It's basketball and hockey season, the Olympics are going on and this is a baseball blog.
It's time for a football post!
It's not really about football, though. The big news this week is that Michael Sam has proposed to be the first openly gay NFL player by coming out before the draft.
The reigning SEC defensive player of the the year had apprised his University of Missouri teammates before the 2013 season and they evidently cared so little that the information never leaked.
That, of course, is the point. It's a testament to our evolution as a society that what comes of Sam's admission will be the same as what's come of gay rights, gay marriage, gay adoption, etc:
Nothing.
Our gay brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, friends and neighbors, won legal protections and that cut into your rights not one eyelash. Gay Americans began marrying and your marriage didn't notice. Gay Americans began adopting children who are, shockingly, growing up to be people.
In short order, Sam's ability at his position will far outweigh his position in the bedroom and America will return to its primary religion: football. The Judeo-Christian bible may include some strictures against homosexuality, but the far more influential national religion of the spheroid has none. Players, even the most monkey-brained, will adapt.
Bully for us. But before chiropractors go on call for all the back-patting, it does raise a troubling question:
Why can't we cut Tim Tebow the same slack?
Tebow isn't Johnny Unitas, but he isn't Aaron Hernandez either. He works hard, spreads good cheer, treats everyone with respect, takes responsibility for his actions and demonstrates leadership. Yet he can't get one of the 1600 on-field jobs in the NFL, seemingly because he loves Jesus. Where's the tolerance there?
Here's what analysts report GMs say about him: He's a distraction. He brings the circus with him. Not everyone loves his overt devotion.
Isn't that the hate code that gays and their supporters decry?
Tebow might be the greatest college football player of all time. He must have useful talents even if they're not behind the center. Couldn't he contribute in a wildcat? Or at tight end?
What's Tebow ever done besides treat people with dignity?
Knelt in prayer on the sideline? Heavens!
Inscribed a biblical verse in his eyeblack? Heresy!
Joined a mission trip to Haiti? Oh, the humanity!
I don't share Tim Tebow's religious beliefs. I don't share Martin Luther King's or Gandhi's either.
Let's give Tim Tebow the same respect we give Michael Sam. Just judge him on his playing ability and skip the narrow-minded slurs.
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