Cowboys Sign Michael Sam For All The Wrong Reasons
By Jason Gott
By now, we have all heard that the Dallas Cowboys have signed the first openly gay NFL player, Michael Sam, to their practice squad. Unless you have been entrenched on your couch watching reruns of The Walking Dead, it is impossible to have avoided this story. Cowboys owner/general manager/president/scouting director/marketing director Jerry Jones must be sitting in his oversized leather chair with a Johnnie Walker blue in hand and loving all this media attention.
“My problem with this signing is I do not believe Sam will be a good NFL player.”
This is one of those topics where if you say anything negative, you are automatically viewed as being anti-gay. Let me be crystal clear on this; I am not anti-gay. I am actually pulling for Sam to succeed in the NFL. I applaud him for having the courage to announce his sexuality before the draft instead of opting to do so after his career was over. That takes a lot of gall.
My problem with this signing is I do not believe Sam will be a good NFL player. I believe, like a lot of people, this was just a signing to create more publicity for the attention obsessed Jones and his Cowboys. Before anyone suggests this is just a practice squad signing, so there is no downside to giving him a shot, I would say: why didn’t they use one of their five seventh round draft picks on him this year? If they truly thought he had enough talent to make the team, then surely they would have used a seventh round pick, no? So in my opinion, it seems the Cowboys coaching/scouting staff agree with my assessment on Sam and do not believe he has NFL level talent.
I know he had 2.5 sacks in the preseason. However, those sacks were against 3rd stringers whom the majority have been cut by their respective teams. Do you really think Sam could use his speed rush, which by the way is really his only move, against tackles like Tyron Smith? Not a chance.
This signing is just another affirmation of what the Cowboys franchise is truly all about. I think Jones himself exemplified what the essence of the Cowboys is when he said:
"“As much as we love the sport, as much as we like the contact, as much as we love to want to win a Super Bowl, we also appreciate the association with a great company, or great idea or a great product. That’s what this commitment is all about.”"
Jones finished that sentiment when he said:
"“We’re the glitz and glamour of the NFL.”"
That is what this Sam signing is all about. Not to create a competitive advantage. Not to bolster an already anemic roster with a subpar player. I believe it is simply to create more buzz, to grab more ESPN headlines, and to add to the glitz and glamour of “The Star”.
Michael Sam is a great story. One that I hope inspires many other athletes to step forward and be proud of who they are. I truly can say I hope I’m wrong and he proves to be a player can help this team. I just don’t see that happening though and feel that Jones is simply taking what he can from the cash cow known as Michael Sam.
I have been a life long fan of this franchise. Since the 1981 NFC Championship loss to the San Francisco 49ers, I have poured more emotions into this team than I’d like to admit. How can we, as fans, keep lining Jones deep pockets when he blatantly confirms he is more interested in grabbing the spotlight than actually winning? Don’t you dare tell me he cares as much about winning another Super Bowl as he does about being the #1 recognized football franchise in the world. Nothing he does justifies that sentiment. He is making it harder and harder to root for this team.