Beyond the social issue....he’s a marginal two-star player who will likely be around for five years max, and might get fifteen starts over that period. The vast majority of guys coming into the NFL today...usually don’t get past their first contract. Other than writing a book over his experience, and maybe getting some Today Show permanent position gig by 2020...there’s not much to see here.
I almost wonder if the Rams didn’t have their arms twisted by the honchos of the NFL. It wouldn’t look good to leave the only openly gay player unpicked.
as Rosanne rosanadana used to say, its always something. sam, sterling, paula dean, gay marriage, reparations, etc etc etc. all I have to say is, when the first good ol’ boy goes to the store to buy bread for his kids, only to find the shelves as empty, cold and gray as those in the old eastern block, this poop will end.
I doubt if the Rams got their arm twisted on this episode. Consider it from a business prospective. Ed Jones Stadium holds 66,000 fans of the Rams. For 2013, the Ed Jones Stadium placed #31 of the 32 NFL teams for the eight games played in the stadium....with average attendance of 56,957 (ESPN numbers).
That means there’s nine thousand empty seats on an average game. Some draw more, some less. If you were management, you’d want to find some little low-cost gimmick which would put 1,000 more fans into the stadium for those eight games. I hate to suggesting hyping this guy and hoping that 1,000 more fans show up, who happen to be gay or bi-sexual....but that’s really the card that you’d want, and the contract he gets won’t be a fantastic number. You pay a reasonable price for a marginal player, get the 1,000 extra fans to show up for eight lousy games, and enjoy more profit. If you get 3,000 more fans....man, that’d be fantastic for the bottom line.
I should note that the Oakland Raiders are last in the league for home attendance (roughly 80-percent of the stadium filled for eight games). Max capacity is 63,000 and they really needed Sam probably more....if the intention was to fill the stadium and put another thousand fans at each home game.