he was cut by the St Louis Rams. Supposedly the Rams have much defensive talent, but other teams in the NFL do not. Guess what, none of them picked him up. This guy is a great hero, but obviously the victim of discrimination.

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purplekow Grand Master

+ purplekow

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He will likely be on the Rams practice squad and if he continues to perform, he will be on the team. This is a common fate for higher round draft picks and it may not have anything to do with his being gay. The other teams that need defense passed over him during the draft and he was unlikely to be picked up by another team without ever playing a game in the league. Sometimes it is discrimination and sometimes it is that good is not good enough. i look forward to his improvement and his eventual play in the NFL.

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bigvalboy Grand Master

bigvalboy

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Michael Sam had what most experts term a good preseason, even sacking Johnny Manzeil. Yet he was cut by the St Louis Rams. Supposedly the Rams have much defensive talent, but other teams in the NFL do not. Guess what, none of them picked him up. This guy is a great hero, but obviously the victim of discrimination.

 

I think that you are partially correct. Yes, he is courageos, and let's face it, there is a lot of discrimination out there, but what is going to carry the day, is his ability to consistently play good football. In the back of my mind, I always thought that maintaining a high level of success in the NFL would be problematic for him down the road.

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Guy Fawkes Grand Master

Guy Fawkes

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He was the 1st; He will not be the last.

 

However, consider that he was the first "Out" player; It would be silly to assume that the rest of the 1,696 players are straight. Simple statistics would indicate that at least 85 of them play for our team.

 

Claudette Colvin. Claudette Colvin (b, September 5, 1939) is a African American woman from Alabama. In 1955, at the age of 15, she refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus to a white person, in violation of local law. Her arrest preceded civil rights activist Rosa Parks' (on December 1, 1955) by nine months.

 

Claudette didn't end the civil rights movement, She started it. Anti-discrimination moves at it's own pace; Over not days, weeks, or even years; It takes generations.

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BSR Grand Master

BSR

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Of course, the gay left assumes that Michael Sam was the VICTIM of homophobia and cites "experts" who report that Sam had a good pre-season. Well, guess what? In America today, if you say or do anything other than blow sunshine up a ____(insert victim group here)____ person's ass, you are condemned for a hate crime. The Harpies of Political Correctness would rain down hell on anyone who had a negative thing to say about Michael Sam. On the other hand, leftist outlets like the Huffington Post and ESPN made Sam out to be the greatest defensive player since Mean Joe Greene. So of course, the Cult of Victimhood gets their panties in a bunch over yet another case of gay oppression.

 

Well, if you read more objective analyses of Michael Sam, he clearly had his shortcomings. First, his strengths: Yes, he did have a great year and was named SEC co-defensive player of the year, but in a down year for the SEC, and he racked up his most impressive stats against teams that weren't that good. In his previous three seasons with Missouri, Sam racked up a total of just 9.5 sacks. According to The Bleacher Report, his numbers are below average:

It's not often you will find a 6'2", 261-pound player who runs a slow 40 time, below-average vertical jump (25.5 inches) and three-cone drills (7.80 seconds). And those are below-average times for a defensive end, so imagine what it says about his stock as a linebacker.
As for his supposedly "impressive" numbers in pre-season games, they were against mostly second- and third-stringers. The overall Michael Sam assessment (summarized in the full scouting report you can read in that TBR link above) just doesn't match the hype.

 

Two other strengths of Sam's cited by TBR are his hustle and his work ethic, which count for something, but not much, certainly not nearly as much as size, speed, and agility. Even though he was cut by the Rams, all hope is not lost for Sam's NFL future. Chances are slim, to be sure, but at least he still has a chance. One promising sign is that after getting a little too enthralled by the whole celebrity thing (kissing your boyfriend on national TV? you're trying to get a job in the NFL, not your own reality show), Michael Sam seems to have put his head down and nose to the grindstone. Then again, a lot of below-average players with excellent work ethics never make it in the NFL. But that's all Michael Sam is right now, a below-average prospect, whose cut wouldn't have registered a blip on the radar if not for his coming out. Save your lip-trembling comparisons to Rosa Parks for somebody else.

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ArVaGuy Veteran

+ ArVaGuy

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Amen, BSR, Amen!!!

