Chisum

Alex Chisum
Intermediate Comp.
12 March 2015
Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your
character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others
think you are. John Wooden
Gay football player? When most people think of gay male athletes they
think of a lesser or softer man. So to think that a gay male is masculine or
man enough to play such a violent and physical sport as football is out of
the question and hard to accept by many. Since Michael Sam has come out
about his sexual preference, it has effected both bout his football dream and
image as a player drastically. There were many stereotypes placed on Sam
by the public and even more scouts and coaches. The reality of the situation
is that Michael Sam was undeniably a good football player and branded
himself as being a beast on the field. Sam had the size, speed, skills, and
was playing in the toughest conference, the SEC (South Eastern Conference),
where he earned the title of Defensive Player of the year in 2013. Before the
draft Sam decided to let the world know he was gay. After coming out,
Michael Sams draft stock went from a definite shoe in to what round
does Sam get picked in and then eventually to, Does Sam even get drafted
at all? This had nothing to do with Sams ability to play the game of football,
but the problems and unwanted attention organizations would have to deal

Chisum

with if they drafted him. General Managers and coaches assumed that Sam
would be a distraction to his teammates and he was good but not worth the
trouble. In this paper I will compare the rhetors from the texts along with the
many different genres. I also will analyze how they question his commitment
to playing in the NFL because of every move he makes. So what will
analyzing/comparing the texts and rhetors and understanding exigence do?
It will be clear to see the similarities and patterns in which rhetors use their
texts to shape Sams image.
Before he was the Southeastern Conference (SEC) defensive player of the
year his senior year at Missouri, the first openly gay pro-football player, or a
contestant on Dancing with the Stars, he was Michael Alan Sam, a little boy
from Galveston, Texas. He is the seventh of eight children born to JoAnn
Turner and Michael Sam Sr. on January 7th, 1990. Michael Sam attended
Hitchcock High School in Hitchcock, Texas which is where his football career
began. Sam received All-Districts honors as a defensive lineman all four
years of high school and earned multiple offers from various schools such as,
Colorado State University and University of Houston. However Michael was
waiting for an offer from his dream school, Texas A&M University, but ended
up accepting a scholarship offer from the University of Missouri, better
known as Mizzou. During Sams career at Mizzou he accumulated 123
tackles, 21 sacks, 6 forced fumbles, and two intercepted passes. In 2014 he
was drafted in the seventh round to St. Louis Rams, and became the first
openly gay player in the NFL, but he did not last long in the NFL. Sam was

Chisum

cut after the preseason but then was picked up by the Dallas Cowboys, but
then was released due to stiff competition. As of today Michael Sam is a
contestant on the popular reality dance show, Dancing with the Stars. Sam
has racked up many achievements including Sam won the Arthur Ashe
Courage Award at the 2014 ESPY Awards, he was named one of GQs Men of
the Year, and Finalist for Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year. Prior to
the draft Michael Sam decided to come out. Sam could not have imagined
how much this decision would change the rest of his life forever and affect
his dream of playing in the National Football league.
Michael Sam seems to be receiving a lot of attention and success since
coming out just not toward the goal he trying to reach, playing in the NFL.
But what some may see has blessings and opportunities, others view them
as distractions and are quick to criticize Sam for not being focused on his
dream to play in the National Football League. Just recently Sam was invited
to be on Dancing with the Stars. Dancing with the stars is a reality
competition show where a celebrity, athletes, actors, singers, etc., are paired
with professional dancers and preform dancing routine. Historically athletes
tend to have the most success on the show and the show has played host to
some big NFL stars: Hines Ward, Chad OchoCinco, Emit Smith, Donald Driver,
etc. Outsports.com published an article covering the announcement of Sam
joining the Dancing with Stars Cast. The website serves as a sports
entertainment provider in the world of gay sports. The site covers gay sports
related stories, events, and both famous and not famous LGBT athletes.

Chisum

Outsports also examines various myths and controversies regarding gays

and sports. The website was bought by Vox Media and then it was
incorporated into their sports website SB Nation. So the articles can be a bit
bias and more in favor of siding with Sam and protecting his image. The
article is talking about Sam is being scrutinized by everyone for every move
he makes. If Sam is not doing something football related, it is being
considered as a distraction. The article talks about how this is a business
opportunity for Sam and many other players have done it before him.
Everyone is saying that if Sam does this, he is hurting his chances at a
making a team. Michael is not on any roster and has not been receiving any
phone calls from any NFL team, so all of a sudden now this will be hurting his
chances? Other fans see this as another opportunity for Sam to cash in on
his fame and could care less about football. Sam has been shut out by the
NFL and has no source of income. Passing up this opportunity would be Sam
turning down money! Sam needs to make sure he continues to train while
participating with Dancing with Stars so that NFL owners will not continue to
question his commitment to playing in the NFL. Sam was badly criticized for
his decision to join the cast of DTWS because it would be around the same
time as the NFL Veterans Combine. The NFL has just this year created a
Veteran Combine that takes place on March 22. The Veteran Combine is for
freeagents, allowing them a fair opportunity to showcase their stock and
work out for teams and coaches. About 100 veteran free agents will be
chosen through an application process to work out in front of scouts

