The media feeding frenzy on University of Missouri defensive end Michael Sam?
“Is it much ado about nothing?” muses sports scribe Craig Glazer. “The answer is pretty much yes, it is. I don’t think anybody who follows sports doesn’t believe that there have been several thousand players over the years that have been gay.
“The rumors were so strong about Chiefs kicker Nick Lowery and Royals star George Brett that Brett got Jeff Flanagan to write a column in the Star denying that he was gay.”
None of which much matters in today’s society, Glazer argues.
“Here’s what matters; is Sam good enough to play in the NFL?” Glazer says. “And a lot of people are questioning that because Missouri’s defense got run over in the Auburn game and guess who else got run over? Sam. So at this point it looks like he’s going to go in the 4th or 5th round of the draft this spring.”
And while there could be a local angle, don’t hold your breath, Glazer says.
“Maybe he makes sense for the Chiefs. But would the Chiefs draft an openly gay player? Probably not, the Chiefs are too conservative.”
One wild card: that Sam outed himself as a PR stunt to up his stock in the draft.
“That’s a possibility and here’s why,” Glazer says. “It wasn’t a secret to the rest of the team or in the SEC that he was gay. This became an issue because the draft’s coming up and Sam made an issue of it. You know all this stuff about MU being so accepting? That’s a crock.
“I think Kansas City has a reputation of being a stick-in-the-mud town. I mean, we’re the city that banned nude dancing. Who would do that? Nude dancing at strip clubs? Imagine that!”
As for Sam being some sort of hero for coming out, that’s bogus, Glazer says.
“I mean, it’s hip right now to be gay. Especially if you’re a handsome, black football player with a pedigree. But comparing Sam to Jackie Robinson is outrageous. Jackie Robinson came into baseball in a hailstorm. There were threats to his life. This guy’s not going through all of that. Will there be some threats? Sure, there’s still a lot of homopobes out there but nothing like Jackie Robinson.”
Being gay – gay marriage even – is rapidly becoming a part of modern life.
“People still ask me about my being in prison,” Glazer says. “And the No. 1 question is always, did anybody try to rape me? The truth is, in most prisons, there’s so many gay men you really don’t have to rape anybody. When I was in prison I was too busy trying to bang the female guards.
“We’re a community that pretends to support this young man, but we’re also a community that watches porn on Saturday and then gets up and goes to church on Sunday.”
What?! Porn is a sin?! I…am….so….screwed!
well glaze you’re wrong
1. sam’s received a lot of negative response…don’t forget he’s in misssouri..
and the respoinse he’s received has been atrocious from what I’ve heard.
of course many people ‘lare supporting him but read the blogs and
you’ll see that theres still a lot of hate in America!
2. third round pick…should or could have made millions in nfl.
he didn’t come out to uphis stock…in fact many talent people
are saying its hurt his ratings…..one had him dropping down
significantly in the mock drafts.
3, you need to get out glaze…maybe in your circles its cool…
but read the backlash on the internet….millions don’t agree…
we’re still pretty conservative when it comes to this…
but hopeful the kid gets drafted …plays….does well in spite
of what will be a huge media frenzy from day one of the draft to
the day he comes to play in the nfl. If you thought the paparazzi
and the news teams have been all over a story…wait til the
draft….wait til they call his name….waits til summer camp…
its going to make the feeding frenzy about tebow look like
a high school play…wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
I expect teams are weighing his ability vs the odds of getting slapped with a multi million dollar discrimination lawsuit.
I didn’t think of that, you are dead right.
Good article Glaze.
The only real trouble he might have, is if he is really bad and has no sense of humor.
I would like to dedicate my comment to Kordell Stewart. THAT was a quarterback who HATED the Shotgun.
… and if the player had been from KU? It would have been a HUGE DEAL to the author.
Why? I have nothing against KU, I like their basketball program. Great place. I like both schools. My folks went to MU. I went to UMKC for a year and ASU for two plus. NO I have nothing against KU and that would not have mattered.
Its just hype. He’s not even close to the first gay player going to the NFL. He just came out and said he was gay. Fine. Not a big thing really. We all make it one, that’s all.
“Not a big thing really. We all make it one, that’s all.”
Which by this very definition makes it a big deal.
This site is obsessed with KU. The state otherwise is being untruthful. Just look at recent stories in the past week.
This shouldn’t be a big deal but you know, UHMURCA.
UHMURCA, land of the people who think they are free, horribly afraid of sex and nudity and women with opinions, don’t want women to have control of their own bodies, LUUUUUV VIOLENCE!!!!
I don’t think it is “hip right now to be gay” or whatever because it isn’t really a choice. It’s not like he just thought, “You know what would make my life much easier? Being gay.” With that said, I am going to have to disagree about this not being a big deal. It is becoming more socially acceptable for gay individuals to live an open lifestyle but not necessarily in mainstream American sports. How many times is the word “distraction” going to be used to describe an openly gay male athlete? Honestly, I find it hard to believe that this is a stunt to up his stock for the NFL. He is probably going to have to kick even more ass in the combine than he would have had he not come out. Chances are that a lot more scrutiny will be put on him by the old school in the NFL.
agree with jimmy…..hes going to have to be even better player now.
100% agreed. And I too was particularly perplexed by the phrase “hip right now to be gay…” especially, as you said, in the sports world.
So if it hip to be ghey according to Galzer does that mean like his numerous Ed Hardy shirts when they were hip does that mean he is gonna start smokin’ da pole to be a cool kid?