 

Sam is a mediocre player with a middling level of talent. The only thing he had going for him was coming out of the closet. For those who say he was a success on the college level, that may well be. But the NFL is a whole different ball game (pun intended). Look no further than Tim Tebow for a similar example of more hype than talent promoted by a cadre of deluded fans for a similar example.

 

BTW, Sam did not even make the practice team.

 

 

Of course, the gay left assumes that Michael Sam was the VICTIM of homophobia and cites "experts" who report that Sam had a good pre-season. Well, guess what? In America today, if you say or do anything other than blow sunshine up a ____(insert victim group here)____ person's ass, you are condemned for a hate crime. The Harpies of Political Correctness would rain down hell on anyone who had a negative thing to say about Michael Sam. On the other hand, leftist outlets like the Huffington Post and ESPN made Sam out to be the greatest defensive player since Mean Joe Greene. So of course, the Cult of Victimhood gets their panties in a bunch over yet another case of gay oppression.

 

Well, if you read more objective analyses of Michael Sam, he clearly had his shortcomings. First, his strengths: Yes, he did have a great year and was named SEC co-defensive player of the year, but in a down year for the SEC, and he racked up his most impressive stats against teams that weren't that good. In his previous three seasons with Missouri, Sam racked up a total of just 9.5 sacks. According to The Bleacher Report, his numbers are below average:

As for his supposedly "impressive" numbers in pre-season games, they were against mostly second- and third-stringers. The overall Michael Sam assessment (summarized in the full scouting report you can read in that TBR link above) just doesn't match the hype.

 

Two other strengths of Sam's cited by TBR are his hustle and his work ethic, which count for something, but not much, certainly not nearly as much as size, speed, and agility. Even though he was cut by the Rams, all hope is not lost for Sam's NFL future. Chances are slim, to be sure, but at least he still has a chance. One promising sign is that after getting a little too enthralled by the whole celebrity thing (kissing your boyfriend on national TV? you're trying to get a job in the NFL, not your own reality show), Michael Sam seems to have put his head down and nose to the grindstone. Then again, a lot of below-average players with excellent work ethics never make it in the NFL. But that's all Michael Sam is right now, a below-average prospect, whose cut wouldn't have registered a blip on the radar if not for his coming out. Save your lip-trembling comparisons to Rosa Parks for somebody else.

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adriano46 Community Regular

adriano46

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ArVaGuy (and BSR) - great to see some who were not regurgitating the ESPN/Huffington Post line of correct political talk here.

 

I was especially grateful ArVaGuy that you brought up the case of Tim Tebow -- what happened to him was also pretty nasty in the end, and I felt overall he was/is a much better football player (skills-wise) than Michael Sam, but he was crucified by critics left and right. The difference for me was that Tebow never tried (as far as I can see) to make himself into a victim in the whole mess that happened when he was sold to the Jets. He remained gracious and low-key despite all the hype.

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quoththeraven Grand Master

+ quoththeraven

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Michael Sam is cut. How do you know that, Jake? ;)

 

I had the exact same thought when I saw the thread title. It wasn't until I clicked on the thread that I realized something else was meant.

 

As for whether this was the result of discrimination or not: it's hard to tell. There are not unreasonable bases for arguing both positions. My guess? It's a combination of both, and how things would have played out had everything but his sexual orientation been the same is unknowable.

 

That said, the comparison of the general situation (as opposed to Sam's specific circumstances) to Rosa Parks (or more relevantly Jackie Robinson) is valid. Acceptance of gay men in pro sports will take time, and it won't all happen at once. (Acceptance in college and amateur sports is probably a somewhat different matter.) Society's (stupid and pointless, in my opinion) equation of sports ability with masculinity and of masculinity with heterosexuality makes performing at the pro level more controversial for men who have sex with men than for women who have sex with women, some of whom play pro sports (mostly, if not entirely, in the WNBA) without a lot of fuss or fanfare.

 

The Minnesota Vikings' failure to renew the contract of straight ally Chris Kluwe after his outspoken support of gay rights suggests to me that some form of homophobia does influence decision-making in the NFL, Michael Sam or no. And to anyone wishing to argue that Kluwe was jettisoned because the teams don't like controversy, I ask why then the league and its teams have consistently tripped over themselves making nice to such controversial figures as Michael Vick and other perpetrators of off-field violence?

