by Chad Stanton

Michael Sam hasn’t lined up for a play and his drafting by the St. Louis Rams is already exposing the ways in which the NFL and the culture surrounding the NFL will fall into the familiar pattern of heightened policing for people who are different.

This would always be the case of course. Fewer and fewer people are comfortable with being virulently homophobic lest they be compared with Fred Phelps. What people are comfortable with is concern trolling and “just asking questions” enough that they’re effectively singling out what and who they’re uncomfortable with in a way that doesn’t expose their underlying anxiety too plainly.

Of course when the “advice” is unsolicited and subsequently unheeded you may still see the underlying animus exposed as we did when a Dallas morning show host couldn’t completely hide her contempt for Michael Sam’s draft day kiss.

A similar process happened when Michael Sam announced his reality show with OWN. The talking heads cascaded a chorus of calls for Michael Sam to acknowledge his hypocrisy. This wasn’t what football players who just wanted to play football did. If Michael Sam is was serious about his career he would  forget about bringing any cameras because that would be a distraction.

Oh, by the way, the St. Louis Rams are one of the teams being considered to host Hard Knocks this off-season. You know Hard Knocks, the NFL sanctioned HBO reality television show. Yeah franchises have been allowing this distraction into their locker rooms since 2001. The Rams could be featured what with the juicy storyline of whether or not Sam Bradford can lead them to the promised land.

This is how it works. We don’t even think to question that Hard Knocks has been airing for a decade plus but Michael Sam’s series is beyond the pale for football players who just want to play football. Players get up and hug and kiss their loved ones after being drafted all the time but Michael Sam is “throwing it in our faces“.

Heaven help us if the man makes his own sack dance.