2014 NFL Draft Discussion Thread

[Crimsontide27]

Re: 2014 NFL Draft Discussion Thread

This article is an interesting read on some of the stuff that went into the decision: http://www.outsports.com/2014/2/9/53...ouri-nfl-draft

It sounds like the plan was to make the announcement after the combine but they pushed up the timing because so many people knew already and they wanted to be in control of how the news was released.

I'm just tired of someone's sexuality being news in the first place. Living and working here in central florida where its likely that straight males are in the minority, its getting old hearing about it.

[KingV2k3]

Re: 2014 NFL Draft Discussion Thread

I'm just tired of someone's sexuality being news in the first place. Living and working here in central florida where its likely that straight males are in the minority, its getting old hearing about it.

Here's a link to an interview with the kid:

http://www.aol.com/article/2014/02/09/r/20826481/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl4%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D440999

Good for him, esp. in light of the J. Martin mess...

May as well put the cards on the table now...

Looooong overdue, IMHO...

We are living in some exciting times on a number of social fronts...

Viva progress!

[SteelersFreak]

Re: 2014 NFL Draft Discussion Thread

What mid-to-late round prospects are you most impressed with?

Some that I like:
QB--Brett Smith, WYO
QB--David Fales, SJSU
QB--Keith Wenning, BALL ST
HB--Terrance West, Towson
HB--Antonio Andrews, WKU
WR--L'Damian Washington
WR--Robert Herron, WYO
TE--Crockett Gilmore, COLORADO ST
OT--Billy Turner, ND ST
C--Weston Richburg, COLORADO ST
DT--Caroun Reid, PRINCETON
OLB--Denicos Allen, MICH ST
ILB--Shayne Skov, STAN
CB--Ricardo Allen, PURDUE
SS--Vinnie Sunseri, BAMA

Sunseri, at the very least, will be a great special teams player somewhere. Not sure if he has the skillset to end up as a starting safety anywhere though.

[TheMatrix31]

Re: 2014 NFL Draft Discussion Thread

Yeah, because the Mizzou locker room was in disarray the entire season because they knew he's gay. Oh wait, they were completely fine with it, just as any other half decent human being would be fine with it.

.

That should have been a sign to everyone involved that nobody really gives a ****.

[rspencer86]

Re: 2014 NFL Draft Discussion Thread

From what I have read, he is targeted in the 3 - 7th rounds. He is under sized and he got 9 of his 11.5 sacks against 3 bad teams.

I found this laughable, as one of the "garbage teams" (along with Florida and Arkansas State) mentioned in that Sports Illustrated article was Vanderbilt, which finished in the Top 25.

Also, Jadeveon Clowney's 2013 perfomance against Florida, Vandy and Kentucky: 1 total sack, and he basically excused himself from the Kentucky game.

Sam can flat out play. He had the game-saving sack + forced fumble in the Cotton Bowl.

[bigbob]

Re: 2014 NFL Draft Discussion Thread

Yeah, I'm not sure where people are getting he's projected to go in the 3rd to the 7th. That's quite a big leap. He doesn't have off-the-field issues that would cause him to be a 3rd round talent falling to the 7th. Most places that I've seen have him going between the 2nd and the 4th.

[SPTO]

Re: 2014 NFL Draft Discussion Thread

I think people in his age group (like his college teammates) don't give a damn what his sexual orientation is but in the NFL things can get stupid. We've seen in the J. Martin case that there are just as many clowns in NFL uniforms as there are people like us who will look at a person for their worth and not get all bugged out that he's gay.

BTW there's already the "oh I dunno about this" kinda crap coming out. This is from Peter King's MMQB site:

Two team reps didn’t know the story when we spoke, with me not naming names and simply asking what would happen if, as I expected, a gay player would be coming out before the combine. One GM said he’d heard that Sam might be the player. But the fourth, a general manager, said he not only knew the story and that Sam was the player, but that his team had discussed it at draft meetings in the past few days.

“We talked about it this week,” the GM said. “First of all, we don’t think he’s a very good player. The reality is he’s an overrated football player in our estimation. Second: He’s going to have expectations about where he should be drafted, and I think he’ll be disappointed. He’s not going to get drafted where he thinks he should. The question you will ask yourself, knowing your team, is, ‘How will drafting him affect your locker room?’ And I am sorry to say where we are at this point in time, I think it’s going to affect most locker rooms. A lot of guys will be uncomfortable. Ten years from now, fine. But today, I think being openly gay is a factor in the locker room.”

I asked this general manager: “Do you think he’ll be drafted?”

“No,” he said.

Another quote from a scout pretty much sums up my fears about all this:

“Unfortunately, this is a lot more okay in society than it is in lots of locker rooms. Some locker rooms are still stuck in the ’50s.”

[Chip Douglass]

Re: 2014 NFL Draft Discussion Thread

I give Michael Sam all the credit in the world for coming out, but don't kid yourself, he won't have an easy time integrating himself within an NFL locker room.

NFL players aren't progressive social scientists from Cal-Berkeley or Yale. They're mostly uneducated young males who prize their hyper-masculinity more than anything else.

[TheMatrix31]

Re: 2014 NFL Draft Discussion Thread

My guess is those "hyper-masculine", "uneducated" young males won't give a **** either way if he's a good player that contributes to their success on the field.

