Sam-iami Vice

A confluence of perfect storms is crippling the most unlikeliest of places this week.   No, not the snow, ice and odd earthquakes that hit Georgia and South Carolina and other parts of the southern Atlantic region.  I'm speaking of the recent announcement of Mizzou All-American defensive end Michael Sam saying he's gay and the immediate impact on the upcoming NFL Draft.  In addition, that same NFL releasing its report on the investigation into the past season's locker-room spat between Miami Dolphins offensive linemen Jonathan Martin and All-Pro Richie Incognito.  This interesting intersection of controversies comes at a time when the league should be celebrating just its second-ever Black quarterback to win the Super Bowl.  It now has to deal with two bigger issues: how to not look like social neanderthals when the Galveston, TX native looks to be one of the over 330 young men called to the stage in New York for the start of their pro football career, and in the case of a possible drafting of Sam by Miami, how he would fit in with a locker room that would also see the return of Incognito, a not-so-tightly-wrapped nut himself.

Before we delve further into this perfect storm, let me preface this for those who wish to liken the LGBTQ movement to the Civil Rights movement: NOT EVEN CLOSE.  You can smoothly hide homosexual tendencies among even the best trained eyes.  I should know: I used to sell club dance music to the LGBQT community in my younger days and there were some who could easily slip between the same-sex and heterosexual worlds without even a peep.  However, let me make this abundantly clear: YOU CANNOT HIDE YOUR SKIN COLOR.  When you among the same-sex movement can show me instances of being lynched for no reason other than what's immediately obvious, let me know.  I'll be over by Emmitt Till's grave with a handkerchief for you.

Which brings me to young Mr. Sam, whose 'coming out' totally runs against the grain of his native Texas tradition.  After all, Texas is where "men are men, and women are proud of it".  But what has become an all-too-familiar ring among today's Black male athlete rears its head here as well.  Sam's parents separated in his childhood, with him going to his mother.  He's had a brother killed and two others incarcerated.  It should come as no surprise that his dad's recent comments - misconstrued or not - would make the senior Sam of the "old school" way of thinking.  On the heels of helping the Mizzou Tigers to their first divisional crown since joining the SEC two years ago, to see the junior Sam reach the accolades he's garnered is nothing short of amazing.  The footage of him getting in his teammates' faces, exhorting them to step their game up, would lead you to believe that he is a very strong, masculine example of how student-athletes in a sport as rough and manly as football should conduct themselves.

To wonder where the turn to the "other side" for Sam happened is something only he can answer to, but what will be interesting drama come April in the Big Apple is not IF he's drafted, but rather WHERE he's drafted.  It is well known that the reigning SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year, who received his bachelor's degree in December, isn't a lock for the first two rounds, but if he happens to fall at least to the fifth round, lots of tongues will be wagging, not the least those being outgoing NFLPA Executive Director DeMarcus Smith, who is on record of saying that any notion of draft round demotion in Sam's case would be considered "gutless".  I'm quite sure current San Diego Chargers linebacker Manti Te'o, himself caught in a 'catfish' scam that led to rumors of alleged same-sex tendencies in 2012 while at Notre Dame, is breathing a sigh of relief as he rests up for next year.

Who isn't breathing easily is the Miami Dolphins.  Already rocked from a report into last year's brouhaha with Martin and Incognito, should they make the remote attempt to draft Sam, the question now becomes how soon should they bring him into the mix knowing what has spewed from Incognito's mouth over the last year and a half.  The report from the NFL says that Martin, a second year player in Miami before abruptly leaving midseason, wasn't the only target of Incognito's emotionally-charged epithets.  In a report this weekend on ESPN.com, another offensive lineman and an assistant trainer were also targets.  The investigation, done by league official Ted Wells, also makes note of the Michael Sam announcement and the exhortation for all franchises to conduct themselves more tolerantly.

Talk about an introduction to the NFL.  Michael Sam, I hope you've got much thicker skin that your soon-to-be teammates, because this is going to be one very rough-and-tumble rookie season... and we haven't even hit OTAs yet.