Michael Sam and Tony Dungy

[Bret]

I've read the controversy that flared up last week. I've read Dungy's clarification released today. I wanted to go somewhere to vent my feelings on the topic where either they won't be misunderstood, or if they are I can contain the hate to one place. That's here!

Living in the too-much-information age combined with today's political climate, Michael Sam will always be a homosexual first, and an NFL player somewhere after that (maybe not always, but at least the next few years). I'm not saying that's right or wrong or good or bad, that's just the reality.

A head coach is powerless to change this sort of reality. All he can do is work around it. With that said, I don't blame Dungy one bit. A head coach is there to run a football team, not to initiate some sort of social change. He's absolutely right when he said that it would be a distraction, and I wouldn't want to deal with it, either. The media shitstorm of the last week is only serving to prove Dungy correct.

If anyone is to blame for this, I blame Sam himself. He should have been smart enough to know the political climate, and that when he decided to come out all he was going to be in the eyes of most of the media is a gay man and not a football player. I'm not saying the guy should have denied who he is. I'm saying he should have been smart enough to know it was a distraction and keep his mouth shut about what most football fans don't give a shit about, anyway.

Or, maybe he did this intentionally, in an ultimately failed attempt to go higher in the draft. But, I'm just coming up with conspiracy theories now...

[TheNorm]

I'm going to word this as delicately as possible: oh horseshit.

Tony Dungy's a f*cking hypocrite. This is the same guy that said to give Michael Vick another shot after he got out of prison for his role in a dogfighting operation. Vick even had cameras following him around once he got out...what, that's not a distraction? Give me a f*cking break. By your rationale, once Vick got out of prison, he'd always be a dog killer first, and an NFL player somewhere after that. That's just the reality...and teams seemed to deal with it just fine. Eventually the news moved on to something else, as they always do.

Michael Sam informed his teammates prior to his senior year at Missouri. It was such a distraction to that team they only went 12-2 (7-1 in the SEC). Granted the media and the world didn't know, but his teammates sure seemed to handle it just swell. That's what counts.

Hey, you don't want to draft a guy because you feel he'll fail to be a viable player in the NFL, by all means that's fine-plenty of teams did that for nearly six rounds. But if you're of the impression that your team can't handle the temporary scrutiny of drafting the first openly gay player in the NFL and that's why they passed him up, then your team just sucks (if they can't handle that then they sure as hell can't handle many other distractions like a football player dealing drugs, killing dogs, or punching his girlfriend in an elevator).

And as far as the guy keeping his mouth shut about who he is, once again: horse shit.

[Bret]

Well, first off, for the record, I do see Michael Vick as a dog killer first, and an NFL player after that. That could be because I always thought he was vastly overrated as a player before the dog fighting scandal broke.

And, now that you mention it, maybe Dungy is a hypocrite. What you also gotta remember though is that Dungy is a hardcore Christian, and a black man. Those two groups of people aren't the most accepting of the homosexual community, and perhaps that played a part in Dungy's decision. Not trying to get racial or anything, but generally speaking the black community places a lot of emphasis on family. Black guys are just generally expected to grow up, get married, have children of their own, and be a strong father. Gay guys have a difficult time with those things. I imagine being a black gay guy is the most challenging gay guy to be.

You use the word "scrutiny". That's not so much what I was thinking. I was thinking more like "Hey, look at Sam, he's gay and playing in the NFL" will always come up before "Wow, look at that awesome tackle Sam just made". Or "Sam just picked up a fumble and ran it all the way back for six". That's the kind of situation I was saying that I didn't blame Dungy for wanting to avoid.

Additionally, let's be honest here...an NFL locker room isn't the most socially-advanced, nurturing environment one can be in. There's going to be bigotry. Do you just pass on the one guy in the draft, or do you spend the entire season trying to flush out and fire all the bigots, hoping that after you're done you'll still have enough guys to field a team?

Again, I'm not saying this is right or wrong or good or bad. I'm not saying heat is good, I'm just giving you the weather forecast. Situations aren't always black and white for a head football coach, and there are some pretty shitty choices that those guys are forced to make sometimes.

My personal opinion: I don't give a shit who he has sex with. My apathy runs so deep that I don't want to hear about it at all because I just don't care. Football is here to appeal to my competitive and violent nature, not my sexual nature. That being said, this whole thing would have been easier if the first openly-gay player in the league would have been an elite player. While time will tell, it doesn't seem as if Sam is an elite. An elite player would have been applauded for his abilities on the field first, and then the fact that he is gay would have been an irrelevant side-note, which would have resulted in a much easier process of the integration of the openly-gay players of the future.

