Michael Samis expected to make history as the first gay NFL player after winning the SEC Defensive Player of the Year award. Unfortunately, it's looking like it's going to be a struggle careerwise according to some folks in the NFL. Although Twitter really doesn't have any direct power in how Sam's career pans out, its reaction is a snapshot of the relevance of someone's sexual orientation, how far society has come, and how far it needs to go.
Although Sam's sexuality is a talking point for obvious reasons, Patrick Crayton is upset not because of the decision, but because it's a topic of discussion at all. He specifically called out ESPN's Adam Schefter in his rant.
He clarified his reasoning later in a series of tweets, saying that the attention surrounding his sexuality will unfortunately overcloud his ability to play the game. Valid point, but there were a few others from Sports Twitter who expressed a similar sentiment more succinctly.
A few others focused on supporting the possible future NFL player rather than focusing on realism:
A lot of the responses titled toward positivity, but as the NFL personnel reminds us, this is a league with a heterosexual, hyper-masculine mindset. It's possible there's going to be a bit of controversy in the coming days.
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