Gordon: Dungy's anti-Sam stance draws backlash

Gordon: Dungy's anti-Sam stance draws backlash Live

As you would expect, former NFL coach Tony Dungy is under fire for his not-so-progressive thoughts on Rams defensive end Michael Sam.

Dungy would not have drafted the openly gay Sam to his team.

"I wouldn't have taken him,'' Dungy told the Tampa Tribune. "Not because I don't believe Michael Sam should have a chance to play, but I wouldn't want to deal with all of it … It's not going to be totally smooth … things will happen.''

This view drew the following rebuke from Yahoo! Sports columnist Dan Wetzel:

"For an NFL executive to not draft an openly gay player because someone in his locker room or fan base or anywhere might – might – not handle it so well is some kind of Jim Crow-era awful.

"The good news for everyone other than Tony Dungy is that Tony Dungy doesn't draft players or coach players anymore. Dungy merely talks for a living and this week he'll deal with the reaction to his talking – there will be plenty of criticism, not to mention support via tortured straw man arguments, political opportunism and misguided admiration.

"This isn't about politics though. This isn't about religion. This isn't about what anyone thinks of Michael Sam. This is about Tony Dungy sadly acknowledging he'd care more about someone's narrow mindedness than his own realization that everyone deserves a fair shot.

"Mercifully Dungy is from the old NFL mindset rooted in a dying segment of society, like those who once wouldn't draft, hire, educate or vote for an African-American. Fortunately there are more than enough coaches, executives, players, fans and people these days who think otherwise. So Michael Sam will report to training camp this week. If he can play, he will play. If he can't, he won't. Seems reasonable."

Naturally the Twitterverse responded to Dungy's assertion, both pro and con. First, here is sampling of the criticism:











 And here are some of the typical pro-Dungy Tweets, reminding folks that Dungy was speaking from a pragmatic rather than a philosophical or spiritual point of view:








 

 


Options

Font Size
Viewer Comments
Sounds
Translate posts and comments.
Powered by Platform for Live Reporting, Events, and Social Engagement