2014 NFL Offseason

[Monkey_Driven]

So proud to say he's a Mizzou Tiger. Hopefully a team will draft him and he can prove why he was an All-American this year.

I was hoping you'd post. What do you think of his prospects at the next level?

He's undersized to play as an every down DE but I think he could excel as a situational pass rusher. I was impressed this season with his ability to shed blockers, especially once he gained the attention of double teams in the second half of the season (he had thee 3 sack games in October). He was the defensive player of the year in the best conference in college football so he can certainly play. I know he worked a little as a outside linebacker in a 3-4 during the Senior Bowl and struggled a bit, but that's to be expected. Just like a lot of players taken in the middle of the draft his success will depend on the team and system that drafts him. I expect him to get drafted and make a team.

[Green Habit]

So proud to say he's a Mizzou Tiger. Hopefully a team will draft him and he can prove why he was an All-American this year.

I was hoping you'd post. What do you think of his prospects at the next level?

He's undersized to play as an every down DE but I think he could excel as a situational pass rusher. I was impressed this season with his ability to shed blockers, especially once he gained the attention of double teams in the second half of the season (he had thee 3 sack games in October). H He was the defensive player of the year in the best conference in college football so he can certainly play. I know he worked a little as a outside linebacker in a 3-4 during the Senior Bowl and struggled a bit, but that's to be expected. Just like a lot of players taken in the middle of the draft his success will depend on the team and system that drafts him. I expect him to get drafted and make a team.

Yeah, I got something similar out of what I saw at the Senior Bowl--good to see I was on the right track.

[Monkey_Driven]

So proud to say he's a Mizzou Tiger. Hopefully a team will draft him and he can prove why he was an All-American this year.

I was hoping you'd post. What do you think of his prospects at the next level?

He's undersized to play as an every down DE but I think he could excel as a situational pass rusher. I was impressed this season with his ability to shed blockers, especially once he gained the attention of double teams in the second half of the season (he had thee 3 sack games in October). H He was the defensive player of the year in the best conference in college football so he can certainly play. I know he worked a little as a outside linebacker in a 3-4 during the Senior Bowl and struggled a bit, but that's to be expected. Just like a lot of players taken in the middle of the draft his success will depend on the team and system that drafts him. I expect him to get drafted and make a team.

Yeah, I got something similar out of what I saw at the Senior Bowl--good to see I was on the right track.

He came to Mizzou as a 2 star player and worked his ass off to make it where he is today. If I were an NFL team I would definitely take that into consideration.

[warehouse]

if gay dude can play outside lb in a 3-4 id take him on the birds in a heart beat. he'd love it in philly, there's a neighborhood w/ a big gay population called the "gayborhood". no shit, look it up. they have rainbows on their street signs and its the cleanest part of the city by far.

[Monkey_Driven]

Pictures say a thousand words.

[Lament]

I can't shake the feeling that a lot of supposedly pro-equality people I know who hate the NFL are hoping and praying that Michael Sam doesn't get drafted so that they don't have to face the reality of the NFL being the first major American sports league where an openly (to all) gay athlete was employed and can continue to act like it's a league of cretins and barbarians. It actually really makes me sick to my stomach and has exposed a really unexpectedly ugly side from a lot of people I know who would be screaming to the high heavens what a great thing this is were it to have happened in the NHL or MLB first.

Short of a freak injury, I don't see ANY way Michael Sam isn't drafted, and I don't see any way he doesn't make a final roster. People forget that unlike the few "anonymous" GMs in Sports Illustrated, the dudes in the NFL aren't 50-60 year old men, they're 24-30 year olds. They've grown up in a much more tolerant world. As long as one head coach/GM combo wants him (and one will), he'll be taken and accepted. As much as it pains NFL hates to admit, the average NFL player has spent more time in a place of higher learning than the average NBA/MLB/NHL player. Regardless of what classes they were taking or what kind of grades they were getting, they were no doubt exposed to a much wider range of people and experiences in that time.

Every part of me expects Michael Sam to be taken right in the middle of the draft where he was projected beforehand, to be picked up by a team with a strong infrastructure (like a New England, Green Bay, or Seattle), to play the entire season, and for it to more or less be a non-issue in whatever locker room he ends up in. Maybe I'm naive, but this all actually seems pretty likely to me.

[96583UP]

and for it to more or less be a non-issue in whatever locker room he ends up in. Maybe I'm naive, but this all actually seems pretty likely to me.

definitely

just look at Mante Teo

not that being catfished is the same thing as being gay; cause its not

but no one gives 2 shits about what he's doing these days

the media will move on to its next line item

[Lament]

People either don't remember, or don't want to acknowledge this...

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2 ... lives.html

Wade Davis was a former cornerback in the NFL who came out after he was finishing playing. According to him, within the NFL there are guys who people "know" are gay, and they respect it and keep it away from the media/public.

Toure: So the guys in the NFL who are gay have protection?

