Michael Sam - NFL's first openly gay prospect

[stlouie_lipp]

I hate all of those people for having reality shows. All of them.

And the people who watch them.

[stlouie_lipp]

What stinks about it is that I now start to wonder how much of his story has been orchestrated. Not that he's gay, but things like the "kiss". I had my doubts from the start about coming out to the whole team in college. Just seemed hard to believe that no one would have leaked that. Hell, not even the NSA can keep secrets anymore. Not saying it didn't happen, but now I think it is fair game to question what was "real". And it stinks because it was such a good story that is now somewhat tainted.

[StL Dan]

What stinks about it is that I now start to wonder how much of his story has been orchestrated. Not that he's gay, but things like the "kiss". I had my doubts from the start about coming out to the whole team in college. Just seemed hard to believe that no one would have leaked that. Hell, not even the NSA can keep secrets anymore. Not saying it didn't happen, but now I think it is fair game to question what was "real". And it stinks because it was such a good story that is now somewhat tainted.

this is where i am on this too.

[Jocephus]

i guess

[ghostrunner]

I hate reality shows but you can just as easily suggest the reality show is both self promotion and in the interest of helping gay people. I can see the show being pitched to or by him that way, and sincerely. It's also financially a smart way to take advantage of his situation. Like cowbell said, it's doesn't have to be one thing or the other.

[pioneer98]

What stinks about it is that I now start to wonder how much of his story has been orchestrated. Not that he's gay, but things like the "kiss". I had my doubts from the start about coming out to the whole team in college. Just seemed hard to believe that no one would have leaked that. Hell, not even the NSA can keep secrets anymore. Not saying it didn't happen, but now I think it is fair game to question what was "real". And it stinks because it was such a good story that is now somewhat tainted.

What you are describing is a classic conflict of interest. It does not matter whether he is being true or if he is staging things for the cameras...For it to be a conflict it only has to have the appearance that he might have staged something for the cameras. Whether his actions are true or fake is not the point. It just has to look bad or questionable. The only way to resolve a conflict of interest is to remove yourself from it. The upshot is that anyone questioning whether his actions are "real" or just "for show" is legit. Because we don't know.

[go birds]

let's be honest...who the [expletive] watches own except women who already don't care about sam being gay.

[ghostrunner]

I don't see why his motivation matters either way. Does he have to be 100% selfless for what he's done to have value?

[pioneer98]

I don't see why his motivation matters either way. Does he have to be 100% selfless for what he's done to have value?

No, he doesn't have to be 100% selfless in order for it to have some value.

Ideally, people want the example he is setting and the message out of this to be "Be yourself!"

People don't want the message to be "Be yourself! Except a little exaggeration might be OK when the cameras are rolling..."

So he's a notch or two below the "ideal" candidate now to be the first openly gay player. That's all.

[Socnorb11]

Reality shows attract viewers and make money by exploiting people. I think that's pretty universally understood. The fact that he's OK with being exploited for some cash definitely makes his motives questionable, in my opinion.