Meet Me in St Louis.
For supporters of LGBT and NFL fans, a first. Michael Sam is now the first openly gay player drafted by the NFL by the St Louis Rams.
Now for the technocrats I have been hearing over the past few days about the numbers he put up in the brief draft test stats. I have been watching the NFL since I was a kid. You cannot take one stat as a full sample and not even which round a player is picked can tell you what kind of career they will have. I have seen plenty of top picks peter out within a season or two, and I have seen later round drafters go on to have long carreers.
Darrell Green was only 5'8" and even back then that was short for a player. When you take Sam's background into account he has tons of heart. So lets see now, like any other player, if he can adapt and improve.
That video of him getting the word was sweet, it made me cry. But I also liked his comment afterwords, something like "After all those teams passed on me and then I finally got picked all I could think about was what I was going to do to their quarterbacks". AWESOME!
GO MIKEY GO RAMS!
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
Check out my poetry here on Rational Responders Like my poetry thread on Facebook under Brian James Rational Poet, @Brianrrs37 on Twitter and my blog at www.brianjamesrationalpoet.blog
- Login to post comments
Personally, I think it is a little sad that people find such a need to make a big deal out of it. If he wasn't gay and attracting all this media attention, he probably wouldn't have been drafted and would have been picked up at a minimum contract in free agency. He is basically the leftist version of Tebow and like Tebow, will be more remembered for the publicity he garners than any achievements in the sport.
And really? Did you compare him to Darrell Green?
If, if a white man puts his arm around me voluntarily, that's brotherhood. But if you - if you hold a gun on him and make him embrace me and pretend to be friendly or brotherly toward me, then that's not brotherhood, that's hypocrisy.- Malcolm X
I can't wait until fans can finally celebrate the signing of the NFL's first albino player, what a civil rights milestone that will be...
I saw on a CNN sports segment the day before the draft that Sam had a horrible combine and bad senior bowl. Face it, if he wasn't gay he likely would not have been selected at all.
You guys need to look at the Rams history to see how horrible they are at draft picks. Many of their picks are no longer in the league just a few years later. For example, look at Jason Smith. He was the 2nd OVERALL pick in 2007 and now he's out of the league! And he is 6'5" and over 300 lbs.!
It doesn't matter if Sam is gay or straight. He just doesn't seem like a very good player and likely won't be in the league too long if the Rams history holds true!
Click here to find out why Christianity is the biggest fairy tale ever created!! www.nobeliefs.com/exist.htm www.JesusNEVERexisted.com
Who the fuck is making it an issue? Micheal Sam? Or those who support the rights of gays? How the fuck is doing the right thing "sad". What is sad are fucking homophobes. And you are the second fucking moron who equated him to Tebow. Tebow is not an oppressed minority, Michael Sam is. Was it him kissing another man on TV that you think he was "showing off"? So I suppose when heterosexual couples do the same in the same context they are "showing off" their sexuality too?
Same stupid arguments were made about black players and mixed race marriages for that matter. The only people to blame for him having to make it an issue are the homophobes, not him, not his supporters.
His sexuality should not be the issue, but your response shows tons of ignorance and how far gays still have to go. The same argument you make now was made over womens right to vote issues and blacks as well. He isn't open to make a circus or novelty out of his life. He is doing it because he wants a future where no one makes it an issue. When most states still ban gay marriage and you still have religious people condemning it, and even here in North Carolina even liberal blacks voted to ban gay marriage, only a fool would find it sad that he was brave enough to be open about it. It is not a matter of him milking his minority status, it is a matter of simply being himself in public like any other person would want the ability to do.
And as far as Darrel Green only in the matter of height. 5'8" was small even back when he played. With what I hear about Sams college stats and overcomming adversity off of the feild, I think if he learns during camp and improves during camp, he will earn his spot on the team.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
Check out my poetry here on Rational Responders Like my poetry thread on Facebook under Brian James Rational Poet, @Brianrrs37 on Twitter and my blog at www.brianjamesrationalpoet.blog
When you cant argue stats you make it about his sexuality, when you cant argue his sexuality you make it about his stats. Same arguments were made when the first black baseball player got on a major leage team. Same arguments were made when the first black played in the NFL.
Do me a favor, lets say this guy sucks so bad they cut him, the next gay player, which there will be, who gets a starting position and then has a 3-13 start, or the next gay player that has a 12-4 start, SHUT THE FUCK UP.
In the future when a gay player gets to the Pro Bowl or holds up the Lombardi trophy and kisses their husband or boyfriend on the feild in celebration, remember what you guys said here. Because you will be making the same stupid arguments then as well.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
Check out my poetry here on Rational Responders Like my poetry thread on Facebook under Brian James Rational Poet, @Brianrrs37 on Twitter and my blog at www.brianjamesrationalpoet.blog
There wouldn't be a need for "first this"or "first that" of any kind if there were not xenophobes prior. You demean all human struggle by making light of such an issue. Place blame where it belongs, on the bigots, not on the people struggling for equality.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
Check out my poetry here on Rational Responders Like my poetry thread on Facebook under Brian James Rational Poet, @Brianrrs37 on Twitter and my blog at www.brianjamesrationalpoet.blog
People use humor in every conceivable situation. In fact I consider your every post to be a joke.
Bigotry and malice? That's only done by people who watch Fox News and vote Republican, am I right ?
No bigotry exists because of our lack of understanding of our own evolutionary grouping behavior. It would be nice if the world were bigotry free, but it is not and it will always be a contining struggle.
