Michael Sam, a Missouri defensive lineman and a projected mid-round NFL draft pick, came out as gay in an interview with ESPN that was broadcast on Sunday night. I felt that coming out when he did was an incredibly brave thing for Sam to do. The draft is still three months away, but it is likely that Sam will be the first openly gay play to be on an active NFL roster. It could be a monumental moment for both the league and for LBGT athletes.
Of course, Sam's interview was accompanied by a Sports Illustrated article that featured quotes from several anonymous NFL personnel people who talked about how this announcement will affect Sam's draft stock and the locker room of the NFL team the selects him. This soon became the main narrative of the Sam story – not his groundbreaking announcement, but rather if the NFL is "ready" for an openly gay football player.
A former NFL general manager was quoted in the article and talked about how Sam could potentionally be a distraction in the locker room from all the media attention that will come from his announcement. Another anonymous executive openly wondered about the impact of Sam's announcement on the normalcies of NFL locker rooms and meeting rooms, saying he'd "chemically imbalance" those rooms.
I'm sorry, but I think that is all a bunch of crap.
The thing is football people will do whatever they can to keep the focus on football instead of non-football related things like sexuality, or bullying or anything that's not FOOTBALL. This means that football people don't want to have all the attention that would come with having a gay player on a team or in a locker room. Many are already speculating that these football people will pass on drafting Sam in May so they won't have to deal with attention that comes with having him on the team.
This of course makes no sense. Apparently, Sam's sexuality would be a problem in the locker room, according to these personnel people, but having someone shout racial slurs in public (Riley Cooper), or be accused of sexual assault (Ben Roethelisberger) or be questioned in a murder (Ray Lewis) is no problem at all for the precious NFL locker room. These personnel people have no problem adding these people to their rosters. So why is there a question about Sam being a distraction in the locker room?
There's a sense that an NFL locker room is this sacred place and anything that might corrupt the perilous march to the Super Bowl needs to be eradicated. This is especially true if it could interfere with the "man's-man game" as an executive was quoted as saying in the SI article. That's why Jonathan Martin was labeled as "soft" by many after he had the audacity to leave the Dolphins and seek mental health treatment. How dare he go public with his problems instead of keeping everything in house like a true football man? Didn't he know the Dolphins were on a heroic quest to a shitty, playoff-less, 8-8 season? (Miami won four of its next six games after the Martin "distraction" was made public). For some, anything that’s not football will not be tolerated in the locker room.
The league went through a similar song and dance about the locker room and distractions two decades ago in response to Boston Herald reporter Lisa Olson’s accusations of sexual harassment by New England Patriots players in the locker room. Victor Kiam, the owner of the Patriots at the time, publicly called Olson a “classic bitch” in response to her accusations and made several jokes about the situation (remember when the Patriots used to be a joke?). The NFL (and sports in general) eventually came to outgrow its issues with having women in the locker room.
I have no idea exactly what these personnel people fear would happen if Sam ended up playing for their teams. "Distractions" happen all the time throughout an NFL season. Guys get hurt, guys get into trouble off the field and some guys don't get along. Heck, HBO comes in with its camera crew and films every single thing that happens during training camp. The sanctity of football doesn't crumble. If NFL front office people don't like "distractions," maybe they should stop holding press conferences, or broadcasting games on TV or selling tickets. You're always under the public eye; it's professional sports. Believe it or not, life goes on outside of the goddamn locker room.
If these NFL front office personnel think the league is not ready for an openly gay player, maybe they should check with the guys in their own locker room. Many NFL players Tweeted their support for Sam and said they would welcome him with no problem in their locker rooms. This really shouldn't even be an issue in 2014. Sam's college teammates at Missouri knew he was gay and had no problem with it. Their locker room was not tarnished; they went on to finished fifth in the nation as Sam was the Southeastern Conference's Defensive Player of the Year. If college athletes are mature enough to accept a gay player in their locker room, why can't professionals do the same? I believe they can and will.
Sam is projected to go in the middle rounds of the draft, so it's likely that this will all be a moot point in May when a team spends a draft pick on him. But you know there will be teams that will pass on Sam not because of his exploits on the field, but because they don't want what they feel will be a headache in the locker room. Change is coming to the NFL, but some of the old guard will continue to resist change as long as they are in charge of personnel decisions.
While the NFL executives quoted in the SI story believe Sam’s draft stock will fall because of his announcement, there will no doubt be organizations that will be willing to take a chance on Sam and the extra media attention won’t matter to them. The question is, how long will it take for the entire league to leave behind its preconceived notions and fully embrace gay players in locker rooms? The Minnesota Vikings just retained a special teams coach who is alleged to have said that all gays should be sent to an island and nuked. A member of the league office was quoted in the SI article as saying the majority of the league is still three to five years away from fully accepting gay players. Remember that this is the same league that is dragging its feet on changing the name of the Washington team, despite overwhelming pressure from Congress, civil rights groups and the public.
If NFL general managers and coaches have a problem with a gay player being in the locker room, then the problem lies with these ignorant noobs and those who hire them and hold them accountable. If it’s blatant homophobia that’s causing this reaction from NFL front offices and not stubbornness, then we have an even bigger problem all together.
You would think that a league that constantly has to face issues regarding concussions, painkillers, PEDs, drug and alcohol abuse, compensation for retired players, bullying and fan safety would be mature enough to handle a gay player in the locker room. Then again, little makes sense in the world of the NFL and the man’s-man game of football.
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