He accepts an offer from Oprah to do a reality show documenting his journey through the NFL.

 

This showed up on my Facebook News Feed.

 

I really agree with the sentiment somewhat.

 

Guys like TO and Ocho Cinco were extremely talented, but their appearances on reality shows kind of distracted from their performance on the field and was an embodiment of what many resented about them.

 

To counter, some might say it's no different than Jesse Palmer being on The Bachelor or Hank Baskett appearing on the Kendra show.

 

You can look at it a few different ways.

 

On one hand, he's making the most of his marketing and endorsement opportunities.

 

On the other, he's potentially putting himself in an awkward situation with teammates. He is a late round draft pick and is more expendable than other players because of his talent, and doing the show puts him in a position to be criticized, whether fair or not, for not working hard enough and focusing on football.

 

Thoughts?

He is free to do whatever he wants. But if he ends up cut like many 7th round picks without stellar special teams skills often do, I hope he does not look back and wish he had not had a show that took anything away from making the team.

Almost every 7th rounder makes the team/practice squad in year one.

I think the reality show is a mistake for him. His words and actions are not matching up.

 

At the end of the day, Sam better be able to play or he will be a casualty.

I think the reality show is a mistake for him. His words and actions are not matching up.

 

At the end of the day, Sam better be able to play or he will be a casualty.

Do you believe he has the talent to make the team? If not, shouldn't he try and make as much money as he can right now while he has the ability to do so?

I think the reality show is a mistake for him. His words and actions are not matching up.

 

At the end of the day, Sam better be able to play or he will be a casualty.

Yep. He better bake an "I got cut cake".

Do you believe he has the talent to make the team? If not, shouldn't he try and make as much money as he can right now while he has the ability to do so?

No, and he's cashing in on his media storm. Probably won't be incredibly endearing to teammates. No different if Johnny Football had a crew following him around ad nauseum.

How's this any different from the show "Hard Knocks"?

I want to be accepted as normal...look at me on reality television. If he wants to be normal, he should just shut up and play football.

How's this any different from the show "Hard Knocks"?

 

Hard Knocks focuses on an entire team. This reality show would focus on one individual who says he wants to be a normal teammate.

Hard Knocks focuses on an entire team. This reality show would focus on one individual who says he wants to be a normal teammate.

 

While the show focuses on the "team" there's no doubting that it doesn't follow certain players in particular. There's a reason its still on TV and it's not because it's following the 3rd string players on the NFL squads.

While the show focuses on the "team" there's no doubting that it doesn't follow certain players in particular. There's a reason its still on TV and it's not because it's following the 3rd string players on the NFL squads.

 

I saw the Hard Knocks shows that focused on the Bengals and thought some of the best stuff was the attention given to guys who may or may not get cut. No doubt there is focus given to standout players, but I see a big difference between HK and this other reality show.

 

I don't blame Sams for doing this. But don't do this and say you want to be a normal player.

 

In fairness to him, though, he's not going to be a normal player anyway because of his sexual preference.

I saw the Hard Knocks shows that focused on the Bengals and thought some of the best stuff was the attention given to guys who may or may not get cut. No doubt there is focus given to standout players, but I see a big difference between HK and this other reality show.

 

I don't blame Sams for doing this. But don't do this and say you want to be a normal player.

 

In fairness to him, though, he's not going to be a normal player anyway because of his sexual preference.

 

 

I agree. If he was considered a "normal" player then there wouldn't be all the media attention that there is around him.

 

Now to his credit if ESPN and these other outlets didn't bring all this attention and media to him since right before the draft til now then I think he'd be a somewhat more normal player than he is.

In my opinion the media doesn't get enough blame for all of this. Since right after Sam came out as gay we didn't really hear anymore about him until the lead up to the draft. Now it's being ran again.

 

Sam didn't bring himself any undue attention after he came out, nor has he now....The reality show isn't a big deal IMO.

What I didn't know was that his lover has a grandpa that is a mob boss. Wonder if the mafia has any strings to pull in any of this. They are always looking for ways to make money and infiltrate.

 

Good read if you can get past the first picture.

A True Tough Guy: The Mafia, Gays, and Michael Sam?s Boyfriend - The Daily Beast