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deej Grand Master

+ deej

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ArVaGuy (and BSR) - great to see some who were not regurgitating the ESPN/Huffington Post line of correct political talk here.

 

ESPN's ludicrous story about his showering habits may actually have played into the decision. Who wants THAT kind of attention?

 

As it happens, apparently Dallas is considering Sam for their practice squad. The choices are going to be limited because IIRC there are only four potential teams that play "his" style of (defense? offense?) -- I know nothing about football.

 

I *hope* his cut was not because he was the gay one, but I'd also hope he wasn't retained because he was the gay one. Neither would be acceptable circumstances.

 

BUT, don't accuse him of playing a victim card. He isn't. He's been nothing but gracious. (He does, after all, hope to eventually work in the league.) Any victim talk is coming from the same ludicrous media sources that once wondered about his shower habits.

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sam.fitzpatrick Grand Master

+ sam.fitzpatrick

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Michael Sam interviews well and has said all of the right things in the press. To me he comes across as a dedicated, intelligent man. (I've never seen him play,, so I cannot assess his abilities on the field.)

 

When I heard he had come out and was a borderline draft pick, I will reluctantly admit that I wondered if his decision to come out might have been partially driven by a desire to raise his profile enough to get drafted by an owner who was willing to make a statement about gay acceptance. Admittedly pure speculation on my part.

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adriano46 Community Regular

adriano46

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ESPN's ludicrous story about his showering habits may actually have played into the decision. Who wants THAT kind of attention?

 

As it happens, apparently Dallas is considering Sam for their practice squad. The choices are going to be limited because IIRC there are only four potential teams that play "his" style of (defense? offense?) -- I know nothing about football.

 

I *hope* his cut was not because he was the gay one, but I'd also hope he wasn't retained because he was the gay one. Neither would be acceptable circumstances.

 

BUT, don't accuse him of playing a victim card. He isn't. He's been nothing but gracious. (He does, after all, hope to eventually work in the league.) Any victim talk is coming from the same ludicrous media sources that once wondered about his shower habits.

 

Should have separated the phrase better -- both ESPN and Huffington Post are playing this up and over the top to create an issue that is possibly not even there -- to get people riled up. I have had serious issues with many stories on HP -- seems "reality" or "truth" are in short supply among most of their journalists (and I call them journalists also with tongue firmly planted in cheek).

 

Yes, Michael Sam has conducted himself very well and yes, he wants to play but as others say he has a difficult job -- he wants to play because he is capable and deserves to play in the NFL -- not because he is somehow special and because he is the first openly gay player.

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deej Grand Master

+ deej

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When I heard he had come out and was a borderline draft pick, I will reluctantly admit that I wondered if his decision to come out might have been partially driven by a desire to raise his profile enough to get drafted by an owner who was willing to make a statement about gay acceptance. Admittedly pure speculation on my part.

 

He said at the time he thought some people would think that.

 

He also said that he just couldn't let his sexuality be tabloid fodder. His teammates at Mizzou already knew. His family already knew. If he waited, right wing media would screech "HE HID IT!" when some Enquirer story got published.

 

Rock, meet hard place.

 

He decided to do it on his own terms and get it out of the way up front. Would that some of the escorts some of us hire in that age group had his maturity.

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Diverdan Community Regular

Diverdan

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YES, he has been hired by the Cowboys for their practice squad, but many of the knowledgable sports writers indicate he will be very good for the Cowboys who have a problem with their defense and they don't need a guy who needs speed, and needs to play several positions. I don't much like Jerry Jones, but he may be the perfect owner to deal with what ever comes their way, and nice to see it happening in TEXAS, of all places, and in Dallas, not in Houston.

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purplekow Grand Master

+ purplekow

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Glad he found a job. Think he will do well given time and his dedication. Lots of people are injured and replacements from the 10 man practice squad is a frequent source of replacements. Practice squad of other teams can be a source as well. So perhaps around mid-season he will make his debut. Perhaps on Monday night Football with Liza singing the Naitional anthem.

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purplekow Grand Master

+ purplekow

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You do not have to be gay to appreciated Troy Aikman naked.

Maybe Jerry Jones is on our team. I will never forget about his comment on how good Troy Aikman looked in the shower!
But black socks and shorts, definitely puts him off my gaydar.

 

 

http://images.terezowens.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Screen-Shot-2011-08-04-at-6.50.43-AM.png

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