Michael Sam's choice

Winston Zeddemore

Twenty four year old University of Missouri senior Micheal Sam is undeniably an NFL prospect whose expected to be a forth round draft pick by all accounts. He played All American and was named an SEC defensive player of the year. However this is not enough to generate the amount of coverage he is now receiving. Sam has drawn international attention simply by publicly admitting he is gay. Simply? Apparently he also happens to be the first NFL player prospect to do this in history, making his potential playing career forever bearing an asterisk of controversy. Because no matter what his achievements are on the playing field, it will always be accompanied by this footnote. So why would he subject himself to this scrutiny?  

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As it is Sam is not without his critics. At 6 foot 2 he is considered too small by many scouts for a pro defensive end position and he would have to be retrained (purportedly he is expected to be drafted by a club and switched to outside linebacker) to an unfamiliar position. Add to that locker room hazing; an issue that surfaced just this past November with the Miami Dolphins' highly publicized Richie Incognito "bullying" of Jonathan Martin. One begins to see how this was not simple at all. Yet it appears that Sam was fully aware of the risks before going public.

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Sam had never kept his sexuality a secret. In fact, his Missouri teammates all became aware of the personal side of Sam's life during a team building exercise over a year ago. If they knew, there's a good probability that the NFL scouts knew as well. It appeared that football was ready to accept an openly gay player and keep the personal side off the table (and away from the press). 

Michael Sam made a conscious decision to become the poster man for an openly gay professional football player. In doing so he sets a benchmark and issues a challenge to all other players to acknowledge that (of course) sexual diversity exits in the locker room. He has made it easier in that what is mentionable is manageable. He is a first, so the pressure will be on Sam to fulfill his potential and become the player he wants to be. Because lets face it, this could fall into the category of the cart before the horse. What will we remember if Sam plays no significant role on the gridiron? Will Sam's impact be diminished? It seems nothing less than a stellar career will satisfy the critics. Michael Sam has (bravely) painted himself into a corner that challenges himself more than anyone else at this point and that is the reason I think he really came out. 

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