LGBT in sports; will Michael Sam be drafted to the NFL?
Forbes has an interesting article today reminding us about Michael Sam and his prospects for being drafted to the NFL . Michael Sam achieved considerable notoriety several months ago when he came out as a gay football player who happened to be the SEC defensive player of the year and who would become the first openly gay man to star in the NFL if drafted by a team this weekend.
My question for Pipedot: regardless of teams' decisions to draft Sam or not, will the decisions be accepted as based on his skills or football ability alone or will they be judged in terms of their support for or avoidance of support for homosexuality in American football? And, what are the central obstacles to people being judged on skills alone when competing for opportunities (I'm thinking about ageing programmers and so on as similar-type challenges)?
My question for Pipedot: regardless of teams' decisions to draft Sam or not, will the decisions be accepted as based on his skills or football ability alone or will they be judged in terms of their support for or avoidance of support for homosexuality in American football? And, what are the central obstacles to people being judged on skills alone when competing for opportunities (I'm thinking about ageing programmers and so on as similar-type challenges)?
How about we stick to interviewing him about his football plays and the game? I don't see the media mentioning sexual orientation when they interview straight players. Nobody straight gets asked if they feel comfortable getting changed or showering in front of 40 other dudes whose testosterone levels are off the charts.
If gays wanted true equality, they'd put a stop to any questioning that brings up their sexuality. They would want to be treated the same way as straight people, by being judged by their merits alone, without sexual orientation clouding said judgement. Instead, most keep the gay card visible when they are judged on their skills or merits, so they can scream "discrimination!" when things don't go their way.
So let's stick to judging Sam's football abilities. How fast can he run 40 yards? How many tackles did he have? How many fumble recoveries? Pick a bunch of stats, compare them to the his team or the NFL average, and you'll get a true measure of a player. Leave the sexual orientation out of it.