Tim Tebow, Michael Sam, Arian Foster and David Denison Walk Into a Bar...

Q. What do Tim Tebow, Michale Sam, Arian Foster and David Denson have in common?

Tebow is the over-enthusiastically Christian quarterback attempting to crack the Eagles' roster as the third starter this off-season. Sam is the openly gay defensive lineman picked in the seventh-round who couldn't stick in the NFL or the CFL.  Foster is the Houston Texans' avowedly atheist star running back. And Denson is a first baseman for the Milwaukee Brewers' Rookie League affiliate in Helena, Montana who last week announced his homosexuality.

What you'll notice immediately about three of these is that they've run out of talent just before the majors. Tebow's NFL career is likely to end this pre-season. Sam is already done. And Denson is, at 20 years of age in rookie ball, roster-filler. Only Foster, who has gained 1,200+ yards-a-season in four of his six years in the league, has spent any significant time drawing a check from a pro sports franchise.

On the surface, of course, each of them has presented a highly controversial persona to the public, either by exiting the closet or proclaiming his religious beliefs publicly. In each case, the athlete has taken a road less traveled and likely more difficult. There are plenty more of each of them, for sure.

But what they really have in common is this:

A. In the brutal meritocracy that is professional sports, ultimately, no one cares about what you are. They care about what you produce. Tebow, Sam, Foster and Denson all will be, and largely have been, measured by their performances on the field. Your religious affiliation and your sexual orientation (not to mention your race and national origin) ultimately make no difference.

And that's as it should be. Bless them all.

But we're not quite there. When Jackie Robinson entered baseball, that was earth shattering. When Larry Doby broke the AL color line it was less dramatic. By the time Willie Mays joined the Giants four years later, fans were more focused on his talent than on his skin color. Two decades later, even the end of the bench was integrated, demonstrating that race wasn't even a tie-breaker.

Likewise, Frank Robinson's rise to manager was ground-breaking, but his firing was more significant. Today, managers of all races come and go.

So it's wonderful that Tebow, Sam & Denison, and Foster can reveal their true selves and be accepted. But we will have really achieved something when there isn't any reason for, or interest in, the proclamation.

Sam's Club: Tim Tebow Deserves a Membership

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.