NFL Thread

[shel311]

DE Michael Sam of Mizzou says he is gay. 1st openly gay athlete in the NFL draft, so says CBS sports.

Really surprised by the lack of conversation concerning this here on the boards.

I think the reason is that it was just a slow NDL board weekend.

That being said, he was supposed to be a late round pick, from what I recall. Personally, I don't think we should make that much of a big deal out of it like we did with Jason Collins.

If the dude gets drafted, it'll be quite the story then. If he makes a roster, same thing. In a perfect world, it shouldn't even be a story. But the first openly gay guy on an NFL roster, that would obviously warrant some attention.

[LetsGoPeay]

I understand where you are coming from here Wasted.

Personally, I couldnt care less. Who cares really.

I read through the comments section on the ESPN story and it was a combination of:
- Good for him
- Who cares?
- Does he want special treatment?
- Ignorance along the lines of "watch out when he tackles you!"
- Bible thumping

[Wasted Memory]

I understand where you are coming from here Wasted.

Personally, I couldnt care less. Who cares really.

Same boat. I don't really care. Didn't even bother reading anything on it, but nonetheless, still surprised there hasn't been a couple pages added to this thread regarding it.

[dakshdar]

DE Michael Sam of Mizzou says he is gay. 1st openly gay athlete in the NFL draft, so says CBS sports.

Really surprised by the lack of conversation concerning this here on the boards.

I think the reason is that it was just a slow NDL board weekend.

That being said, he was supposed to be a late round pick, from what I recall. Personally, I don't think we should make that much of a big deal out of it like we did with Jason Collins.

If the dude gets drafted, it'll be quite the story then. If he makes a roster, same thing. In a perfect world, it shouldn't even be a story. But the first openly gay guy on an NFL roster, that would obviously warrant some attention.

The article I read said he should be drafted in the first 3 rounds and if he isn't then it will be a clear sign the teams are too concerned with the sexual orientation.

He was All-American and SEC Defensive Player of the Year. We're not talking about a back-up long snapper.

The interesting thing is the guy didn't wait to get drafted.

[Cnasty]

I understand where you are coming from here Wasted.

Personally, I couldnt care less. Who cares really.

Same boat. I don't really care. Didn't even bother reading anything on it, but nonetheless, still surprised there hasn't been a couple pages added to this thread regarding it.

Couple pages?? Whoa

Its the "cool" thing to do now with all of these guys coming out. Good for him, who cares.

[ReignOnU]

I'm more intrigued by the fact that the whole team has known all year and nothing was made of it during this time.

I watched the interview last night and it's not really like he's coming out so that he can be a major advocate. Happy for him and hope everything works out well.

[steelcitychaos]

1st---good for him
2nd---I was watching NFL AM and they were talking to the ex-gm of the texans and he said that the only issue he sees in SAM is his height, he is listed at 6'0, the GM went on to say that because of his height and lack of burst that could hurt him more than anything because the lack of under 6'0 outside LB/DE in the nfl, he did mention Dumverville and Harrison in his hay day but the list has very few to compare him to.

3rd---Do you think that because of what teams might be thinking about him concerning his height and speed that he decided to make the announcement because A.) if he isn't drafted or doesn't make it with a team then he or his reps can say that the NFL can not handle a Gay NFL player OR Gooddell tells a team to take him to help the NFL avoid the black eye of him not being drafted?

[Cnasty]

Sam originally planned to announce he is gay after May’s 2014 NFL draft. But to prevent someone else from breaking the news, Sam decided to come out on Sunday night.

“I think the timing of Mike’s announcement was really based off of the reactions that we’ve received the last few weeks from not only front-office personnel, but journalists, as well,” Sam’s agent Joe Barkett said on NFL Network’s NFL A.M. “When we were in Mobile for the Senior Bowl, Michael was being approached by people left and right by people trying to break his story, and it was something Mike wanted to do after the draft originally. Then we kind of regrouped and discussed if Mike would still be able to do it on his terms at that point in time. And Mike and the rest of us felt that now this time was a little more appropriate where he could take control of the situation instead of being forced to tell his story after somebody else had broken it.”

