Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Sam’s father struggles with his son’s revelation


As much as we’d all like to believe that a person’s decision to come out as gay is a non-issue in 2014, it is.  For some, it’s a very big issue.
Michael Sam already has found that out, based on his own father’s reaction to the news that Sam is gay.  Michael Sam Sr. tells the New York Times that he learned of his son’s sexual orientation last Tuesday, and that Sam Sr. has been struggling with the revelation.
The news came via a three-word text message — “Dad, I’m gay” — received while Sam Sr. was eating at Denny’s.
“I couldn’t eat no more, so I went to Applebee’s to have drinks,” Sam Sr. said.  “I don’t want my grand kids raised in that kind of environment.”
Sam Sr. explained that he’s “old school . . . a man-and-a-woman type of guy.”  To illustrate the point, Sam Sr. said he took one of his older sons to Mexico so that he could lose his virginity.
As the icing on the cake, Sam Sr. said that Hall of Famer Deacon Jones “is turning over in his grave” at the prospect of an openly gay player in the NFL.
And that’s coming from the father of the NFL’s first openly gay player.  We can predict and we can hope and we can wish that there won’t be problems for Michael Sam, but he’s already got a problem in his immediate family.  There surely will be strangers who feel the same way — and who express those views.

Source: PFT.com
Author: Mike Florio
Photo: USA Today Sports

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