William Owens
MC301 Contributor
After recording 10.5 sacks his senior season, being named defensive player of the year for the South Eastern Conference, a conference that has produced national champions for three of the past four seasons, Michael Sam once again finds himself on the news.
This time the 6 foot 2, 250 pound defensive end is under the microscope for something off of the field. Last week, to the surprise of many, the University of Missouri standout announced that he was gay.
Many people were excited, the projected fourth round pick would be the first openly gay player in the NFL, and this could possibly make the transition easier for other players to comfortably reveal their sexual identity.
Naquel Augustine, a junior biology major from Baton Rouge, La. said, “I believe that a gay football player can help make the transition smoother to other sports.”
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was one of the people that was elated to hear the news. Goodell tweeted “Good for him” via NFL spokesman Greg Aiello’s twitter. He continued, “He’s proud of who he is, and had the courage to say it.” Goodell explained the policy that the NFL has prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, and said that there will be a training to make sure that everyone understands the commitment to the policy.
“The Announcement” was not a thrill to everyone though; especially Michael Sam Sr. According to The LA Times, Sam Sr. was celebrating his birthday at Denny’s when he received a text from his son. The text said, “Dad I’m gay.”
Sam Sr. said in an interview, “I couldn’t even eat anymore. I don’t want my grandkids being raised in that kind of environment.” Sam Sr. was not the only person that had comments that were not supportive of Sam Jr’s announcement.
Devonta Woods, a junior pre-physical therapy major said, “I do not know if I would have been able to react differently than Sam Sr., but I would still love and accept my son nonetheless.”
Sports Illustrated published two separate articles speaking with 12 different NFL GM’s, coaches, and scouts about Sam’s announcement, and whether it could affect his draft stock. Multiple NFL executives have gone on the record by saying that the league is not ready for Michael Sam.
An anonymous team official said, “There’s nothing more sensitive than the heartbeat of the locker room. If you knowingly bring someone in with that sexual orientation, how are other guys going to deal with it? It’s going to be a distraction. That’s the reality.”
“Team chemistry is often undervalued from a fan’s perspective, and many people don’t realize how a negative shift in team chemistry could negatively affect a team’s play,” said Jesse Gresham, a sophomore criminal justice major from Ruleville, Miss.
The question remains, will this ‘distraction’ affect Sam’s in the upcoming NFL Draft?
Sheldon Richardson, Defensive Rookie of the Year and former roommate of Sam, told SportsNet New York that he believes that Sam will be welcomed to whatever NFL locker room he is drafted.
Richardson stated, “I believe so, unless your team is immature-minded, if guys can’t get past that that’s just crazy. It just might be weird at first for you, if you’re not used to it, but sexuality has nothing to do with him being on a football field.
Everything from this point on involving Michael Sam is in the air. Will his draft stock plummet from the predicted fourth round pick that he was a week ago? Does a General Manager take an estimated locker room chemistry risk, and draft him? One thing is for certain whether Michael Sam ever makes it to the Hall of Fame; he will always be considered a legend for ‘The Announcement.’
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