Michael Sam - NFL's first openly gay prospect

[cardsfansince82]

Well that post disappeared before I could reply, but I really don't think him getting cut would be that big of a deal. I think a team spending a draft pick on him is a bigger sign of progress than him playing a snap in a game. Jeff Fisher's actions and comments have me convinced he's getting a fair shot. If he doesn't make the team, it's for legit football reasons. I'm sure the media will try to make it a story, but I don't see it having legs.

Obviously it would be nice for him to make it so the next guy isn't a "distraction", but I'm not going to get upset if he doesn't.

[KyCardinalFan]

EXACTLY!

People think Dungy said, "I wouldn't draft him because he is gay."

He said he wouldn't draft him because "I wouldn't want to deal with all of it."

not really exactly. to reiterate, he has gone out on a limb for guys who would be major nongay distractions in the past.

And we understand what he said. We disagree about why he said it and what it means when you try to look at the context.

Some are going to read this as sarcasm, but it's not. Thank you for defining this, because honestly, it's hard to understand some peoples' point.

I am not going to mind-read. I am only reading and sharing statements from the persons involved on THIS topic. I am not bringing in opinion pieces from other writers who have agendas.

I believe Tony Dungy that he was answering the question from a football perspective. The writer of the article thinks that Tony Dungy was answering from a football perspective. The only two people in the conversation think he was making the comment because he didn't think the risk outweighed the reward.

The rest, to me, is opinion and personal agenda driven.

That's fair but be certain that your view is opinion as well and as such driven by your own agenda.

My bad. I was referring to the rest of the articles that everyone was linking to, not the discussions people were having.

[Jocephus]

was tony talking as a former coach/analyst or was he implying that if he was the coach of the rams, with their roster currently constructed, that he wouldn't draft sam? i really dont know if it was clarified in the interview (my liberal agenda may have blinded me) but if its the former, it really makes it clear his reasoning. if the latter, i guess i could understand but its still hypocritical.

[cardsfansince82]

was tony talking as a former coach/analyst or was he implying that if he was the coach of the rams, with their roster currently constructed, that he wouldn't draft sam? i really dont know if it was clarified in the interview (my liberal agenda may have blinded me) but if its the former, it really makes it clear his reasoning. if the latter, i guess i could understand but its still hypocritical.

It was strictly a hypothetical if he was in charge of any team. Nothing about the Rams specific situation was taken into account.

[Jocephus]

was tony talking as a former coach/analyst or was he implying that if he was the coach of the rams, with their roster currently constructed, that he wouldn't draft sam? i really dont know if it was clarified in the interview (my liberal agenda may have blinded me) but if its the former, it really makes it clear his reasoning. if the latter, i guess i could understand but its still hypocritical.

It was strictly a hypothetical if he was in charge of any team. Nothing about the Rams specific situation was taken into account.

so, we dont know what this hypothetical team is of his. i can't assume they are weak at DE (to justify drafting him) nor can others assume they are strong at DE (to justify not). we have to assume its a team of replacement players. a team full of 0.0 WAR players. we dont know what need there is. so the reason dungy wouldn't draft him is for the distraction. but if his job is to put the best team on the field he has to realize that sam has just an equal chance as any other draftee (even in his round placement) and if sam turns out to be a good player, even a backup, that would be worth any distraction since his job is to put the best team on the field right?

and we've seen him go into the fire for another player (vick) so its not foreign to him. he knows what it takes. he's been through it

[SHOW]

[cardsfansince82]

From what I understand, the argument is that Sam's ceiling is a 1.0 WAR DE and Vick's ceiling is a 3.0 WAR QB. It's a new form of sabermetric Christianity. The extra 2% is having the strength to put your career ahead of Jesus' teachings.

[Freed Roger]

Handy draft grading baggage reference chart

[MrCrowesGarden]

http://www.sportspickle.com/2014/07/pic ... istracting

[go birds]

this thread is a distraction

[jim]

This seems pretty uncomplicated with the info that Dungy provided in his follow up statement. He said he wouldn't have drafted Sam because the media(and at the time, a reality show) would've made his presence a distraction for the team, and not because of Sam himself or any worries about how Sam would fit into the locker room, etc. This is a profoundly dumb opinion, and possibly/maybe/probably one informed at least in part by Dungy's beliefs. It's also the exact same opinion that has been expressed by dozens of people, from analysts to 'anonymous' NFL personnel people, for months about Sam in the lead up to the draft. It's not unique to Dungy and his worldview, so while you're probably not wrong in saying Dungy is biased/bigoted/whatever towards Sam, you could infer just as much if he had never been quoted about him at all.

I don't really trust Dungy's motives, but how can you make the comment that it's "a profoundly dumb opinion"? What are you basing that statement on? I'm assuming you are not and have not been closely connected with an NFL team.

Knowing what I know about locker rooms, I can't really completely dismiss this as a concern. I would hope not, I would think after some initial bumps in the road things would work out just fine. And you can't compare his days at Mizzou - because he's not going to be that type of player in the NFL. If an established star that is respected by his teammates came out in the NFL, that would be different than an unknown rookie with alot to prove (his combine was pretty bad). Also from what I understand, he didn't come out to teammates until later in his career, he didn't walk in his Freshmen year and make an announcement.