RuntheDamnBall

Hell, Ron Wood > Danny Crossman.

It's just you. I only listen to the guy on the radio and he sounds very intelligent and in command.

The truly disgusting thing is that Brent Musberger took this picture.

Rights being stripped? This thread has an awful destiny ahead of it.

Then that's really too bad because people who have bothered to take the time know that he had a terrifically difficult childhood and family history that has zero to do with his sexuality. Also, reducing a person's existence to the sex acts he may or may not commit is something that rarely happens with straight people. Just saying. It will ultimately make no difference, and that shift towards that opinion is ultimately the story.

I don't know that it's that simple, exactly, as I know plenty of people who believe in God but reject the idea of damnation (Universalists) or are agnostics. I tend to fall into both categories. Anyway, this discussion will be headed for PPP waters if I continue on that thread! I think there are a lot of people with depression (diagnosed or not) who would disagree with that statement. It's very easy to project this attitude without walking a mile in someone else's shoes.

It's real easy to get on a high horse when you luck into HOF QBs. The Carolina job stands out as the one where Polian may have done the most impressive work. Not belittling the man or his achievements, but come on.

I'd offer a free facepalm for you, but I'm going to go pull a stunt with my wife instead.

Man, we are gonna fall in love with this kid fast.

Because in football terms that's what he is, just a guy trying to make the roster. I do not think that Jeff Fisher is going to be swayed in his decision by the historic nature of it unless he really has Sam and another player viewed as 100% equal in their ability to contribute to the team (which is nearly impossible).

Cornelius Bennett? Thurman had injury troubles...

Lewan is just a POS human which can translate to aggressive play on the field. I don't mind nasty football play, though, as long as it doesn't yield penalties.

People don't talk glowingly about any team's 7th round draft picks. They are all longshot horses. But I'd bet on Fisher's 7th round pick before I'd bet on the Jags' or the Browns'. Are people really talking glowingly about the pick itself, anyway? I've mentioned several times that the kid has his work cut out for him. Sociologically speaking it's a big moment but in football terms he is officially just a guy right now until he proves otherwise.

BR has changed their editorial policy for the better and they have stopped simply letting any bozo with a Pentium and a dialup connection submit to the site. Even a year ago this was not the case.

Good point.

I think it's just got to be pointed out how much time people who seem to be repulsed by something spend contemplating it. One significant distinction I'd like to make is that many people view it not as a "lifestyle" which, to me, amounts to aspects of life like choosing to / not to drink, living by the coast, using lots of resources or using few by choice, driving, biking, exercising rigorously, being sedentary. The rhetoric is off, IMO. Most gay people will tell you that it is not this kind of choice that they feel free to make. It is the way they are wired. Approving or disapproving of it would be like disapproving of my hazel eyes, or of a blonde person's hair. People surely make different sexual choices that are considered more or less acceptable in society, but most people are incapable of changing their attractions. Once this is realized it becomes a lot harder to vilify people for their sexual orientation. I think people spend way too much freaking time on it. Look at the person. The other stuff is secondary. Michael Sam is an extraordinary individual, and his orientation is far down the list of reasons why -- but it should not be a hindrance to his ability to excel at what he is good at. That's all his supporters are saying. If people want to express their disdain for something Sam has little control over, they're free to. Honestly. I am free to call that way of thinking narrow-minded, but at the end of the day I'm just sad for people who want to limit their friendships or experiences based on this single characteristic that has nothing to do with one's day-to-day experience of a person.

I'm going to submit that if he'd been drafted in the fifth the coverage window would have shrunk a bit. It happened at the end of the draft and hence allowed unneeded drama to build up.

That's a totally fair assessment and one that a lot of teams share (and I won't even suggest they are cloaking some bigotry in their analysis as others have -- it's unfair without their perspective represented). I do think it's interesting that Fisher, one of the more consistently successful defensive minds of the past 20 years, took him on - and his DL coach is well-regarded in the league. He may not make it out of camp. We'll see.

We'll never know but I find it hard to believe that Jeff Fisher would waste a draft pick.

Yep.

Without whining, can we say if NE picked Kouandijo it would have been labelled a great value by the chuckleheads (at the very least "if anyone can make this work, Belicheck will!")? I mean, is Gronk's case not very similar?

If you're a team, do you want people boycotting you and staging protests because your UDFA TE is calling the parents of murdered kids liars? There's a PR nightmare risk here, such that it's really not worth entertaining signing this guy just to have a minor chance at having a star TE. People want to talk about second chances, etc, but Lyerla had the chance to play for a premier college program, a title contender, and botched it to the Nth degree. He is not serious about succeeding at life or in the NFL, and I wouldn't be squandering a roster spot on him.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/02/26/colt-lyerla-said-some-controversial-things-last-year-about-the-sandy-hook-shootings/

I'm pretty sure your son will be able to handle it, and Michael Sam has not made it your problem. The way he will handle it will be based on the way you handle it -- either by following your example or by rejecting it as he sees other people who just happen to be gay leading very normal lives. It was about as much kissing as you see in a wedding, and you see more brazen moral conduct in a CBS promo during a cutaway for a game. I mean, I'd rather not explain why someone is jumping out of a coffin with a submachine gun during mid-day national programming, either. He wasn't in front of the whole world, btw, he was in the privacy of his home and the media were allowed in to capture the moment. Sure thing. Among them congrats to a guy who a decade ago would not have had the courage to be himself, and may possibly not have been drafted due to whispers and suspicion. He has a tough road ahead, like all 7th round draft picks.