Tim Tebow made sports history when he bowed his head to pray after a touchdown. Jerry Sandusky went down in infamy when he was charged with molestation. Brad and Jenny Kremer brought light to sports charities, and their impact was felt around the world. Last week, Michael Sam shook the sports world by becoming the only openly-gay National Football League (NFL) draft prospect.
His public announcement received a surprising amount of support from his teammates and the NFL. He told his Missouri teammates about his sexual orientation about a year ago. Some players said they knew, but none expressed any aversion to the news.
When asked by reporters, teammates said that they had no problem with his announcement and that it would change nothing about how he played. “We admire Michael Sam’s honesty and courage,” an official statement from the NFL said. “Michael is a football player. Any player with ability and determination can succeed in the NFL. We look forward to welcoming and supporting Michael Sam in 2014.” Some suspect that his announcement will not affect his standing in the draft, considering the overwhelmingly positive response. However, there are those that have predicted his falling in the draft pick because of his announcement.
The most surprising facet of his coming out was that he was responsible for it. Though teammates, coaches and scouts knew about Sam’s personal life, none talked about it publicly. Allowing Sam to announce this on his own time received as much positive feedback as the announcement itself.
For a nation that expressed such hatred and bigotry at commercials aired during the Super Bowl addressing issues of diversity, the positive response was a pleasant surprise. But the announcement was hardly what Sam had to brace himself for. Expecting a media backlash that didn’t come, Sam had the rare opportunity to promote social change without much resistance.
I hope that the trend continues as the reality of homosexuality becomes more visible in everyday experiences. I have to hope that organizations will begin to acknowledge the legitimacy of such relationships and accept same-sex families shown on television, petitioning for marriage and becoming increasingly more prevalent in public settings.
However, the implications of these announcements are what I am most excited to see come to fruition. The idea of openly-gay athletes in the sports sphere is exciting and proves that people are trying to be more open-minded. I sincerely hope that the reaction to Sam’s announcement will prompt more athletes to accept themselves and promote a positive message for youth who look up to them.
While I doubt that coming out publicly in sports will become commonplace anytime soon, there have been many other positive effects. Celebrities accept that their right to privacy is more likely to be violated, but Sam’s was given a great deal of respect from his teammates, his coaches and the scouts who knew of his sexual orientation. This respect shouldn’t be news. Unfortunately, though, it is the exception and not the rule in the lives of many athletes. I would like to see this become commonplace, especially regarding issues of sexual identity, and I hope one day athletes will not need to arrange a press conference to explain their sexual orientation.
Creating positive change isn’t easy, but Sam made a huge leap towards one change in the sports world. In time, maybe others will follow in his footsteps.
