LGBTQ news and entertainment
And this is how you do it.
When asked about Tony Dungy’s recent comments, Sam replied: “Thank God he wasn’t St. Louis Rams’ coach. But I have a great respect for Coach Dungy, and like everyone in America, everyone is entitled to their own opinions.”
“It is what it is,” said Sam. “What you gonna do about it? My focus is on making this team. I’m excited to be back with the guys. Football is fun.”
Good job, Michael.
St. Louis Rams coach Jeff Fisher called into the Mike and Mike radio show, addressing former NFL coach Tony Dungy’s recent comments that Michael Sam’s presence on a team will prove to be a huge “distraction.”
Fisher adamantly disagreed with Dungy saying that Sam has reported to training camp already a better football player and has shown his talent and tough work ethic since signing.
Take a listen below:
Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts head coach, Tony Dungy, recently told the Tampa Tribune that he would not have drafted openly gay Michael Sam:
“I wouldn’t have taken him. Not because I don’t believe Michael Sam should have a chance to play, but I wouldn’t want to deal with all of it.
“It’s not going to be totally smooth … things will happen.”
Since that statement, Dungy has continued to receive criticism for the comments.
This is the same man who defended Michael Vick – convicted and sent to prison for animal cruelty to dogs. Of Vick’s crimes, the Orlando Sentinel wrote this:
Vick’s crime was dog-fighting. Those who didn’t make the cut were shot, beaten and electrocuted. Three dogs were hanged, according to a report by the USDA inspector general, “by placing a nylon cord over a 2 x 4 that was nailed to two trees.” ” Three more dogs drowned after Vick’s crew put their heads in a 5 gallon bucket of water.
Got that? Kinda serious, right? But Dungy stood by a man who tortured innocent animals and said he deserved a second chance.
But about Michael Sam? A man who had harmed no one? No such open-mindedness. Because Dungy “wouldn’t want to deal with it.”
So let’s get this all straight:
Animal torture/murder = second chance
Gay football player = not gonna deal with it
Got it? Right.
And I’m not even going to go into the fact that just some years ago, being a coach of “color” was not something NFL team owners “wanted to deal with.” Good thing for Dungy times got better and people evolved on that level.
By the way, it should be noted that in the past, Tony Dungy – leader of men – has helped raise money for anti-gay campaigns and has made it clear he does not agree with a “homosexual lifestyle.”
Check out Keith Olbermann’s take-down of Dungy below. Starts at the 2:00 mark:
Rush Limbaugh says having Michael Sam on the St. Louis Rams roster makes them a “social experiment,” not a football team.
Check the 2:20 mark where Rush can’t talk fast enough to vomit his bile.
People really listen to this for hours at a time…?
My man Michael Sam may have been drafted at number 249, but he recently signed a four year contract with the St. Louis Rams.
And he’s making a strong showing in jersey sales, currently ranked at number 6 since this year’s draft:
In fact, so many people bought Sam’s jersey that he actually cracked the top 10 in jersey sales since the NFL draft according to Darren Rovell of ESPN. Even more impressive is the fact that Sam is one of only two defensive players to have jersey sales in the top 10. The other defensive player is none other than NFL superstar Richard Sherman.
Michael recently sat down with Robin Roberts to talk about doubts he may have had just before he got the historic call from the St. Louis Rams; and the emotion behind his acceptance speech for this year’s Arthur Ashe Courage award at the ESPY Awards:
Preceded by a moving backstory video and followed by an emotional acceptance speech, St. Louis Rams’ Michael Sam was honored at the 2014 ESPY Awards with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award.
The video package and acceptance speech were perfect for the heroic Michael Sam. The sports world and the LGBT community could not be more proud that this is the journey and story a life can take when a true athlete faces his challenges.
From his speech tonight at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles:
“This year I had a lot of experience being part of something bigger than myself. At times, I felt like I’d been living in a massive storm, … but the lessons learned — love, respect and being true to yourself — will never leave me.”
Quoting Arthur Ashe — “Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can. Those were the words to live by, whether you’re black or white, young or old, straight or gay. … Football raised me, football taught me about hard work.”
“People tell me that I’m their inspiration. Well you are my inspiration.”
“To anyone out there, especially young people feeling like they don’t fit in and would never be accepted, please know this. Great things can happen when you have the courage to be yourself.”
Get ready to grab a tissue. Full tribute video and acceptance speech below:
This past Thursday, Michael Sam made history again as he signed a four-year contract with the St. Louis Rams reportedly worth $2.65 million.
Built into the contract is a $46,000 guarantee.
All 11 members selected by the Rams during the 2014 Draft made the final cut.
In celebration, Sam tweeted this photo of his rookie teammates with the caption, “Grateful, humbled, and motivated after officially signing with all my Rams rookie brothers.”
Grateful, humbled, and motivated after officially signing with all my Rams rookie brothers. Let’s do this!! #RamUp pic.twitter.com/quFCf01tJw
— Michael Sam (@MichaelSamNFL) June 12, 2014
Actor and former NBA player for the Lakers tells Larry King that he believes gay players have always been in pro sports, and he believes Michael Sam and Jason Collins are brave to coming out:
KING: Gays in sports. We have them now in the NFL, NBA, think that’s coming and think that’ll be accepted?
FOX: I think it’s been here, the acceptance of it will grow with time. Jason Collins, and Michael Sam recently in football; brave men for stepping out and being a voice and standing for their own. First standing for themselves, and being role models for other gay men and women who are in the workplace and want to be expressed, so the acceptance now and the growth comes from their teammates and the league.
KING: You say it’s always been here, did you know gay players?
FOX: I didn’t know gay players, I just know as I’ve evolved as an actor and being around Hollywood and working with gay men and women, the understanding of just the community itself, gave me insight into how difficult its been for gay men and women to live and how covered they’ve lived for so many years. So I just look at them and think its been, there has to have been gay men and women who haven’t felt safe enough to express themselves.
KING: When more come open, do you think it’s going to be accepted readily in NBA locker rooms?
FOX: I think you have to demand it. I think you have to just demand equality in general.
Larry King Now, now in it’s second season, is a daily show available online Monday through Friday on Ora.tv and Hulu.
You can watch the entire interview here.
Frank Bruni writes for the New York Times:
A kiss is nothing. On the sidewalks, in the park, I see one every few minutes, a real kiss, lip to lip. It barely registers. It’s as unremarkable as a car horn in traffic, as an umbrella in rain.
And yet a kiss is everything. A kiss can stop the world.
The football player Michael Sam recently demonstrated as much.
[snip]
I feel robbed — wronged — if I sense that an awareness of other people’s gazes and a fear of their judgment are preventing him from doing that.
We shouldn’t be bound that way, and on the day of the pro football draft, in front of the cameras, Sam rightly declared that he wasn’t. He did so with a gesture at once humdrum and heroic, a gesture that connects everyone who has been in love and affirms what every love shares: physical tenderness, eye-to-eye togetherness. It was something to behold. It was something to hold on to.
Full essay (covering many of Hollywood’s most famous kisses that broke society’s taboos) here.