[dakshdar]

1st---good for him
2nd---I was watching NFL AM and they were talking to the ex-gm of the texans and he said that the only issue he sees in SAM is his height, he is listed at 6'0, the GM went on to say that because of his height and lack of burst that could hurt him more than anything because the lack of under 6'0 outside LB/DE in the nfl, he did mention Dumverville and Harrison in his hay day but the list has very few to compare him to.

3rd---Do you think that because of what teams might be thinking about him concerning his height and speed that he decided to make the announcement because A.) if he isn't drafted or doesn't make it with a team then he or his reps can say that the NFL can not handle a Gay NFL player OR Gooddell tells a team to take him to help the NFL avoid the black eye of him not being drafted?

He's listed at 6'2" and 255 lbs everywhere I've checked. Are they saying that the team exaggerated his height on his player bio? He's about the size of a hybrid DE/LB, which as been all the rage the last 5 years.

And his draft reviews before he came out stated the opposite in terms of "lack of burst".

12/26/13 - CBSSPORTS.COM ALL-AMERICANS: FIRST-TEAM DEFENSE AS NFL DRAFT PROSPECTS: DE - Michael Sam, Sr., Missouri: In leading the SEC with 18 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks through the regular season, Sam certainly has the production against top competition to intrigue scouts. He's very quick off the snap, showing the ability to attack off the edge as well as the burst to penetrate through gaps. At 6-foot-2, 255 pounds, Sam could earn the dreaded 'tweener label from scouts who may see him as too short for defensive end and a project as a stand-up outside linebacker, pushing the productive defender into the second or even third round. Sam's 6-foot-5, 275-pound teammate, Kony Ealy, in fact, ranks higher on NFLDraftScout.com's rankings. - Rob Rang, NFLDraftScout.com

Yahoo (yeah, yeah, maybe not the go to spot for NFL draft stuff but) predicted Sam at #32 to Denver here:
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutd ... --nfl.html

Hard to believe that someone predicted to go first round in any mock suddenly isn't going in the first few rounds.

[nick]

yes, teams exaggerate bios. They wrote Manziel is 6'2 and hes said himself hes 6 foot. Charles Barkley said they added 2-3 inches to his height too. It happens all the time

[steelcitychaos]

That's what that charlie casserly was saying this morning that he feels the bios were exaggerated but the combine will determine if they were.

[packsyd2284]

I think this topic should be in the not so worthy news thread. If he can ball who the hell cares?

[fsupenguin]

I think a lot of teams will say nice things about him, but when it comes down to it I won't be shocked if he doesn't get drafted. I'm sure he will get signed as a free agent though. Regardless of your take on his lifestyle, it will be a distraction initially for whatever team he joins. Having said that I do think it will cease to be much of a story if he has success on the field and sticks with a team, but if he struggles it will no doubt be a topic of debate.

[GeorgesGoons]

I think this topic should be in the not so worthy news thread. If he can ball who the hell cares?

I really debated on this thread and the not so newsworthy thread, because I am sure most can give a rats ass about his sexual preference. But with the culture and public comments from a few NFL stars I figured it was a newsworthy story.

I am like wasted, I figured there would be some discussion on him coming out. Oh well, I tried to bring some interest on a slow weekend.

[packsyd2284]

I always find it comical when straight guys would feel uncomfortable being in a locker room with a gay dude. If you know you like girls, then why do you care? It's not like the guy is gonna try to give you a reach around while you're giving an interview.......

[Cnasty]

So the Browns have now fired their head coach, CEO, and GM all within a years time?

Cleaning house!

[ChampDizzle]

So the Browns have now fired their head coach, CEO, and GM all within a years time?

Cleaning house!

collection fund for seeit?

[dakshdar]

So the Browns have now fired their head coach, CEO, and GM all within a years time?

Cleaning house!

So weird. How do they ever expect to be good if they keep doing this? Essentially, they want to strike gold in one season by suddenly turning from crap to awesome and then they'll keep their coaching/management? If not, sweep out and start again the next year?

Can I place a bet now that they don't make the playoffs next season?

[Cnasty]

Sounds like most of the OOTP owners mentality as well.

heyyyy yooooooooo.

[trendon]

If Sam is not drafted in the first four rounds, it is because of something other than his ability to play football. Period.