Edward Wyckoff Williams wrote an essay for Salon.com that asks the question how Michael Sam was so successful in college, but faces claims of challenges in the professional leagues.
In his senior year, after coming out to his fellow teammates, Michael Sam, 24, piled up 11.5 sacks and 19 tackles. He was voted by his teammates as the MVP and then went on to win what is widely regarded as the most prestigious of the conferences–finishing their season 12-2.
Sam and his teammates did all this without incident.
In fact, it is Sam’s ability, maturity and performance that led scouting experts to consider him a potential third or fourth round pick in the NFL draft, and why his coming out has garnered widespread media attention.
So if a college football team, with young men — straight out of high-school, from different parts of the country and different backgrounds — can play, lift weights, travel, eat, sleep, win, lose—and yes, even shower alongside each other –why should anything less be expected of full grown men?
The NFL isn’t a playground or a sandbox. It’s a professional organization, which pays men millions of dollars to perform and outperform at the highest levels.