Now that I'm tirading, I'm going to blame the media themselves for much of this shitstorm. Dungy's comments really weren't what could be considered "newsworthy". I mean, really...how to they really change the course of history? They just knew it would incite controversy, resulting in more mouse clicks and higher TV ratings for a couple of days, which means more money for them. Of course they're going to make mountains out of molehills if they think it will stir the shit enough.

[TheNorm]

If someone's got a problem with Michael Sam playing in the NFL, that's on them and not on Sam. And in my eyes, "Hey, look at Sam, he's gay and playing in the NFL" sounds awfully similar to "Hey, look at Jackie Robinson, he's black and playing baseball". Did that happen for a little while? Absolutely. But did people get over it? Most did, and to hell with the ones that didn't.

That applies to the locker room too. Like I said before, his teammates at Missouri knew for an entire season, and while we may never know everything that went on most of his teammates seemed to support him and the team did just fine. If a player in the locker room in St. Louis has a problem with his orientation, then that's his problem.

And for the record (not that it matters), I don't care about his sexual orientation either. If he can play, then he can play. That being said, for good or bad what he is matters to a lot of people. Did he do it for the attention? Maybe he did, maybe he didn't, I really don't know or care. But if one person-say, a kid in high school or in college-can look at his example and say 'hey, you know what? If he can be brave enough to step forward, then so can I', then this is all worth it. Michael Sam took that step, and if helps others follow then by all means have at it.

[Crewe]

If we are taking Dungy's quote as is, then I agree with Bret.
Moreover, he was asked a direct question and he answered it.
But, to norm's point, he's right, this doesn't fall in line with Dungy's history ala Vick.
This may very well have been his way of saying he wouldnt take a gay guy based on his beliefs and it may explain the hypocrisy.  I don't agree with the black guy not generally being gay, expected to be q family man etc...well, I just disagree with all of that, but, it's moot to the argument.
I don't blame Sam at all in any fashion for any of this whirlwind.
If I were guessing, he probably did it for a myriad of reasons, one of which, to get ahead of the media.  It would have been abundantly worse if he stayed in the closet and then the yellow journalists discover he's gay after the fact.

I think the locker room will ultimately be fine like norm described. 
the nature is, as noted, is one of machismo run amuck.  Having been in blue collar jobs and locker rooms, we all know that you find the weak guy, pick on him, haze him, jack with him, harass him, whatever you want to call it, but thats the gist of the situation. Doesnt mean we dont like them and all that.  With Sam though, it's going to be different, even better I'd think because of the scrutiny.  People are going to be careful and mindful of what they say and do, and yea, didnt seem to hurt them at Mizzou.
I cannot believe its 2014 and we are so freakin up in arms about this.  Cant we get back to the regular crap this stupid country obsesses about like, well...I guess... gays.  Nevermind.

[Bret]

Crewe gotta good point in that getting ahead of the media might have been a good idea.

I got no problem with him being gay. But, I hate how being his being gay has put him center-stage, and has given him much more media attention than better players who were drafted far earlier.

[rollntider]

I think of Vick as Ron Mexico and a Dog killer/Fighter.
I think of Michael Sam as a Football player that is in to dudes. (If he was playing for the cowboys or chiefs and getting 50 sacks a game, he is cool in my book)

DO i like that he is gay? Who cares, its none of my business. I have some gay friends and do not like that lifestyle. DO I hate them? nope, I don't discuss gay issues with them because we would not agree. I am not for or against gay marriage. I am against the government giving marriage licenses in the first place. Let people make their household however they want to. If they want it to be a religious marriage ceremony  and a church will do it, then that is between those people , the church and their God.

Why does the government have to give out license for people to live together? Gay or straight its the couple's business. As for the tax break issue, allow the same tax benefits for any couple that want to claim "Co Habitation". No marriage has to happen, no religion is offended and the government and the nightly news is out of peoples bedroom.

[Crewe]

Agreed. As long as people pay their taxes and are decent citizens, why the hell should anyone care?
But, so many people are so shortsighted, hotheaded and raised with ignorance, the politicians and journalists keep it atop the news headlines because it's what the masses want to discuss. 

tider, I wish more people would take that approach.  I have a few friends polara opposite of me on the political spectrum and we can discuss certain things rationally and we all know that, but we also know what we dont agree on so we dont discuss it, but, if it comes up, we reinforce our stance and move on.
Same with gays and everything else.  Cant we just treat people as people with different views and/or lifestyles and not condemn them if they arent exactly like us?