Michael Sam openly gay

[Alexander]

This explains some serious problems with our scouting process if a player 6-2 and 260 is considered a 3-4 end.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Well, this is not going to be popular but nothing to be done about it. NFL lockers, IMO, are not the same as YMCA lockers or what have you. Things go on in those locker rooms that don't go on in almost any other place. The whole Richie Incognito/Jonathan Martin thing should be proof of this. I know that a lot of people believe it shouldn't matter and that kind of thing but the truth of the matter is that it doesn't matter what any of us think. We are not in those locker rooms and we are not a part of that team chemistry and what we think doesn't really matter in that locker room.

The NFL may be ready for this but I'm going to guess that it is not. Every team has to decide if this is a bigger hinderance then it is a help. Based on that, each team has to draft accordingly. That's just how it works.

 

[Risen Star]

Shouldn't mean anything, not doesn't. If it mean nothing there would be no thread nor multiple media outlets reporting it.

Sam said it was irrelevant. That it meant nothing. This is his words I'm using, not mine.

Then why announce it to anyone? It means nothing.

I'm just pointing out the complete hypocrisy that goes on in this sissy PC society we live in today. Hey, my sexual preference is irrelevant (his words), let me hold a press conference about it.

The issue is, your not just advocating for some one's right to feel a certain way. When you say "Then open locker rooms to everyone" in response to a gay man using a men's locker room, it's about more than someone's feelings. IMO, maybe not yours, a gay man has the same right to be in the men's locker room, and if some one is uncomfortable with that, I wouldn't fault them, as long as they don't actually expect them to use a different facility.

A gay man has as much of a right to be in a men's locker room as I do in a women's locker room. There is no difference. All the things that can be said in defense of him being in there can be said of me being in women's locker room. There will never be any incident with Sam showering with the players. I know that. But there also would never be any incident if I was showering with women athletes. However, it would be a violation of their privacy if I did. As it is for any straight man around a gay man.

That's not popular these days but boy am I 100% right on with what I'm saying.

 

[Risen Star]

Well, this is not going to be popular but nothing to be done about it. NFL lockers, IMO, are not the same as YMCA lockers or what have you. Things go on in those locker rooms that don't go on in almost any other place. The whole Richie Incognito/Jonathan Martin thing should be proof of this. I know that a lot of people believe it shouldn't matter and that kind of thing but the truth of the matter is that it doesn't matter what any of us think. We are not in those locker rooms and we are not a part of that team chemistry and what we think doesn't really matter in that locker room.

The NFL may be ready for this but I'm going to guess that it is not. Every team has to decide if this is a bigger hinderance then it is a help. Based on that, each team has to draft accordingly. That's just how it works.

Very well said.

 

[Risen Star]

Apparently 9 of his sacks came in 3 games against weak opponents, and his size is too small for DE. He is called a one trick pony, lacks the skills of a well rounded DE. Throw in the distractions and I wouldn't draft him.

I still say he gets drafted in the 2nd-3rd round. He can get to the QB. That's a highly coveted attribute in the NFL. I don't think this announcement hurts his draft stock very much at all.

 

[LatinMind]

I still say he gets drafted in the 2nd-3rd round. He can get to the QB. That's a highly coveted attribute in the NFL. I don't think this announcement hurts his draft stock very much at all.

NFL execs have said Sam was rated as a 4th round before the news. Where do u get 2nd 3rd round?

 

[AbeBeta]

This explains some serious problems with our scouting process if a player 6-2 and 260 is considered a 3-4 end.

he means olb

 

[AbeBeta]

A gay man has as much of a right to be in a men's locker room as I do in a women's locker room. There is no difference. All the things that can be said in defense of him being in there can be said of me being in women's locker room. There will never be any incident with Sam showering with the players. I know that. But there also would never be any incident if I was showering with women athletes. However, it would be a violation of their privacy if I did. As it is for any straight man around a gay man.

That's not popular these days but boy am I 100% right on with what I'm saying.

Good lord man. Do you go to the gym? Let me tell you a little secret. Gay dudes work out. They work out all the time and you are likely naked around them all the time at the gym. Ever been a problem?

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

I think that we have to accept certain truths. One of which is that an NFL locker room has about as much in common with a defined fitness locker room as does a dog pound with a Kennel Club Show.

You can not context them in the same light, IMO. They are totally different situations. If you want to say that you think it should be accepted in the NFL, that's OK. If you want to say that it's about time for the NFL to adopt this kind of change OK. That's all fine but you can't act as if that has already happened IMO or it's going to happen in the next season because I don't really believe that is where the NFL is at.

 

[JD_KaPow]

A gay man has as much of a right to be in a men's locker room as I do in a women's locker room.

I'm sorry, but this is just nutty. They are men's locker rooms. Not "gay men's" or "straight men's" locker rooms, just "men's" locker rooms. A gay man, being a man, has exactly as much right as you do to be in a men's locker room. You may not like it for some reason, but that's your problem, not anyone else's.

 

[Alexander]

he means olb

Well, it is Calvin Watkins.

 

[AbeBeta]

I think that we have to accept certain truths. One of which is that an NFL locker room has about as much in common with a defined fitness locker room as does a dog pound with a Kennel Club Show.

