Michael Sam Cut from Cowboys, But He’s Proven the Culture Shift Toward Gay Acceptance Anyway

Michael Sam, the first openly
gay college football player to get picked up in the National
Football League (NFL) draft, has been
cut from another practice squad. He had been drafted by the
Rams, then cut, then picked up by the Cowboys. He was cut from
their practice squad yesterday. He had never played in any regular
season games, though he did take the field for the Rams during the
pre-season.

Sam tweeted his appreciation for the opportunity and said he’s
going to keep fighting for a spot on a team. The cut has prompted
media analysis of what it all means. Kevin O’Keeffe at The
Atlantic
grasps the palpable disappointment, even if there are solid
reasons why Sam’s NFL career might not be meant to be:

For those who are disappointed, the hardest part is often not
knowing how to respond to the news. Why can’t it just be about
homophobia? Why can’t there be some easily identified evil here,
something that we can make a hashtag campaign about? What is there
to change when the answer isn’t “no,” but “not now”? After all,
“now” fits the narrative better. “Now” fits into the moment of
acceptance the nation is experiencing as more and more states
establish marriage equality. If only Michael Sam was the right fit
for the Rams, or for the Cowboys, or for another team. It could
have been now, those who are disappointed will sigh. It
should have been now.

That’s why this can’t just be chalked up to “it was the best
thing for the team” for many observers. Humans don’t work that way.
Sam is a lovable hero, and it was easy to cheer him on. The hardest
thing to accept isn’t that Sam isn’t going to be on the national
field at some point. Even if it’s not him, there will be an openly
gay NFL player, and that moment is coming very soon.

But that moment is not now. And it’s okay to be disappointed
about that.

But Sam hasn’t really ruined any sort of narrative, except for
the perhaps some sort of fairy tale that the first openly gay
football player was bound to be some sort of overachieving,
record-shattering superstar, and that’s a fantasy we can do
without. It’s not a “moment” of acceptance gay Americans are
experiencing right now. It’s the slow culmination of a very long
battle across decades that has consumed some people’s whole lives
(on both sides). This gay marriage advance isn’t something that
just happened, though it is certainly changing extremely quickly
from a historical perspective. A gay NFL player coming out next
year or the year after is probably still “now” in the terms of the
current movement.

Sam’s experience did actually illustrate that the NFL and NFL
fans are ready for the guy, and they’re ready for whoever the first
openly gay NFL player ends up being. I agree with O’Keeffe that
it’s going to be soon. Assuming that people within the NFL are
being honest when they Sam’s sexuality was not an issue, it
wouldn’t surprise me if the first openly gay NFL player ended up
being somebody who is already playing, and that everybody on his
team already knows. (Note to football fans: That’s not a blind item
about any particular person. Just an observation based on
trends.)