All American From Missouri Make Announcement

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by Dondilion

Just another circus, heightened by the gay media.

Basically, it's only an issue because Sams is pushing an agenda (in my personal opinion).

God forbid -- on his playing merit -- that he doesn't get drafted or is taken lower than he believes he should be...

[Ike Bana]

Yeh..that fucking gay media pushing that fucking gay agenda. I could be watching Hannity.

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by Dondilion

Just another circus, heightened by the gay media.

Gotta call BS (and homophobia) on this one. This fellow came out because he wanted the NFL management community to know this information up front, knowing full well it could impact his position in the upcoming draft. He didn't want to surprise them after the fact. He deserves credit for this. Like it or not, gay rights is the civil rights issue of our time.

I don't have a dog in this fight and could care less if he succeeds in the NFL. However, I would like to see his success or failure based upon his skills and not his sexuality. He's being honest and letting NFL management know something they seemingly want to know (his draft stock has indeed dropped since this revelation) and I can't fault him for that.

[d-ray657]

Frankly, I am confident that the NFL is quite capable of manipulating the media. The guy made All-American teams. Don't you think that it is possible that some of these "draft experts" are projecting him as a lower round pick to provide cover for him falling down the draft board? As Finn and Zeke have pointed out, it's all business with the NFL. They will do anything they can to protect their reputation, and regardless whether league managers harbor any anti-gay sentiment, it is not good marketing to be anti-gay these days. Therefore, knowing that some of the good ol' boys who own teams don't want one of "them" on their teams, Mr. Sam is likely to fall a few notches, and the league wants to be able to say that his draft position had nothing to do with his orientation.

Maybe this post belongs in the conspiracy theory forum, but I hold PR guys in the same esteem as congress critters.

Regards,

D-Ray

[bobabode]

Mebbe it's because I watched '42' the other night that I find any hoopla about this as strange and a bit antiquated. The Brooklyn Dodgers took a lot of heat for signing Jackie Robinson (#42) but it proved Branch Rickey a genius and a moneymaker.

Who knows, maybe in 20 years the 49er's will have cheerleaders from the Castro district?

[d-ray657]

Originally Posted by bobabode

Mebbe it's because I watched '42' the other night that I find any hoopla about this as strange and a bit antiquated. The Brooklyn Dodgers took a lot of heat for signing Jackie Robinson (#42) but it proved Branch Rickey a genius and a moneymaker.

Who knows, maybe in 20 years the 49er's will have cheerleaders from the Castro district?

First girl to break my heart dumped me for a cheerleader.

Regards,

D-Ray

[Dondilion]

Originally Posted by finnbow

Gotta call BS (and homophobia) on this one. This fellow came out because he wanted the NFL management community to know this information up front, knowing full well it could impact his position in the upcoming draft. He didn't want to surprise them after the fact. He deserves credit for this. Like it or not, gay rights is the civil rights issue of our time.

I don't have a dog in this fight and could care less if he succeeds in the NFL. However, I would like to see his success or failure based upon his skills and not his sexuality. He's being honest and letting NFL management know something they seemingly want to know (his draft stock has indeed dropped since this revelation) and I can't fault him for that.

And there is no gay media.

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by Ike Bana

Yeh..that fucking gay media pushing that fucking gay agenda. I could be watching Hannity.

Yeah, I always thought the media was trying to turn us into sodomites...

Well, Communist sodomites. It started with that damn turdpusher Cronkite spouting his gay-commie shit all over the 6 o'clock news.

I mean.....Just look at him!

walter_cronkite_kitties.jpg

Yeah, sure, Walt, pose with kittens. I'm not buying it, you Marxist girly man!

Dave

[Zeke]

I (anyone?) has to be very careful how they step here: it is way easy to be branded something you are not if you cannot explain yourself very, very well. I hope that my tenure will allow a bit of indulgence...

1. He's gay.
2. I don't care.

But you do not announce yourself in a vacuum. There are reasons for everything.

First, based upon some (I'm not digging them up, you'll have to trust me) quotes I have seen, NFL General managers were well aware of his sexuality.

3. Sams is, likely, aware that they know.
4. It only helps him to come out.

Why? Because those who are primed to hold his sexuality against him already possess that which they need, a solid inference or confirmation that he is homosexual. (Those that would not care, are not going to care whether he discloses or not.)

Every (every!) draft day decision is weighed by all parties involved. I do not find Sams to be a hero, I deduce him to be a shrewdly calculating individual determined to maximize his marketability regardless of where (if!) he is drafted.

Based upon his announcement, he's going to be able to claim a higher draft worth based in where he might have been drafted prior to any announcement or -- God forbid -- that he would have been drafted were he not. In my opinion, he's going to demand that payday and smear anyone who doesn't give it up. (Which is why you don't draft him but the NFL may be cowed into doing something.)

This isn't about being any sort of trailblazer, because trailblazers succeed first. This is about $$$.

He's using his announcement as an insurance policy.

FUCK 'EM.

[BlueStreak]

Is there anyone here who hasn't wondered about the sexual tendencies of someone who likes being tackled by big, sweaty, burly men in tight fitting pants? And then hanging out in the locker room with them afterwards? I mean, really. Come on, think about it.

Dave