You can not context them in the same light, IMO. They are totally different situations. If you want to say that you think it should be accepted in the NFL, that's OK. If you want to say that it's about time for the NFL to adopt this kind of change OK. That's all fine but you can't act as if that has already happened IMO or it's going to happen in the next season because I don't really believe that is where the NFL is at.

What you are missing here is that there are very likely gay men presently in NFL lockers.

But really - have you been in an NFL locker room? Do you work in one? I'm just wondering what your basis for comment here is

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

What you are missing here is that there are very likely gay men presently in NFL lockers.

But really - have you been in an NFL locker room? Do you work in one? I'm just wondering what your basis for comment here is[/quote} I'm not missing that. However, that really has no baring on what I said. I said that every team will have to make the right choice for them and that our opinions mean nothing in those locker rooms. Those are both true statements and your point of their being gay men presently in the NFL has zero bearing on either of those statements.

Yes, I have been in an NFL Locker Room. No, I don't work in one but honestly, and again, what does this have to do with my statements? Do you feel as if an NFL Locker Room is anything like a Gym Locker Room honestly? I mean, you are either being real with yourself here or you are trying to win an argument by trying to make it about proving that NFL Locker Rooms are not your average Gym Locker Room. Are you unsure of that statement?

 

[AbeBeta]

Yes, I have been in an NFL Locker Room. No, I don't work in one but honestly, and again, what does this have to do with my statements? Do you feel as if an NFL Locker Room is anything like a Gym Locker Room honestly? I mean, you are either being real with yourself here or you are trying to win an argument by trying to make it about proving that NFL Locker Rooms are not your average Gym Locker Room. Are you unsure of that statement?

So tell me how it is different?

Seems like he did just fine the locker room of a major college football program.

 

[DFWJC]

I once knew a gay, he played on our high school baseball team. While in the locker room, we would always, and when I say we I mean the straights, we would always shower in pairs, using the same shower, we would stand back to back so we could always have eyes on the gay. You see, we feared that the he would jump us if alone. Every straight had a shower buddy. Anyway, one day I was sick and didn't go to school, my shower buddy had to go at it alone. The gay had a field day with him, my shower buddy could not walk straight for a month. He later discovered he was also gay, so it wasn't a total loss for him. As for me, I never had another shower buddy quite like him, I was crushed. So as you can see I see where you are coming from. I feel you.

Now that was funny.

I know, my threshold level for entertainment is low right now, but it paints a pretty funny picture of paranoia

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

So tell me how it is different?

Seems like he did just fine the locker room of a major college football program.

College is not Pro but aside from that, it does not seem as if he did "Just Fine" in a college football locker room. In fact, it sounds as if there were issues there as well.

Having said that, college athletics are influenced much more by public opinion because they receive Federal Funding. In the Pros, it's not like that. They are all about making money and winning. Those two things are controlled much more tightly because you don't have a University to answer to.

BTW, you didn't answer the question. Do you honestly believe that a Public Gym Locker Room is even remotely similar to an NFL Locker Room?

 

[AbeBeta]

College is not Pro but aside from that, it does not seem as if he did "Just Fine" in a college football locker room. In fact, it sounds as if there were issues there as well.

Having said that, college athletics are influenced much more by public opinion because they receive Federal Funding. In the Pros, it's not like that. They are all about making money and winning. Those two things are controlled much more tightly because you don't have a University to answer to.

BTW, you didn't answer the question. Do you honestly believe that a Public Gym Locker Room is even remotely similar to an NFL Locker Room?

He has issues in college? His teammates voted him their MVP

Regarding the locker room, n the manner that many folks think, yes. What is clear is that some people think a gay player is going to be checking out his teammates and is going to view them sexually. So like I asked, do you think the guys at your gym are doing that?

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

He has issues in college? His teammates voted him their MVP

Regarding the locker room, n the manner that many folks think, yes. What is clear is that some people think a gay player is going to be checking out his teammates and is going to view them sexually. So like I asked, do you think the guys at your gym are doing that?

There are also a lot of stories that suggest that not all of his teammates liked the idea. What percentage of that locker room falls where? We will likely never know but again, it's not all rainbows and puppy dogs.

To the second part of your post. Who cares? I'll tell you, not the NFL players. You are somehow under the impression that what we think matters to NFL players. I've already said that it does not. You specifically say that "people think". Well, guess what, that doesn't matter. Yeah, people think a lot of things but what people think means less then zero to the players in an NFL Locker Room. It's a different social group and we don't matter there. All the PC speak in the world doesn't matter there. Each team has their own social environment and each team runs along their own set of rules, within the constraints of the club itself. What is important to them is not what is important to us and they don't care so your question about what I think or what anybody outside of that locker room thinks is irrelevant.

 

[vlad]

This thread is fascinating...some pretty funny arguments in here for sure.

Surprised by the number of people that seem cool with vs not cool with it. I would have suspected a different breakdown.

 

[FiveRings]

I wonder if something like this could even help his draft stock. Shows ridiculously strong character. If you get past the possibility of a front office collectively having an old timey mindset, it could actually help him