OT: DFW sports anchor rant re: Michael Sam
Dale Hansen, the Dallas-Ft Worth ABC news affiliate sports anchor, went on a rant that has gone viral. He went off on the NFL and the hipocracy regarding Sam's qualifications and the perception the NFL is left with regards to his draft stock.
Like or hate him, he makes some very strong points.
February 13th, 2014 at 10:50 AM ^
I SY a GRAMMAR NAZI ALERT!!!
February 13th, 2014 at 10:52 AM ^
...dick.
:-)
February 13th, 2014 at 10:51 AM ^
Jon Stewart had a similar great rant also.
February 13th, 2014 at 10:54 AM ^
I have not seen that one, but found a news story on it. There's no video posted on youtube about it yet, but here's a link:
February 13th, 2014 at 11:48 AM ^
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-february-10-2014/friday-night-rig…
video on the daily shows website
February 13th, 2014 at 11:00 AM ^
i wouldn't characterize this as a rant.
February 13th, 2014 at 11:01 AM ^
Its about as much of a rant a guy that age is capable of.
/s
February 13th, 2014 at 11:39 AM ^
February 13th, 2014 at 11:02 AM ^
To start out with I am rooting for Sam and hope he gets drafted by the right team. I really can't see how there would be any character concerns with a guy who could come out from the background he did and still have the courage to be who he is. It is very admirable.
That said, these type of rants are exactly why teams have reservations about drafting him. Let's say he gets drafted and doesn't perform well and therefore isn't a good candidate to make the team, which GM in his right mind is going to cut Sam knowing the firestorm that will cause? Combined with the pressure that in order to succeed in today's NFL you have to hit on a high proportion of draft picks, you'd better be damn sure Sam is a fit in the locker room as drafting him kills your flexibility. You also can't be honest and put your name behind those statements as you'll get crucified in the media.
So good for these announcers for staking their claim to the moral high ground (/s), I just hope they know they're not strengthening Sam's case.
February 13th, 2014 at 11:05 AM ^
but its such a double edged sword to want to support Sam and rally to his cause (by calling out the NFL regarding its hipocracy) but at the same time not want to create more artificial obstacles. It is a difficult path already.
Good points, Mr Rabbit.
February 13th, 2014 at 11:07 AM ^
Too expensive to fire, too expensive to hire.
February 13th, 2014 at 11:08 AM ^
pound desks and scream moral high ground when it's not your ass on the line. These talking heads need to STFU. Not one single person is going to be swayed on their stance because of what these assbags yell.
The thing that's going to kill him is the spectacle. There's 20 other egos in that locker room that want some media time and all it's going to be is Sam, Sam, Sam. Right or wrong and PC don't mean shit when faced with reality.
February 13th, 2014 at 11:51 AM ^
The team that cuts him will be the same team that DRAFTED him. Who is going to give shit to the team that valued him most highly on draft day if they subsequently cut him?
"Gee, the Lions must be really homophobic because they knowingly drafted the first openly gay player and then cut him."
February 13th, 2014 at 2:20 PM ^
People are perfectly capable of being irrational. They are also likely to remember the most recent bad thing you did rather than all the good things you did previously.
Is it really hard to imagine people concluding that a team is gutless because they fired a guy the minute there was conflict in the locker room that they didn't forsee?
February 13th, 2014 at 12:07 PM ^
Tough for some when the world progresses....
February 13th, 2014 at 12:59 PM ^
your argument loses any weight when you mindlessly throw in the PC reference. It suggests, as I am sure you mean to do, that those who disagree with you are not genuine in their opinions--but are only saying what they say because they want to be PC. You do appreciate that because of the anonymity of boards like this posters have little reason to be PC. It is that very anonymity that empowers some to expose their racism, homophobia and the like---and let me be clear, I am most definitely not including you in those groups.
February 13th, 2014 at 2:16 PM ^
These talking heads are all getting out and throwing around their Strong Take on this subject. It's no coincendence they're towing the PC line. Whether they agree with it or not they're getting their kudos in for supporting Sam.
My point is it does not matter one iota what these guys say. You really think a bunch of dudes in a locker room are going to reevaluate their stance either way becasue of what Bob Costas or Drew Sharp or Brian Williams says on the matter?
They are fanning the media shitstorm flames. That's what's going to make teams hesitate more than the actual thought of sharing a locker room with a dude who likes dudes.
February 13th, 2014 at 6:34 PM ^
No--you simply reinforced it--"towing the PC line".
February 13th, 2014 at 2:26 PM ^
February 13th, 2014 at 3:16 PM ^
I was thinking more along the lines of people who don't agree with the gay lifestyle are not suddenly going click the light on and embrace it because of these guys. It didn't occur to me that they might lose viewer or readership.
The gay thing isn't a hot button issue with me so it wouldn't occur to me to do that. There are plenty of talking heads I don't listen to because of other political views but this one is not one of those views that moves my needle either way.
February 13th, 2014 at 5:35 PM ^
February 14th, 2014 at 10:08 AM ^
This is some terrific desk-pounding and screaming, especially because it is desk-pounding and screaming in outrage that people are calmingly or humorously making excellent points without pounding desks or screaming.
Not one single person is going to be swayed on their stance because of what you yell.
February 13th, 2014 at 11:11 AM ^
February 13th, 2014 at 11:20 AM ^
There will always be unreasonable people, but I think most would realize that - as you say - you don't draft a guy who you know is gay and then cut him because he's gay. There would also presumably be game film (from the preseason, if nothing else) if Sam were cut. You could then point to on-field results.
