Super-statistician Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight gives openly gay NFL-hopeful Michael Sam a 50/50 chance of being picked in the NFL Draft which begins Thursday:
I looked at what happened to projected sixth-round picks since 2005, as according to the Scouts Inc. draft board. Specifically, I looked at defensive ends and outside linebackers, the two positions that Sam might play in the NFL. (That some scouts regard Sam as a “tweener” is one reason he may not be drafted highly.)
There were 67 such players between 2005 and 2013. Of those, 37 players — 55 percent — were not drafted. Twenty-four others were drafted between the fifth and seventh rounds, while six were chosen in the fourth round or higher. Only about 10 percent were chosen in the sixth round exactly.
Silver says that if Sam isn’t chosen in the draft it will be difficult to pin point exactly why: Skill? Size? Gay? But – if Sam is neither drafted nor picked up as free agent, that could indicate that something other than his skills are being evaluated.
In the end, Silver says if he had to he would bet on Sam more than likely being drafted than not because in the end, a player only needs one team to draft him.
Fingers crossed this week for Michael Sam that a team takes a chance on a good man.
Sports writer Bob McGinn says it’s likely openly gay NFL hopeful Michael Sam may not be picked in the NFL draft (which begins this Thursday) until late in the draft rounds:
The Journal Sentinel polled 21 scouts with national responsibilities asking what round, if any, they would be comfortable selecting Sam.
Three said fifth round. Three said sixth round. Three said seventh round. Five said they would sign him as a free agent. Seven said they wouldn’t sign him as a free agent.
Sam was SEC co-Defensive Player of the Year in 2013. Only one player who has won that award was selected outside the top 33 picks in the draft.
According to the Baltimore Sun, at least six teams have shown serious interest in openly gay football player Michael Sam:
As former Missouri defensive end Michael Sam continues his preparations for the NFL draft, several teams have maintained contact with the Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Year.
The Ravens are among the teams that have displayed the most interest in Sam since the NFL scouting combine along with the Atlanta Falcons, New England Patriots, Indianapolis Colts, Cleveland Browns and New York Jets, according to league sources.
The All-American selection is poised to become the first openly gay NFL player.
During the NFL scouting combine, Sam had a formal meeting with the Ravens.
“Any player that has the qualities to be a great player and a good teammate is a guy that fits us. We’re really good at helping players, any player, become a part of our team. That goes to all the things that I think are happening in the NFL the last couple of months,” said Ravens head coach John Harbaugh.
NFL hopeful Michael Sam has penned an open letter to his fellow University of Missouri students in which he thanks the Mizzou community for the strong support shown during his public coming out:
To my fellow University of Missouri students, athletes, faculty, alumni and supporters:
From my first recruiting trip to the University of Missouri, I felt something extraordinary and special — something I didn’t feel anyplace else. I didn’t have a name for it then; I do now. It’s called family. And to me that family is defined by unconditional love.
Certainly you cheered my successes, but you also picked me up when I fell. Maybe most importantly, you gave me a chance to live my truth without judgment, without hesitation and with great discretion and respect.
When I came out last month, I did it with the confidence that my Mizzou “family” would always be there for me. To put it mildly, the love and acceptance I felt was amazing. The day after the announcement, my name was spelled out in the stadium; fraternities hung #StandWithSam banners; then when I went to the basketball game to honor the football team’s Cotton Bowl victory, I worked hard not to cry because of the amazing reception.
I have a long journey ahead of me, a lot of hard work and many dreams I want to fulfill. But I do it with the confidence that my Mizzou family will be there for me every step of the way. I will continue to work my hardest; I will strive to make you all proud. And I will be a Tiger forever.
Missouri defensive end Michael Sam addressed the media at the combine about being the first openly gay draft prospect in NFL history.
I think he handles himself extremely well in his first big brush with the press. No question he handles this with class and star quality.
Talking to the media, Sam addressed the obvious issue in question – via USA Today:
“Oh, heck yeah, I wish you guys were just saying, ‘Hey, Michael Sam, how’s football going? How’s training going?’ I would love if you’d ask me that question,” he said, in his first public appearance since making his landmark announcement Feb. 9.
“But it is what it is. I just wish you guys would see me as Michael Sam the football player instead of Michael Sam the gay football player.”
An All-America selection as a senior with the Tigers in 2013, Sam told his college teammates he was gay before last season. Now he hopes to become the NFL’s first openly gay player, though he said he doesn’t feel like a trailblazer — “I feel like I’m Michael Sam.”
