After
Michael Sam’s senior season in his collegiate career he was one of the top
players in the country with very good reason to believe he would go first round
in this years NFL draft. When he released his statement about him being gay,
ESPN along with other TV stations started to suspect his current draft stock
would drop. Again this didn’t bother Michael Sam at all; he wanted all the pro
teams to know of his sexuality.
Should his
sexuality matter to the NFL teams? he played outstanding in college and got
along with all of his teammates who by the way support him after his statement
but also never had any problems with him being gay while he was on his
collegiate team at the University of Missouri. Sam led the Mizzou defense to
the SEC championship where they fell just short of the title to the Auburn
tigers who would go on to the national championship and loose to the Florida
state Seminoles.
With Sam
publicly being gay he would be the first active NFL player to have declared gay
publicly. To some this causes hatred but to some he is a hero.
Treyvon,
ReplyDeleteYour biography subject is fascinating because it is 1) very current and 2) because Sam is so young. Often, biographies are written about older individuals simply because they have had more time to impact society. However, yours shows how a young man who has already made a mark on collegiate football is currently in a position to make an even larger one on professional football--and by extension, professional sports culture more generally. In some ways, this situation recalls the achievements of Jackie Robinson as the first African American man to play Major League Baseball, which also created intense arguments. Your biography therefore connects with social issues such as GLBTQ discrimination and claims about manhood/masculinity---within and outside of sports culture.
I like how your social issue is very easy to pick out without you directly stating what it was. It is a very relevant issue in today's time and I feel that made it more interesting to read since it is so recent. I also like how yours ended up being related to football, not sure if that was a coincidence or if you just really like it that much! haha. But I also thought you did a good job being very unbiased in your biography. You left out any of your own opinions on the issue and you could not tell from what you wrote what your opinions on the subject are. I like how you just strictly gave facts while still keeping it interesting and engaging by asking the questions.
ReplyDeleteThis is probably the most prominent social issue in today's society, so I figured that someone would write about it. You did a good job with using facts in an unbiased manner, which helps immensely with getting your message across, and allows for the reader to formulate their own position on the subject. Overall, good post.
ReplyDeleteThis is a big big big issue. I love that you touch upon it. Being an openly gay athlete, I can attest to the fact that the media will hound you FOREVER about this issue. The biggest misconception that people have about sexuality is that just because you aren't straight that it automatically makes you some threat or that you're "soft" or act some different way, which can't be farther from the truth. News headlines like this are what's keeping me still "in the closet" to my teammates about my personal sexuality. this is an issue that needs to come to a head very soon because it's causing tension in a country that we know good and well does not need anymore of it. Great job, TV.
ReplyDelete