Wade Davis: Yes. Openly gay is a bit strong cuz when we think of openly gay we think of walking down the street with your boyfriend but there are players who know that this player may have a boyfriend or may not date women and that's just it. It's not talked about. He's there to do a job, I'm here to do a job, it's not talked about, he's my brother, he doesn't treat me any different than anyone else does.

[96583UP]

right. i've definitely heard before that its a known thing that there are a bunch of gays in the NFL.

American society is still sorting this whole thing out in terms of what openness/acceptance means in terms of assimilating gays in a normal way

hopefully at some point the comfort level will reach a point where people can just treat having male-male sex or female-female sex as no different than just having brown hair or liking chicken

we're not at that point yet obviously

i support all of this media attention in terms of spreading awareness / acclimating the greater populus to this issue...

but at a certain point, hopefully we can move on and not keep dwelling on sexual orientation. i mean, imagine if your heterosexual co-workers, who you don't know really well, held their key-note identity issue out there as based on who they are having sex with

it is your personal business

yes, i realize there is a civil rights issue here

but at the same time, realize that many have no problem with who you're having sex with, and just like any person on the street, don't want to know the details of your sexual life; unless they know you, or are having sex with you

some people do. but not everyone does. there is still room in modernity for a private life - right?

i guess it's just a manners issue. as in: TMI. not the time or place. don't wanna know. not my business. go and screw anything you want. lots of people do. just not something we need to talk about in front of the fax machine. we all know you are a much deeper person that what you have sex with; so let's focus on those issues, and not where you rub your genitals.

again, i realize there is a civil rights issue here. and i support it.

just saying. let's all get over it.

fight the power

[Green Habit]

I can't shake the feeling that a lot of supposedly pro-equality people I know who hate the NFL are hoping and praying that Michael Sam doesn't get drafted so that they don't have to face the reality of the NFL being the first major American sports league where an openly (to all) gay athlete was employed and can continue to act like it's a league of cretins and barbarians. It actually really makes me sick to my stomach and has exposed a really unexpectedly ugly side from a lot of people I know who would be screaming to the high heavens what a great thing this is were it to have happened in the NHL or MLB first.

Short of a freak injury, I don't see ANY way Michael Sam isn't drafted, and I don't see any way he doesn't make a final roster. People forget that unlike the few "anonymous" GMs in Sports Illustrated, the dudes in the NFL aren't 50-60 year old men, they're 24-30 year olds. They've grown up in a much more tolerant world. As long as one head coach/GM combo wants him (and one will), he'll be taken and accepted. As much as it pains NFL hates to admit, the average NFL player has spent more time in a place of higher learning than the average NBA/MLB/NHL player. Regardless of what classes they were taking or what kind of grades they were getting, they were no doubt exposed to a much wider range of people and experiences in that time.

Every part of me expects Michael Sam to be taken right in the middle of the draft where he was projected beforehand, to be picked up by a team with a strong infrastructure (like a New England, Green Bay, or Seattle), to play the entire season, and for it to more or less be a non-issue in whatever locker room he ends up in. Maybe I'm naive, but this all actually seems pretty likely to me.

This was a really good post. I do think there's an element of the media that just wants to see someone be openly gay so that they can make some hay out of it. Even though it's generally in poor form to out someone against their will.

[Mecca]

I can't shake the feeling that a lot of supposedly pro-equality people I know who hate the NFL are hoping and praying that Michael Sam doesn't get drafted so that they don't have to face the reality of the NFL being the first major American sports league where an openly (to all) gay athlete was employed and can continue to act like it's a league of cretins and barbarians. It actually really makes me sick to my stomach and has exposed a really unexpectedly ugly side from a lot of people I know who would be screaming to the high heavens what a great thing this is were it to have happened in the NHL or MLB first.

this reminds of the satire in a recent Onion article http://www.theonion.com/articles/conser ... ist,35236/

[elliseamos]

He came to Mizzou as a 2 star player and worked his ass off

yeah he did.

[Green Habit]

I'm seriously bumming about this news.

[lennytheweedwhacker]

that makes me sadden as well

[Alex]

that makes me sadden as well

who do you think you are?

[lennytheweedwhacker]

that makes me sadden as well

who do you think you are?

grateful i was

[MattA75]

I'm seriously bumming about this news.

good riddance

sorry GH

[Green Habit]

I'm seriously bumming about this news.

good riddance

sorry GH

I'm biased, of course, so take this for what it is. I'm willing to admit one flaw of Shannon's: his voice isn't exactly made for TV. But if you can get through that, he at least has good and unique things to say. I'm fairly confident he'll get another job in TV if he wants it--still, watching CBS at 10 AM on Sundays will never be the same again.

[Electromatic]

NFL network can fire Sapp now and bring in Sharpe to pair with the Playmaker

[@SkitchP]

Rumor has it Sadden 2015 will feature only the Browns and Lions.