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Michael Sam: spotlight on NFL reaction as gay draft prospect's stock falls Michael Sam: NFL prospect's stock falls after coming out in a man's-man game
(35 minutes later)
Are gay rights in sport a bit like feminism, in that they've "gone too far the other way now"? I do admire that line of reasoning as far as us birds go, and always remember to resist the temptation to reply: Oh God yes. And given it was too far your way for literally thousands of years, I'm totally clearing my 9018 diary to have this conversation with you then. In the meantime, make us a cup of tea, there's a love.Are gay rights in sport a bit like feminism, in that they've "gone too far the other way now"? I do admire that line of reasoning as far as us birds go, and always remember to resist the temptation to reply: Oh God yes. And given it was too far your way for literally thousands of years, I'm totally clearing my 9018 diary to have this conversation with you then. In the meantime, make us a cup of tea, there's a love.
And so to the struggle against homophobia in the big pro sports, where each time a footballer comes out – or rather, on the two occasions a footballer has come out, safely after his retirement – you will find no shortage of clear-eyed idiots dismissing the gesture on the basis that the focus on their announcement is ludicrous. "Why is this even a news story?" they will wonder. "Who cares?" they will inquire rhetorically. "Sexuality is an irrelevance."And so to the struggle against homophobia in the big pro sports, where each time a footballer comes out – or rather, on the two occasions a footballer has come out, safely after his retirement – you will find no shortage of clear-eyed idiots dismissing the gesture on the basis that the focus on their announcement is ludicrous. "Why is this even a news story?" they will wonder. "Who cares?" they will inquire rhetorically. "Sexuality is an irrelevance."
On the contrary, alas. Sexuality should be an irrelevance, but it absolutely isn't, and anyone still fannying about under the misapprehension that the focus on it is a media nonsense, or maybe something the gays have cooked up as cover for their advancing strategy of global domination (see also: the Jews/women/people who don't think Short Change is the real story behind 9/11) is cordially directed to the most sobering of reports in Sports Illustrated. On the contrary, alas. Sexuality should be an irrelevance, but it absolutely isn't, and anyone still fannying about under the misapprehension that the focus on it is a media nonsense, or maybe something the gays have cooked up as cover for their advancing strategy of global domination (see also: the Jews/women/people who don't think Loose Change is the real story behind 9/11) is cordially directed to the most sobering of reports in Sports Illustrated.
The occasion for the article was the coming out of the Missouri defensive lineman Michael Sam, who has chosen a wildly unconventional moment for his already wildly unconventional announcement, and one that guarantees the next few months will see unprecedented focus on the NFL's culture. Far from revealing he is gay after retirement, Sam is a college player who has chosen to do so before entering the NFL draft in May. Before his press conference last Sunday, he was an All American, Missouri's MVP, a Cotton Bowl winner, and the Associated Press's defensive player of the year for the Southeastern Conference. And now he's all those things, as well as out. Is he still a likely third-round draft pick?The occasion for the article was the coming out of the Missouri defensive lineman Michael Sam, who has chosen a wildly unconventional moment for his already wildly unconventional announcement, and one that guarantees the next few months will see unprecedented focus on the NFL's culture. Far from revealing he is gay after retirement, Sam is a college player who has chosen to do so before entering the NFL draft in May. Before his press conference last Sunday, he was an All American, Missouri's MVP, a Cotton Bowl winner, and the Associated Press's defensive player of the year for the Southeastern Conference. And now he's all those things, as well as out. Is he still a likely third-round draft pick?
Well, that brings us to the reports. Instead of going the conventional route, and simply collecting the tweeted well-wishes of various sportsfolk, balanced with the odd few characters of keep-'em-out bigotry from an embittered ex-pro, Sports Illustrated did something far more interesting. It spoke – anonymously – to eight NFL executives and coaches for a piece headlined "How will news that Michael Sam is gay affect his NFL draft stock?". The results were what might be euphemised as sobering. All eight predicted a slide.Well, that brings us to the reports. Instead of going the conventional route, and simply collecting the tweeted well-wishes of various sportsfolk, balanced with the odd few characters of keep-'em-out bigotry from an embittered ex-pro, Sports Illustrated did something far more interesting. It spoke – anonymously – to eight NFL executives and coaches for a piece headlined "How will news that Michael Sam is gay affect his NFL draft stock?". The results were what might be euphemised as sobering. All eight predicted a slide.
