We were in the living room watching the Olympics on Sunday evening, and my son was on his phone and asked me in a surprising voice, “Did you know Michael Sam is gay?” I replied non-chalantly, “yeah, I figured he was…I had heard rumors during the season.” My son sounded surprised and said, “Oh, I thought I had a story for you.” In fact, he did…we all have a story.
Michael Sam did something that took an extreme amount of courage. No other football player has come out before or during their professional playing career to say they are gay. It shouldn’t matter to fans, and it definitely shouldn’t matter to NFL teams, GMs, coaches or players, but unfortunately it still does.
Hopefully, Sam has created an environment in sports where athletes should no longer fear or even need to address their sexual orientation. Sam could very much so be this generation’s Jackie Robinson in terms of breaking down and overcoming barriers. Â I explain more in my video, on Missourinet Mornings.
