On February 9, 1964 The Beatles made history in music. Fifty years to the day, Michael Sam made history in sports. The impact of The Beatles on Ed Sullivan is now known. What impact Sam’s announcement will have on sports and society, we will have to wait and see.
What did Sam say yesterday? “I am a college graduate, I am African-American and I’m Gay.” He chose to be one of those three. He is all three. Tonight, I spoke to a great panel of guests to get their take on a football player coming out before the NFL draft. Click play to hear a great radio show on a topic few were taking about nearly two years ago when I started to shed light on the subject of homosexuality in sports.
My first guest was Cyd Zeigler of Outsports.com. Cyd was more than just one of the three journalists to break this story on Sam. He was in Sam’s inner circle as the plan to come out was set in motion.
After Cyd, I spoke with the former NFL punter Chris Kluwe about his role in the coming out party. Chris lost his job with the Vikings because he was outspoken on the issue of gay rights.
Mark Fontes of MidJerseySports.com was originally booked to talk about the Super Bowl and its impact on his area and the latest on Alex Rodriguez. Guess what, we spoke about his take on Michael Sam.
Erik Hall is the Assistant Sports Editor of the Columbia Missourian, the student newspaper at the University of Missouri. He has covered Sam for years and worked on the coverage of Sam’s announcement. It was a very frank and eye-opening conversation about the last twenty-four hours in Tiger Country. He had approached Sam regarding a story on his sexuality before Michael even come out to his teammates.
I wrap up the show with a fantastic discussion with ESPN’s Dave Lamont. Dave has covered college athletics for years and was very candid on his thoughts on Michael Sam as well as Marcus Smart not being very smart.
I know it is fashionable to discuss homosexuality in sports today. I am glad the conversation is moving the needle as the dominos are falling on this formerly taboo subject. I am proud that I was among the first journalists willing to discuss this subject. I look forward to when sexuality in life, let alone sports, is not newsworthy.
Enjoy!
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