Free agent Jason Collins has yet to decide whether he will resume his NBA career. After making history last year as the first openly gay player to play professionally in any of the four major American sports leagues when he signed on to play with the Brooklyn Nets, he has since taken become a recognizable face in the ongoing battle for social peace and acceptance.
In contrast, NFL rookie defensive end Michael Sam, who also publicly admitted to being homosexual just a week after Super Bowl XLVIII, is just beginning his professional career.
He was drafted in the seventh round by the St. Louis Rams, for whom he accrued 11 tackles and three sacks during the 2014 preseason. Unfortunately, due to the Rams having an abundance of defensive lineman, they were not able to maintain him after cuts requiring rosters to be trimmed down to 53 players.
He has, since, cleared waivers, gaining the ability sign with anyone. It should be no surprise that he would receive support from Collins.
Congrats to the @dallascowboys & @MichaelSamNFL. #America‘sTeam
— Jason Collins (@jasoncollins98) September 2, 2014
As Collins alluded to, Sam is due to join the Cowboys assuming he can pass their physical. Here are a couple updates for NFL.com reporter Ian Rapoport:
Michael Sam flies in to Dallas tonight, source says. He’ll take a physical. If he passes, he will join their practice squad. — Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 2, 2014
Thing about the #Cowboys signing Michael Sam to their practice squad… there’s a great chance he gets on the field for them.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 2, 2014
The Cowboys, marred by injuries and free agent losses, have a notoriously thin defensive front this year. So, as Rapoport suggests, Sam should have a strong possibility of making their roster and seeing play time on the field this year. Should that happen, it would become yet another big step forward for social acceptance of LGBT individuals in professional sports.
Previous Tweet Posts:
Tweet of the Night: NBA Players On Spanish Team React After Big Win
Tweet of the Day: Ben McLemore Bothered By Hello Kitty News
_______
Michael Brumagin writes the Tweet of the Day for SheridanHoops.com and is also a correspondent for BleacherReport.com. Follow @mbrumagin
“Free agent Jason Collins has yet to decide whether he will resume his NBA career.” Really? He has a choice?
Collins didn’t play a single minute in the 12 playoff games with the team that former teammate Jason Kidd was coaching.
He only got to play during the end of the regular season because KG was injured for about 6 weeks and Brook Lopez was already out for the season. Because everyone already knew Collins (including showering with him) it was a non-event if not for the media aspect. Collins is good guy. Everyone agrees. His biologically identical brother Jarron didn’t choose to go in the same direction (they had a Gay uncle who influenced Jason).
Collins was very lucky that Jason Kidd was his friend, to give him a chance to play. Nets really needed a tough PF big at the time but punted on Jordan Hill because LAL wanted a 2nd rounder and also Nets found out that Big Baby was going to be available. Only after both failed did they settle on Collins, who happened to be in good shape at the time.
And to be honest, there is still little evidence to believe that there are more than 10-20 Gays playing on Rosters in the 4 major male sports combined. Certainly Collins and Sam are not among them at this time. Why should the average fan care? This is all media generated, just like the Redskins name as it pertains to the 70 year old football name, being something Evil, is a Progressive creation. There are currently 4 High School football teams on Indian Reservations that chose the Redskins name. Is that proof enough it wasn’t taken as an insult until the Progressives spread the word that they should be insulted?
Everything I have said is the truth, but there isn’t a single person in the mainstream media who would have the courage to say this. We are living in a reverse McCarthyism world, with CENSORSHIP of the truth is being done by the Left (I am a moderate Democrat, by the way).