Now I think where people have a problem with me is that they confuse bluntness and blasphemy cussing for bigotry and malice. If no one deserves a pass that includes me as well. If no one deserves a pass that includes atheists as well. Context matters which is the part people forget.
In the context of government law and human rights, that SHOULD ALWAYS be something we protect. Having said that, there is a HUGE difference between hate of a group and hating a claim or a concept itself. I will not apologize for attacking the sexism and bigotry of Islam. I will not apologize for attacking the homophobia of religion. I will not apologize for attacking absurd claims of any religion that have no bases in evidence.
Now if Sam says he is a Christian, he would still have the same problems with me on that given claim itself. Not only would he be supporting a history of homophobia in this case, most blacks who are Christian today are from ancestors who were forced to convert by white Christians. But again, just because I would agree with his rights as a gay man would not mean he would get a pass on other claims. If he were an openly gay atheist with the same economic veiws as Ayn Rand I would NOT support his economic views.
Same with Malala. In Pakistan and the area she was shot she was oppressed and bullied by religious people who claimed Allah didn't want girls to get educations. Defending her right to an education does not mean I owe any claim of any God a pass, not hers, not any.
And I also do not owe atheists any loyalty oath other than from a secular government standpoint in the right to be open about any claim they make. I also have the right to disagree and even blaspheme any claim an atheist might make as well.
Rights and claims are separate issues.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
Check out my poetry here on Rational Responders Like my poetry thread on Facebook under Brian James Rational Poet, @Brianrrs37 on Twitter and my blog at www.brianjamesrationalpoet.blog
Well, you are the one who thought it was worthwhile to make a thread about the guy who was the 249th pick of the draft and not about the 248th or the 250th pick for apparently no reason other than he is openly gay. On NFL.com right now, Sam is the headline of the first four stories, none of them homophobic, despite the fact that he is unlikely to ever play in a regular season game. I haven't read a single news article claiming that gays can't play football, and even those who have suggested that it might pose some "problem" in the locker room haven't been homophobic rednecks, they have been pro gay rights people discussing their "fears" that it might be a problem. So yeah, you are the one making an issue simply because he is gay and that is insulting to gays imo. Sam shouldn't be treated any differently than anyone else drafted in the 7th round.
Have you ever read any of my posts? I have a hunch that I spend way more time in gay bars than you do.
Show me ONE news article written by a homophobe railing against Sam, just one. Comparing him to Jackie Robinson or Kenny Washington is ridiculous. Any discrimination that he experiences will be nothing at all like those men went through.
Then why are you making it an issue? Based on his stats, he was a 4th round pick at best before the combine. He botched the combine and had a bad Pro day. For most NFL prospects, that would mean you are lucky to be drafted at all. The reason so many teams passed on him has nothing to do with his sexuality and everything to do with his numbers, which right or wrong is the number one thing that NFL scouts look at when making draft picks.
I don't think he is, I think you are taking advantage of his status for your own soapbox. You and your ilk love to line yourselves up as the "Champions of Victims" and come in on your moral highhorse. The reality is, that most of the people who actually demolish any boundaries that minorities face don't see themselves as moral crusaders. They don't set out to be the "first" anything, they do what they love and what they do well. And the reason they broke down the barriers was solely because they were so skilled that bigots couldn't ignore them. The fact that such a relatively poor player was drafted being openly gay is evidence that the whole "NFL is anti-gay" thing is a fiction in your head.
I think RGIII handled it best when the media tried to make his race an issue, he said (paraphrasing) "I don't want to be the best black quarterback. I want to be the best quarterback." It is insulting to any minority to put them on a different playing field and compare them only to other people in their minority group. You are implicitly assuming that they are incapable of competing.
Darrel Green was a phenomenal player who went in the first round despite his size because he was phenomenal. Sam is at best a mediocre player who also lacks natural physical characteristics that can help make up for lack of skill. You aren't talking about him because he is a phenom or someone likely to make it to the hall of fame. The ONLY reason you are talking about him is because he is openly gay.
If, if a white man puts his arm around me voluntarily, that's brotherhood. But if you - if you hold a gun on him and make him embrace me and pretend to be friendly or brotherly toward me, then that's not brotherhood, that's hypocrisy.- Malcolm X
i don't know which "people" you're talking about, but certainly no one here. the problems all the atheists on this site have with you are,
a., you avoid arguments that are potentially embarrassing for you (like being challenged to produce quotes when you strawman people's arguments or ignoring corrections when you get your facts wrong),
b., you oversimplify pretty much everything, and tout that as if it were a virtue,
c., you blatantly lie about other people's arguments and motivations (and blatantly ignore their objections),
d., you refuse to ever recognize even a shred of validity in any other views but your own,
e., you refuse to ever admit you're wrong about anything, and
f., you are an ignoramus who defiantly refuses to be educated about anything on which you've already made up your mind.
i'm sorry if you find any of these points too "politically correct." i didn't realize that calling someone out for being a fucking dick is now considered politically correct.
you are, quite possibly, the most close-minded person currently on this site. and you should know better. shame on you.
"I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright. . . . Or maybe 'stupid' is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I. . . . And I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots."
--Hunter S. Thompson
That is the most accurate dissection of Brian's delusional thought process that I have ever read. Bravo.
I concur.
Regarding the topic, I'll be happier when such stupid shit isn't news anymore. Like I give a rats ass who a celebrity sleeps with.
Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.