Sports Illustrated’s Michael Sam cover.
Michael Sam may have just announced to the sports world that he’s a gay man, but it seems that it’s the NFL itself that may be forced to come out of its closet.
Sunday night, former player and coach turned commentator Herm Edwards came out early with what would become a central theme in discussions about Sam, the University of Missouri standout that just put the National Football League “on the clock,” as Dave Zirin put it (Edge of Sports, 2/11/14). Edwards, seen widely as a real “player’s coach,” suggested that Sam’s “baggage” might create problems for his future NFL teammates. (Salon‘s Josh Eidelson pointed out the asymmetry of that locker room logic, while former player Donte Stallworth dismantled it.) While some cringed at Edwards, his comments mirrored the worry that some NFL executives were publicly griping about.
But even as Zirin and ex-Viking Chris Kluwe, as vocal a gay rights advocate that you’ll find in the four major sports leagues, suggested that this posturing around “distractions” reflected mostly on the homophobia of league executives, it should be noted that pushback wasn’t limited to management. Kluwe (Huffington Post, 2/10/14), who was allegedly released by the Vikings for his advocacy of gay rights, noted the parallels between Sam as a “distraction” and Seahawks defensive back Richard Sherman as a “thug” (FAIR Blog, 1/27/14), but again laid the homophobia with “ownership, and GMs, and front office people, and coaches. Because they tend to be older white men, with a very specific viewpoint of the world.”
True enough. But some current NFL players and college scouts were also voicing concerns of “distractions” and “red lights,” if not outright hostility to the first openly gay active player (Washington Post, 2/10/14). League MVP Adrian Peterson’s “I’m not with that…but to each his own” attitude toward homosexuality perhaps captures many players collective response–one that offered more meh than cheers. Some Canadian Football League players were already being fined for anti-gay tweets after Sam’s announcement. Though public reaction from the NFL (which, along with ESPN, has reminded its employees of its anti-discrimination policy) has initially been supportive, one has to wonder if Edwards and company might not be alone in their anxiety.
Deeply religious players, many who can be found huddled in pre and post-game prayer sessions, might very well be keeping mum about their homophobia. It’s entirely possible that many NFL execs would more likely fall in line with the league’s image-conscious, politically correct business model that says it can’t afford for its homophobia to turn off viewers. The Washington Redskins are already under fire for their racist name; can the league afford the controversy that resistance to Sam might elicit?
This speaks to the genius of the timing of Sam’s announcement. A football locker room might very well be one of the most homophobic spaces you can find, but the league, much like a corporation, would be inclined to hide that side of its sport from the public eye. When players kept their sexuality to themselves, this was easier to do. The media certainly didn’t talk about it to this extent until Michael Sam forced them to–which is the key here. Whatever the future holds for Sam as a player and pioneer of gay rights, his announcement forced media to probe the league’s not-so-secret homophobic culture–and perhaps will force the league to be truthful with itself.
There’ll be a great deal of pressure on Sam, both from his team and the league, in the form of “Alright, you said it … now shut the fuck up and play ball [literally and figuratively]”, and his reaction to that will be pivotal to whether the homophobia that pervades most sports culture – which can’t be separated from the overarching societal manifestation of it, however slowly that may be changing – will be successfully confronted sooner rather than later.
Another issue is whether this animus will take the form of surreptitious physical attacks on him on the field, with ample opportunity within the violent nature of the sport to “unintentionally” injure him.
Hopefully that’s an unfounded concern
But I think it’s worth remaining aware of.
Third round draft pick historically have a 18% chance of outliving their first contract.The sad thing is the team who gets him will be praised for hiring “that gay guy”.And when he gets fired they will be trashed for firing “that gay guy”Its sad that this young man will not be defined by his quality of play in the sport of his choice.He will be defined by where, and how he likes to put his genetalia.Not something any of us want to be defined by.But to be straight(no pun)this is what he wanted.At least partly.I think his road will be hard.Football players are not always the best at helping to assimilate people who go their own way.Basically they are a team….And everyone conforms.One unit.One heart.One fluid movement in sync.Rebels are rebels to the press.Not to their team mates.He is gonna have a hard road.You can force behavior only to a degree.You cant force people to like or respect him.And with less than an 18% chance……I feel for him.
What media should be talking about is the high salaries and profits made from football on the backs of the tax payers (stadiums and infrastructure costs) when we can’t afford to give the hungry food stamps.
If they make billions in profit they can pay for a new stadium. There are only so many hamburgers and beers fans can consume after a game. The taxes for the stadium is much more than those revenues bring into an area.
Making the city, university debt free and prosperous is a much more worthy goal for us all. The cost of games has become so high the average working American can’t afford them.
We should re-think our priorities and football isn’t one of them.
Judy Im not sure what you are saying.I think your saying some folks make insane amounts of green for silly games,songs,movies and so on;while others cant afford anything.Ah yeah .Been going on that way a long time.Shirly Temple just died.She made as a little girl during the depression- a ton of doe.Make sense?Probably not, but dems the breaks.Should we of tarred and feathered her?When I was a kid the Beatles/gerry and the pacemakers,and some of the other British invasion rockers came here and it cost six bucks to see them in a small convention center.Today taylor swift tickets can run twenty grand for box.Im with you….only a moron would pay twenty grand to see anybody.I would not pay that if I had ten times Bill gates stash.But you cant force people how to spend their own money