The Sam Follies

The NFL has had several gay players. The decision of Sam is not quite as a big deal as the media has made it. In the process of vetting players this information would have come out. Apparently, teams are looking for this sort of material. However, in a league where criminality and drug abuse is common being gay should be viewed as quaint. We likely won't have to worry about this player having multiple paternity suits unless he gets a series of concussions.

This announcement really should not have been on the front page of the NYT and all the sports pages.  Gay people are part of the American community. My supervisor was a terrific officer who was promoted because of his skills. He is a great leader and manager who happens to be gay. His orientation has absolutely zero to do with his promotion. If anything his being gay makes the job more interesting. It was very interesting seeing the office vamp not get that her target was quite immune to her charms, actually this was priceless. In an office where nepotism and incompetence by management was the rule competence is a breath of fresh air. I don't have to worry about my boss having multiple sexual harassment suits and this indeed was a problem at work. The reason I don't have to worry is that he understands and embraces the genuine notion of customer service. When there was grumbling he was promoted because he was gay, I was the first to point out he was more qualified than 3/4 of the present managers.

This brings me to the next part of the Sam story. Sam is essentially a player without a position. Defensive linemen tend to be 6'4'' and around 270.  Linebackers tend to have his height but run a 4.6. Sam is a productive player whose skill set does not translate to the NFL. Of course the Tebow bashers pointed this out and it was all over the place. However, there are only a few articles pointing out that he is a tweener who really is a sixth round prospect based on the numbers. in the NYT article that never should have been on page one they mention this at the very end. My guess is there will be a team that drafts him early for publicity purposes. hopefully, it will not be the Miami Dolphins or Cincinnati Bengals which seem to have an abundance of jerks. He belongs with a team like New England that values versatility and players that can play multiple positions as a sixth round prospect.

There have been plenty of gay players. this would have likely been better handled had a player established himself first and then said as an after thought announced this later. Unfortunately, we live in a media age where this would have become public knowledge shortly. However, given the criminal issues and irresponsible behavior of NFL players being gay is almost akin to boring. The person with the multi page rap sheet whose life is like a train wreck needs more scrutiny then a gay player. For better or worse you can count on Sam to show up and give you his best effort. The player with drug and criminal issues is a time bomb that may go off any second. Its just amazing in a league with plenty of criminals and character issues that gays should even be a concern. This is not to say that gay people don't have character issues, but homosexuality by itself is not an issue.