Posted on 05/14/2014 7:05:20 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith blasted the Miami Dolphins' decision to suspend safety Don Jones after he tweeted "omg" and "horrible" after watching footage of Michael Sam celebrate becoming the first openly gay NFL player by kissing his boyfriend live on TV. Smith has said people should not be punished just for reacting negatively to a homosexual couple kissing, and insisted that those with views that do not condone homosexual behavior should also be respected.
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Smith, who appeared to talk about ESPN's coverage of Michael Sam, on FirstTake on Monday, stressed that the kiss "didn't bother me," and that he was celebrating in a similar manner to how "we see with heterosexual couples all the time."
The commentator said that he had not seen footage of Sam and his boyfriend Vito Cammisano smashing cake into one another's faces in celebration but "if I saw all of that... I would say the same thing I would say to a heterosexual couple: 'Get a room'."
Earlier this week, the Miami Dolphins announced that Jones would be fined and suspended from team activities until training camp because of his negative social media reaction to Sam, which did not sit well with Smith.
"When it comes to the players and their tweets, I don't believe they should have been punished for it. I'm of the mindset that there is freedom of speech. People have the right to say what they feel and if there are ramifications for it, so be it. If advertisers and sponsors and them, they don't want to endorse them or something like that, then that's the price you clearly was willing to pay and you have to pay it," Smith explained. "But I think it's a very, very dangerous thing when people see something and they have a problem with what they're seeing and they express themselves and ultimately they're fined."
Fellow ESPN commentator, Skip Bayless, who is a Christian, also chimed in, saying that while to the gay community, Sam's display of affection may have been "tender," "compelling and powerful," those who did not find it the same way, were equally entitled to their opinions.
"I also defend the right of those who believe that the Bible says a man should not be with a man and a woman should not be with a woman. If you believe that, then because your country was founded on religious freedom, then you have the right to believe that. But again, those in the locker room, who hold that spiritual or Christian view, that biblical view, they still, they need to be tolerant of Michael Sam," said Bayless.
Having spoken to prominent pastors on both sides of the issue, Bayless said he is personally split, but noted, "For those who don't believe it, the repetition on this and other networks was cringe worthy after a while: 'Gee it's again and again, you're sort of rubbing our nose in it here'."
Smith also added: "If we're going to call ourselves a Christian nation, then we have to be sensitive to some of the beliefs that emanate from the Christian religion," and that the public has overall become much more educated about the LGBT community in recent years.
"[When a person is] in the process of learning it Skip, when someone is willing to say....'I was watching the NFL draft. I didn't expect to see that. It just shocked me. And oh by the way, it was shown over and over and over again and I wasn't ready for that.' Is that wrong? Is that a crime? Is that something that warrants a fine and being ostracized from team activities until training community?'" he added.
Sam was drafted by the St. Louis Rams as the 249th pick in the seventh round.
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I don't see how it's unraveling....looks to me like it's picking up steam and advancing.
There were several other players with better performance numbers and stats than Sam, and they were not drafted. No one speaks about that. Because Sam is gay, he possibly took a spot from someone who deserved to be drafted. I dare say his chances of being cut are nil. This is the real problems people have with the gays. Not their gayness, but the special accommodations made for them. Just ask anyone in the military.
The greatest coup could have been Jadaveon Clowney declaring himself gay, whether he was or not. His personal endorsement could have triple. I guarantee he could have made $200 million in endorsements his first year. He is not gay, but financially and career supporting, he would have been better off to be gay.
Gay is a positive now, not a negative.
That’s what the NFL wants people to believe, but I still suspect privately, at least 90% of the players are disgusted with it.
Why Mr. or Miss. Sam decided the world needed to see him kiss on Film is beyond me. The boy got his wish to play in the NFL but that was not enough. He had to force his sexuality on the world. Why the Gay agenda is to purport this on the world is outrageous. I don’t care what goes on in his private world Never been a Rams fan and prob never will! As far as the suspension The NFL is totally nutz!
Meaning it’s no longer being pushed surreptitiously. It’s right out in the open and they’re daring us to challenge them.
Sam knows his NFL career will be very short, so he want to make himself an icon in the short time he has....I suspect he’ll try to enter politics or go into the entertainment industry afterwards.
” If advertisers and sponsors and them, they don’t want to endorse them or something like that, then that’s the price you clearly was willing to pay and you have to pay it,” Smith explained. “
Huh? English as a second language?
I agree. At least 90% are disgusted with that behavior. I bet they don’t have a problem with playing with him. But some do now. It’s the NFL that has to be all in on this, least they be persecuted.
I think Rams management after they saw Sam and his “friend’s” actions, must have thought to themselves, ‘My God, what have we just done?’
"Nice Anti-Trust Exemption you've got there, hate to see anything bad happen to it."
Strongly feel that the network asked the boys to stage that kiss. It was so over the top, it was not natural.
Wonder why HGTV wasn’t there. Understand HGTV will run a story showing the boys finding a house together in St. Louis.
The only surprise to me is that every player didn’t tweet “Eeewww!” when they saw that pic.
Yes it should. Wake-up you stupid idiot.
Yep.
” This whole event, a very public spectacle, has turned normal Americans into “homophobes”.
IMHO, having a visceral reaction isn’t homophobic — more like homobarfic.
This is just plain common sense. Smith tends to be a liberal, but he’s not a down-the-line lib. (He has appeared on Sean Hannity’s program from time to time.)
Needless to say, I agree with him on this.
Of course not -- he'd be promoted.
Unfortunately, Sam is cut-proof and immune from criticism, simply due to his "orientation."
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