Michael Sam has been spending most of the past month preparing for the NFL draft and the chance that he might be the first openly gay player in history to play in the NFL if he does make the cut. However, Sam recently took time out of his busy schedule to address a Republican lobbyist who is pushing for a ban against gays in the NFL.
Earlier this week, Jack Burkman, the CEO of Burkman LLC, claimed that he would push Republican lawmakers to support a measure he created in response to Sam’s coming out that would ban any gay men from entering the NFL. Burkman claims that, if the NFL accepts gay men, then society will be “sliding in the wrong direction.”
Well, since the measure was created over him, Sam decided to address Burkman on Twitter and slammed the lobbyist with a Back to the Future-themed tweet for mistakenly thinking that he would be the first gay player in NFL history.
Jack Burkman is going to need a Delorian, not some bogus bill, if he wants to prevent gay athletes from being in the locker room
— Michael Sam (@MikeSamFootball) February 25, 2014
Indeed, Burkman would need a time-traveling car to stop all of the gay players from hitting the field, because, although none of them were out during their careers, there have been several gay NFL players throughout history. In fact, there have been several gay players throughout every sport in history, and society has yet to crumble. Burkman may not want to acknowledge those facts, but we think he’d be better off worrying about real political issues instead of the inevitable move toward equality in the NFL.
Check out some gay NFL players who paved the way for Sam after the cut. –nicholas robinson
