Football is anything but progressive

Michael Sam (picture below), a college student and one of the best defensive players in college football came out as gay this week which has sparked tremendous debate. In my opinion, this issue shouldn't be up for debate or conversation at all; a woman or mans sexual orientation shouldn't determine their outcome in a work place, no matter the job. If you don't follow sports, all you need to know is that Michael Sam is a very talented football expected to be one of the top picks in the NFL draft.

A recent survey by ESPN showed that 86% of players would be OK with a gay player on their team. Seems ok right? No. Of the 51 anonymous players surveyed, 44 said they would be ok with a gay player, 7 didn't. The problem I see with this is that 7 players are still not okay with allowing a gay player on their team.

I really don't understand how one persons sexual orientation would affect someone else on the playing field to get another touchdown, hit another home run or score a goal. It really perplexes me because people all over the country work with men and women of different sexual orientations and you never hear about them in the news or that a coworker came out as gay, lesbian etc. The NFL isn't the only sport that seems to still be amazed that gay men and women play sports. the NBA, MLB and various other sports affiliates all have been extremely gradual in talking about gay rights and publicly allowing gay players to participate in their sport. I think that the NFL should be more open to gay players and this sort of debate throughout the media and NFL should not even exist in the first place.