Former Dallas Cowboys defensive end Greg Ellis (on top)
Former Dallas Cowboys defensive end Greg Ellis spoke with ESPN radio on Tuesday and offered his opinions about recently out/SEC Defensive Player of the Year Michael Sam joining the NFL.
On what his team’s reaction would be to Michael Sam when he was playing:
“I think it would be totally different than what it is right now. I think those years made a lot of difference in the current day NFL. But still, a universal rule in my opinion is that it’s going to affect the football team. I don’t care how we look at this, it’s going to affect the football team. And one of the biggest reasons why it’s going to affect the football team, he’s not a proven player.
“Teams and guys have a lot of tendency to accept a lot of things if they feel like, ‘Nobody done like him, but nobody can do what he can do.’ If it’s your quarterback and he’s playing like Peyton Manning you’re going to have find a way to say, ‘We’re going to overlook that because we’re trying to win football games.’ But when you’re coming in as an unproven rookie, you won’t have that card to pull because you’re unproven. He has to be careful. He has to come in, close his mouth. It should’ve never came out. I know half the people will say, ‘Why not?’ Because it hurts his opportunity to be welcome into a football club.”
On what Sam first needs to do when he goes to a team:
“If he can make it through that first initial wave. If he can get out there — he doesn’t need to say anything. He needs go in there, close his mouth and play football to let the guys know that, ‘Hey if you guys give me a chance to welcome me into this fraternity of this football team, I can contribute and help us win football games.’ That’s going to be his best approach in my opinion.
“Because the little things you have to look at. If he pats somebody on the butt — I hope ESPN don’t get mad and never have me back — but if he pats somebody on the butt, how is that to be received? If he does that how is that to be received? If he said, ‘Come on baby’? I called guys baby all the time on the football field, but when you have taken a stand and went and go public and say that, ‘I am gay,’ how is that going to be received? I’ve seen guys, I had guys on the Dallas Cowboys football team — I won’t mention names — who did not want you to pat them on their butt. So God forbid if you pat one of those guys on the butt it’s going to be a major problem.”
On if he would’ve been uncomfortable with playing with a gay player:
“I would. I would. People who’ve never been in an NFL shower room, not just locker room, it’s a open room. We don’t have private curtains. It’s just an open-form shower, so everybody sees each in the nude.
“Well if you’re looking at men as if you’re looking at women or vice versa, how are those guys to receive that? I don’t know. I don’t know how they will receive that. But I do know it would be a situation where I would go to the coach and try to work something out to say, ‘Obviously this is going to be a problem. What can we do? The kid can help us play, can help us win football games. We need him on the team. But this situation right here, we need to do something.’ ”
ESPN Sunday Converation featured 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick and Panthers QB Cam Newton sitting down with Michele Steele to discuss their off-the-field friendship, the atmosphere in their respective locker rooms and how Michael Sam will fit in the NFL. Via Queerty:
Cam Newton said:
“His job is a linebacker. Colin said it best when he said we don’t worry about each other when we’re outside of football. Of course we have, ‘Are you OK? Is there anything I can help you with?’ But the main focus is, we’re football players. We’re here in this organization for one reason and one reason only. And if you’re able to help us attain that winning success, your personal life is your personal life.”
Colin Kaepernick added:
“No one cares if you’re black, white, straight gay, Christian, Jewish, whatever it may be. When you step on that field you’re a member of, in my case the 49ers, or the Carolina Panthers, that’s your job. That’s your occupation.”
Yesterday, the results of an informal survey of players in the NFL showed roughly 86% of players aren’t interested in other players sexual orientation.
In a satellite interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, the NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley spoke out in support of recently out football player Michael Sam and gay rights in general, saying:
“I think it’s an insult to gay people to think that they are going to be looking at their teammates in a sexual way. That’s an insult to all gay men. And we welcome them to the locker room, and I wish Mr. Sam the best.”
Barkley added that he thinks gays and lesbians deserve the same rights as all Americans.
Barkley has a history of speaking up for the LGBT community. In 2011, Barkley referenced Martin Luther King Jr. on the subject of gay discrimination, saying, “His daughter [Rev. Bernice King] said something that was very interesting. People try to make it about black and white. [But MLK] talked about equality for every man, every woman. We have a thing going on now, people discriminating against homosexuality in this country. I love the homosexuality people. God bless the gay people. They are great people.”