Chisum

representing all 32 teams. The director of player development, Matt Birk,

says the combine was created because the current free-agent process is
inefficient. This new event couldnt have come at a better time for guys like
Sam, who were free-agents and not yet signed with a team. This event is
important because it prevents potential NFL talent from falling through the
cracks.
So how does Sam feel about this? Sam can be quoted saying. "Football
remains my unquestioned number one priority, however, while I continue to
train and stay ready, I am ecstatic to participate in a fun, athletic
competition like so many players before me have done," He even took to
twitter to let people know that he is excited and thankful about the
opportunity and wants to assure people that his priorities have not changed.
Very excited to be a part of @DancingABC. Football remains my
unquestioned number 1 priority however, while I continue to
train and (1/4)
9:39 AM - 24 Feb 2015
stay ready, I am ecstatic to participate in a fun, athletic
competition like so many players before me have done. Filming
this (2/4)
9:40 AM - 24 Feb 2015

Chisum

offseason is very flexible and allows me to be part of the

veterans combine 3/22 if accepted or any other workouts. (3/4)
9:40 AM - 24 Feb 2015
Im looking forward to getting started with @PetaMurgatroyd and
winning! Thanks for the support! #TeamSambatroyd (4/4)
9:41 AM - 24 Feb 2015

Sam makes it clear what his priorities are and he also feels confident in
his decision. Sam wants to be known as Michael Sam the football player.
Everyone has their own opinions and views about Michael Sam, either
they resent him because of his sexual preference or they think he is trying to
capitalize off the attention of being gay. In an interview with GQ magazine,
Michael Sam reflects on coming out and how hes not ashamed of it, but wish
he had done it a different way at a different time. He stated, If I had it my
way, I never would have done it the way I did, never would have told it the
way I did. Then when ask how he continued saying,
I would have done the same thing I did at Mizzou. Which was to tell
my team and my coaches and leave it at that. But since I did tell my
team, word got out. People think the word didn't get out. It did. Or it
did and it didn't. They kept it confined within our family. But the
recruiters knew, and reporters knew, and they talked to each other,

Chisum

and it got out. If I didn't have the year I did, nobody would have cared.
But I did have that year. And a lot of people knew. Someone was gonna
ask me, "I heard you told your team a secret." Well, I was
comfortable with who I was, and I wouldn't have denied it. And then I
wouldn't have been able to control the story. But I have no regrets.
Some people can argue that I had the potential to go higher in the
draft. But I think everything happens for a reason. It looks good to see
me in the position I'm in now, because I can show the world how good I
am and rise up the ranks. I'm at the bottom now. I can rise up, show
I'm a football player. Not anything else. Just a football player.
Sam is very confident in his ability to play football and wants nothing more than to be
recognized for it, he never wanted nor asked for the attention that came with being gay.
At the end of the day the NFL did what they thought was right and would please
everyone by drafting Michael Sam so they could protect their image. The League never really
planned on allowing Sam to succeed and will continue to use every move Sam makes that isnt
football related as a way to justify their actions and discredit his claim on wanting to play in the
NFL.

Chisum

Works Cited

http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/michael-sam-proves-coming-out-gay-sport-can-still-hurtyour-career051114
http://thinkprogress.org/sports/2014/02/20/3311171/32-nfl-teams-said-michael-sams-coming/
http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/sports/2014/12/26/nr-sot-michael-sam-more-gay-mennfl.cnn.html
http://web.archive.org/web/20150116192146/http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-onfootball/24964215/nfl-adds-event-veteran-combine-for-free-agents-to-be-held-in-march
http://www.outsports.com/2015/3/22/8272501/michael-sam-veteran-combine-media-circus
http://www.edgenewyork.com/index.php?ch=entertainment&sc=books&sc2=reviews&sc3=nonfiction&id=47896
http://grantland.com/features/the-kiss-michael-sam-nfl-what-we-saw-dallas-cowboys-st-louisrams/
http://www.outsports.com/2015/2/24/8098257/michael-sam-dancing-with-the-stars