February 13th, 2014 at 2:27 PM ^
about whether a guy should be cut.
"You could then point to on-field results."
February 13th, 2014 at 1:41 PM ^
I see your point, but I just don't see the benefit of the doubt being given, even to a team drafting him. The argument in my mind would be something along the lines of, "You drafted him to get the headlines and then used him, but you weren't really confortable with his orientation and so you cut him for it." with the accompanying proliferation of "When did you stop beating your wife?" questions. It's a situation that I think all teams want to avoid and it is a consideration as drafting him does cause a loss of roster flexibility.
Again, I hope he gets drafted by the right team and is judged by his merits on the field, but there is a little bit of the animal farm "more equal than others" aspect to this story and you can't blame GM's for being leery of it.
February 13th, 2014 at 1:40 PM ^
<damn double posts>
February 13th, 2014 at 11:11 AM ^
Just like it took character and guts for Sam to get to this point, it will take equal character and guts for a GM to make that pick knowing the situation as you described it. But I bet there are some out there that will have what it take to stand in front of a camera and say "we drafted him because we thought he could help us on the feild and we didn't care about his private life, and we cut him because he just wasn't good enough at football"
It is going to be very interesting no matter how it plays out.
February 13th, 2014 at 11:30 AM ^
February 13th, 2014 at 11:13 AM ^
You missed the point. If he can't play and cut him, then equality is attained. Right now, people want to see him treated as equaly as others: let his play dictate how important he is, and his play says he is the SEC co-defensive player of the year. The last few have all been in the first round. Now granted, measurables are different between Sam and the others, yet facts say he can play. And regardless of the locker room, if the lockerroom argument isn't an issue for murders, drug abusers, HGH users, women-abusers, etc...then why would this all of a sudden be an issue for Sam?
When the draft comes, where do you think he will go?
If he goes in the beginning of the fifth round, you are saying there are <120 players better for the NFL than the SEC co-defensive player of the year...unlikely.
February 13th, 2014 at 11:25 AM ^
If college awards really mattered in regards to NFL success, then Eric Crouch would have been an all-pro.
(That being said, I do think Sam could be a really good pick-up for some team)
February 14th, 2014 at 1:37 AM ^
The last seven Defense Players of the Year in the SEC have gone in the 1st round.
February 13th, 2014 at 1:59 PM ^
I think this article might anser why he would go in the fourth or fifth rounds:
http://mmqb.si.com/2014/02/13/michael-sam-film-study-nfl-draft/?eref=si…;
February 13th, 2014 at 12:41 PM ^
Not an exact correlation but any team that drafted or signed Tim Tebow potentially had a similar negative PR situation and he's been cut plenty of times.
February 13th, 2014 at 1:49 PM ^
"Let's say he gets drafted and doesn't perform well and therefore isn't a good candidate to make the team, which GM in his right mind is going to cut Sam knowing the firestorm that will cause? "
=> Tim Tebow
February 13th, 2014 at 1:58 PM ^
And notice how Tebow is no longer in the league, arguably due to the travelling circus that followed him around.
February 13th, 2014 at 2:06 PM ^
I think being a bad QB and refusing to change positions is also why he's out of the league. If the you help win games, teams will put up with the baggage.
February 13th, 2014 at 11:12 AM ^
I mean, he's right. I'd rather hang out with Michael Sam on a Friday night than Michael Vick of yore, yet everyone seemed to forgive and forget and even embrace Vick's resurgence.
February 13th, 2014 at 11:07 AM ^
February 13th, 2014 at 11:11 AM ^
just because there's a gay man in the area, what makes you think he's attracted to YOU? You're absolutely right though, the ignorance is astounding. I'm certain that Sam and/or people like him don't look at a locker room as a "singles bar" type of situation.
February 13th, 2014 at 11:18 AM ^
I can imagine a 20 year old who's never been aware of knowing a gay man thinking that there might be a problem in the locker room. The fact that Sam was not just accepted but was a leader at Missouri speaks volumes, though, and I think players who get to know him will quickly realize that they have nothing to worry about.
February 13th, 2014 at 11:23 AM ^
February 13th, 2014 at 11:28 AM ^
Many men manage to work with women - admittedly without showering together - without sizing them up sexually.
February 13th, 2014 at 11:35 AM ^
February 13th, 2014 at 11:42 AM ^
It would merely be a matter of extending the self control that I (and millions of other men) already exert at work to another situation...Also, would it really be so bad if a gay guy looked at your junk for two seconds?
February 13th, 2014 at 11:59 AM ^
February 13th, 2014 at 12:02 PM ^
Would it really be so bad if a gay guy looked at your junk for two seconds? I've had guys who I knew were gay check me out, so to speak. I survived just fine.
February 13th, 2014 at 12:08 PM ^
There are thousands of heterosexual female doctors (including ER docs and urologists), and more than a handful of male OBGYNs. And let's just say you'll get WAY more than a passing glance from them. And the universe seems to continue to function.
February 13th, 2014 at 12:32 PM ^
So if you had daughters, you'd be fine with them sharing a locker room with heterosexual males? You'd be cool with your wife attending a gym that freely allowed men and women to frequent the same locker room?
I mean, I personally wouldn't care. I just think its absurd we act like this shouldn't concern some people.