[ProfessaPackMan]

Re: 2014 NFL Draft Discussion Thread

Agree with Chip and Ryan Clark does raise a point...

So what will happen when Michael Sam enters an NFL locker room? Steelers safety Ryan Clark has provided a candid assessment of the issues presented by an openly gay player during a visit via satellite to ESPN’s SportsCenter.
Clark said that current NFL players sensed that it was coming, especially with the decision of NBA player Jason Collins to come out as gay in 2013. But Clark’s concern comes from the manner in which players will now interact with Michael Sam.
“You want to know how you can behave around this person,” Clark said. “Anyone who has been in a football locker room knows that there’s a lot of jokes, a lot of ribbing. We’ll talk about anything. If a guy is fat. If a guy is ugly. If a guy’s significant other is not attractive. These are things you josh each other about and you talk with each other about. In what ways can you talk to him? In what ways can you involve him in your conversations? What are the things you can do and say around him that won’t make him uncomfortable? That won’t make him feel that he’s being ostracized? Or that won’t make him feel like he’s being harassed or quote, unquote bullied?”
The H.R./legal department answer will be not to mention it at all. Then again, the folks from H.R. and legal would likely faint if they heard the things routinely said in an NFL locker room. Or in plenty of other workplace settings when H.R. and legal aren’t around.
Apart from the things said in jest within the locker room, Sam needs to be ready for harsh comments during games.
“I think it will be said,” Clark explained. “I think it will be something that’s talked about on the field. I’ve heard things on the field that even I thought were questionable and even I thought went a little far. But it’s what some guys do. Guys read your bio, and speak of guys’ wives. We had the Steve Smith-Janoris Jenkins situation during the season. And so those things happen. Guys don’t pull punches when it comes to players on other teams.”
Fans also don’t pull punches, as we learned this weekend with the Marcus Smart situation. When Sam’s team goes on the road, fans will say ugly things, and they’ll bring potentially ugly signs.
How Sam and his teammates react will go a long way toward determining how long it lasts. Hopefully, it won’t be an issue for very long. Ideally, it won’t be an issue at all.

[areobee401]

Re: 2014 NFL Draft Discussion Thread

My guess is those "hyper-masculine", "uneducated" young males won't give a **** either way if he's a good player that contributes to their success on the field.

I would like to think so. Not sold on that happening either. NFL culture is different than what you and I experience every day. Anyone who has spent time in a locker room knows the type of things that are said and done in there. Doesn't make it right either. Just saying that's how it is.

My hope for Sam is that he lands with a program that will allow him to be a football player first.

And the elephant in the room. His teeth. My man needs to get those fixed. Should be priority #1 with that signing bonus check. You can't be out there in the world as a spokesperson for anything with a mouth looking like that.

[TheMatrix31]

Re: 2014 NFL Draft Discussion Thread

We're not hearing horror stories about Darren Young's treatment and wrestlers are "supposed to be" the most "backwards" of all.

If he wants to be accepted, he'll have to roll with all the various punches that happen in a locker room every day. If he wants to be in a locker room, he should expect to be treated as one of the guys. If he expects to be treated differently, resentment will grow. Fast. The players on the team will get most pissed about the situation if they have to treat him with kid gloves so as not to offend him or anyone else.

Besides, if the Missouri locker room already knew about this for a while and didn't leak it or treat him poorly or whatever, then that just shows how much of a non-issue the locker room concern (or this whole thing, really) is.

[Watson]

Re: 2014 NFL Draft Discussion Thread

My favorite thing about this are the talking heads that are saying that it will be a "distraction".

Oh, and Sherman interview fallout wasn't? It was literally all anybody wanted to talk about for a week and a half.

Something is always a distraction and the players always have to avoid it. I dare you to find an episode of NFL Live where they don't say the word "distraction". Half the time it isn't even that serious. And truth be told, neither is this. I fail to see a situation where his team is in shambles and it's all because of his sexual orientation. They're there to work, not to discuss their opinions and politics.

Jokes are going to happen and he's got to have thick skin about it, but I bet an NFL paycheck will help wash those down.

[areobee401]

Re: 2014 NFL Draft Discussion Thread

We're not hearing horror stories about Darren Young's treatment and wrestlers are "supposed to be" the most "backwards" of all.

If he wants to be accepted, he'll have to roll with all the various punches that happen in a locker room every day. If he wants to be in a locker room, he should expect to be treated as one of the guys. If he expects to be treated differently, resentment will grow. Fast. The players on the team will get most pissed about the situation if they have to treat him with kid gloves so as not to offend him or anyone else.

I agree. And I'm willing to bet he wants to be treated as one of the boys as well. You're forgetting there are people out there who resent people of his orientation. Takes playful horsing around to something completely different. Which is why I want him to be drafted by a team that will not allow something like that to happen (see WWE). Where his team plays is also a factor in my opinion. Will leave that to myself as I don't want to offend anyone here.

The thing to remember is NFL locker rooms and those who occupy them are different from us who work in the real world.

[SPTO]

Re: 2014 NFL Draft Discussion Thread

Either way, it'll be interesting to see what happens. I have a sneaking suspicion he will end up on a team with a very strong program like New England.