Yes, An Openly Gay Man will Soon Play in the NFL. Deal With It and Move On.

You've probably seen this video by now, but it still deserves a signal boost. It deserves all the signal boosts.

I don't think there's much more I can add to what Dale Hansen said in this video or about the fact that we will likely see an openly gay man play in the NFL. However, I will point out that the supposed "controversy" surrounding it reminds me why I kind of hate professional sports.

As Mr. Hansen pointed out, people are willing to forgive a lot when it comes to their precious star athletes. No matter what these players do, there are always people willing to get down on their knees and worship them for their godlike ability to run fast and throw a ball really far. Was an NFL player arrested for driving drunk? He's probably learned his lesson and will never do it again. Was he caught with a bunch of hookers and drugs in a hotel room? He's just having some fun and we should give him a break. Did he beat up his girlfriend? She probably did something to deserve it. Did a woman accuse him of rape? She's probably lying. As long as he could take his team to the Super Bowl, we're willing to sweep everything under the rug.

But wait! What if he happens to find other men attractive? Well, we can't have that, can we? That would be too much of a distraction and make all the jock-sniffing dudebros uncomfortable.

In a perfect world, nobody would care about Michael Sam's sexual orientation. Sadly, we don't live in that perfect world. It pains me to say this, but I think Sam's sexuality will be an issue for at least the first year or so of his NFL career simply because people will make it an issue. I can see the media making a big deal over it, and I can imagine that there will be plenty of homophobic football fans who won't be able to see past it. 

So, does this mean that I think Michael Sam should never have come out of the closet? Absolutely not. This is something that I think has to happen, if only to prove to the naysayers and bigots that simply having an openly gay player won't affect the game of football. There have always been GLBT people in literally all walks of life, and that includes professional sports. People need to accept that and move on, just as they need to accept the fact that a person's sexual orientation is a small part of who they are.

In some ways, I think the culture surrounding football is a little backwards. A lot of players, coaches and fans seem to hold onto the ideal of the "man's man," a concept that has become painfully outdated. A football player can be gay and be just as tough and just as talented as anybody else on the field. People are talking all about how Michael Sam is a gay man who plays football, but they need to see him as a football player who just happens to be gay. Or better yet, just a football player.