"In blunt terms," summarised Sports Illustrated, "they project a significant drop in Sam's draft stock, a publicity circus and an NFL locker room culture not prepared to deal with an openly gay player.""In blunt terms," summarised Sports Illustrated, "they project a significant drop in Sam's draft stock, a publicity circus and an NFL locker room culture not prepared to deal with an openly gay player."
"This is going to drop him down," explained a veteran NFL scout. "It's still a man's-man game," opined an NFL player personnel assistant, who added: "It'd chemically imbalance an NFL locker room." "Not a smart move," was the withering verdict of one assistant coach, saying it "affects [his] future earnings". The inevitable media circus Sam will now draw was cited by a couple, while another returned to there being "nothing more sensitive than the heartbeat of that locker room"."This is going to drop him down," explained a veteran NFL scout. "It's still a man's-man game," opined an NFL player personnel assistant, who added: "It'd chemically imbalance an NFL locker room." "Not a smart move," was the withering verdict of one assistant coach, saying it "affects [his] future earnings". The inevitable media circus Sam will now draw was cited by a couple, while another returned to there being "nothing more sensitive than the heartbeat of that locker room".
To read the Sports Illustrated report is to be invited to press one's nose against the glass of the cigar lounge frequented by some of the people who actually make decisions in the NFL – and the vista is not desperately appealing. It is, however, familiar to students of previous rights struggles in sports, especially that old chestnut about this sort of thing being preferable at some handily unspecified point in the future. Football wasn't "ready" now, but might be "in the coming decade or two", apparently. Perhaps these caution-mongers and all those leery executives wringing their hands about a media circus – oh do man up! – might consider that an awful lot of people didn't think 1947 was the right time for Jackie Robinson to break baseball's colour line. A decade or two would have been better then, no doubt. To read the Sports Illustrated report is to be invited to press one's nose against the glass of the cigar lounge frequented by some of the people who actually make decisions in the NFL – and the vista is not desperately appealing. It is, however, familiar to students of previous rights struggles in sports, especially that old chestnut about this sort of thing being preferable at some handily unspecified point in the future. Football wasn't "ready" now, but might be "in the coming decade or two", apparently. Perhaps these caution-mongers and all those leery executives wringing their hands about a media circus – oh do man up! – might consider that an awful lot of people didn't think 1947 was the right time for Jackie Robinson to break baseball's colour line. A decade or two would have been better then, no doubt.
As for what reflections the Sam story might cast on our own shores, and football in particular, I found it offered a useful shift in perspective. When discussing the possibility of high-profile footballers coming out, it has become conventional – not to the exclusion of all else, but conventional – to frame it as a matter of what sort of abuse they'd get from the fans or on the pitch, when the Sports Illustrated story does something far cannier and follows the money. Never mind what might happen to a gay player should they get picked away against Chelsea or whoever: isn't the far more engrossing question whether a gay player would get signed?As for what reflections the Sam story might cast on our own shores, and football in particular, I found it offered a useful shift in perspective. When discussing the possibility of high-profile footballers coming out, it has become conventional – not to the exclusion of all else, but conventional – to frame it as a matter of what sort of abuse they'd get from the fans or on the pitch, when the Sports Illustrated story does something far cannier and follows the money. Never mind what might happen to a gay player should they get picked away against Chelsea or whoever: isn't the far more engrossing question whether a gay player would get signed?
The debate has become so caught up with what social stigma being gay does or doesn't carry among the supporters. But what stigma does it carry among the people with the chequebooks – the people with all the power? What do the managers really think? What do the owners really think?The debate has become so caught up with what social stigma being gay does or doesn't carry among the supporters. But what stigma does it carry among the people with the chequebooks – the people with all the power? What do the managers really think? What do the owners really think?
Without wishing to be a cynic about the sort of people who control English football, you can't help thinking that the traditional focus on what those horrid opponents and fans might say plays right into the hands of the real big hitters, whose prejudices would carry far more weight than those of some idiot in row 31.Without wishing to be a cynic about the sort of people who control English football, you can't help thinking that the traditional focus on what those horrid opponents and fans might say plays right into the hands of the real big hitters, whose prejudices would carry far more weight than those of some idiot in row 31.