Michael Sam confirmed to Oprah what we already know to be true — there are many closeted athletes in the NFL. What we didn’t know is that a few of them reached out to Michael during his media frenzy to offer support and show respect.
“A very few reached out to me and pretty much just told me their gratitude and how thankful they were that I had the courage [to come out],” Sam said in the interview, which will be shown on OWN on Saturday night. “They wished that they had the courage to come out.”
Oprah tries pushing him to get specific — “Very few meaning one, two, three, five?” Michael doesn’t take the bait. “Very few,” he replies.
Earlier this year, NFL Executive Vice President of Operations Troy Vincent reflected on his time playing for the Dolphins from ’92-’95, saying:
“I’m not going to share their names, but in my 15 years, there were six individuals who were at least openly gay in the locker room, no problem. From my days in Miami until I ended in Washington, they were just my teammates. Just like my family members. We ate together, we flew together, they’re roommates in hotel rooms. It was what it was.”
Sam was cut by the Cowboys in October and has not been signed by another team, something he has suggested might have something to do with him being openly gay.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
MarionPaige
So, then, what exactly is the issue? If gay people have the same opportunities in the NFL as others, what is the issue?
Michael Sam drank the Out Koolaide., Out is concept invented to pimp a magazine (apparently by that guy slumming away in obscurity at Towleroad).
Michael Sam excelled in an industry in which his race was not a drawback. And, what does he do? He creates another hurdle for himself by publicly announcing that he’s gay and by kissing the former boyfriend of a bareback gay pornstar on live tv. It’s like, what’s the idiot gonna do next, get a face tattoo?
Kieran
As long as being a gay man is still automatically linked to effeminacy, drag queens and transsexuals in the minds of so many Americans, very few NFL players are going to risk their careers by coming out as gay publicly. Americans are much more comfortable dealing with stereotypical gays like Ross Matthews or Carson Kressley than they are with a Michael Sam, Robbie Rogers, or Rock Hudson.
jason smeds
Effeminate gay guys play into the hands of homophobes because they satisfy the expectation that gays are safe, inoffensive scream-queens. And, let’s face it, there are some gay guys who play up their effeminacy in order to be considered acceptable.
I’ve known gay guys who act extra-effeminate around women so that they can be considered “one of the girls”. There’s an interesting psychology going on here wherein these men adopt the extreme mannerisms of women in order to be considered acceptable by women, as it is women who find effeminate homosexuality the least threatening version of homosexuality.
Women find masculine homosexuality a threat because it asserts manhood in a way that refutes women and their qualities.
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
“Effeminate gay guys play into the hands of homophobes because they satisfy the expectation that gays are safe, inoffensive scream-queens’
Whereas they and Jason are just fine with the unsafe, offensive scream-queens.
Waste of pixels, as ever.
Xzamilio
@MarionPaige: I think he should have waited and then immediately came out after he had established himself as a force in the NFL. As it is, it just appears that he is making the rounds as a rejected out NFL prospect who never even touched the field in a professional game. I’m over him at this point.
Merv
He didn’t have a choice about coming out. He was already out to his entire team and coaching staff at Missouri. It was either he tell everyone or it comes out in the rumor mill.
ppp111
@Merv:
I’m not so sure. While many athletes may be out to their friends and teammates, that doesn’t mean they will be out to the media. Besides, I doubt many of his former teammates would have been talking to the media about Sam had he decided not to come out. Sure, there would have been rumors and innuendo. But many professional athletes deal with that every day. I agree with Xzamilio that it would have been better to establish himself as a force in the NFL and then come out. Besides, people will debate for years if his failure to get in the NFL was because of his playing ability or the fact he may have been viewed by some insiders as an unnecessary distraction. Ah well. It was great while it lasted.
stanhope
@Xzamilio: While I am not “over him” at this point, I do agree he should have played it cool until he established himself in the NFL then come out. It would have been a win for him and a win for us in that we would have an NFL “star” coming out. He could have still gotten that Oprah paycheck from the reality show later. His financial future would have been secure and also if the NFL got crazy, he would have established his record on the field. Now he is starting to just look bitter.
stanhope
@Merv: read what has been said, the teams keep up the subterfuge so he could have gotten away with it while he established a record on the field….then his coming out would have been even more significant.
jockjack5
@Xzamilio:
Sam was NEVER going to be “a force in the NFL” because he lacked the necessary skills for his position(s). He was, as many of the professional scouts predicted prior to his selection, simply “too small and too slow”.
Today, he is exactly as you stated, a “rejected NFL prospect” who in my opinion is trying desperately at this point to milk out that last drop of his fleeting 15 minutes of fame or notoriety.
I, too, am definitely over him.
He should do as the legendary coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Chuck Noll, used to tell his players as their skills faded… that it was time “to get on with their life’s work.”
Xzamilio
@jockjack5: Yeah, I can’t argue with that. I didn’t want to say anything about his skill set, but who are we kidding? His being gay would be the last thing even the most ardent homophobe would have cared about, because winning matters more to them than anything. He’s placed far too much emphasis on being gay, and that is on him and the media for constantly focusing on that, and even our own gay media.
It’d be nice is someone of Lebron James’s caliber came out…
jockjack5
@Xzamilio:
Yes indeed!
If someone of Tom Brady’s stature came out, what a TRULY big event that would be, and cause for much jubilation amongst us gay boys (men).
Meantime, I hope Michael Sam will simply fade away into the obscurity he so richly deserves.