Michael Sam - First Openly Gay Nfl Player

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http://espn.go.com/dallas/nfl/story...s-said-michael-sam-dallas-cowboys-long-way-go

IRVING, Texas -- Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said Michael Sam "has got a long way to go" but mentioned Baltimore Ravens star Terrell Suggs and five-time Super Bowl champion Charles Haley when discussing the high-profile practice-squad defensive end's knack for rushing the quarterback.

The Cowboys signed Sam, the first openly gay NFL player, on Wednesday, days after the seventh-round pick was released by the St. Louis Rams.

"He's a pass-rusher," Jones said Friday on 105.3 The Fan. "He has a lot to go when he comes to working in space or a lot to go when it comes to special teams. It's hard to be just a situational pass-rusher if you can't be a special-teams player, so he's got a long way to go. He's in a good place.



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AP Photo/LM OteroCowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said Michael Sam is a pass-rusher, and although he has improving to do, he is "in a good place."


"As [coach Jason Garrett] said, the first thing for practice-squad guys is by its very name, it gives you practice. It allows you to practice better. That will be his primary responsibility, and he'll get to be able to work and refine his skills. But it's no secret we need pass-rushers, and we need some defensive linemen."

Sam had three sacks for the Rams during the preseason but didn't survive the cuts to a 53-man roster because of the team's depth on the defensive line. The Cowboys have a desperate need for pass-rushers after releasing franchise sacks leader DeMarcus Ware in a cost-cutting move in the spring and placing second-round pick DeMarcus Lawrence on the injured reserve/designated to return list because of a broken foot.

Sam was the SEC co-defensive player of the year at Missouri last season, when he had 11.5 sacks. However, his draft stock dropped after an unimpressive showing at the NFL scouting combine, when he clocked a 4.91-second 40-yard dash and didn't fare well on the tests that measure explosiveness.

"I hope people question my speed, so on game day they see me running fast and they're like, 'Oh, man, I was wrong about that guy,'" Sam said Wednesday.

Jones noted that there were also concerns about Suggs' relatively slow 40 times when the Ravens selected him with the 10th overall pick of the 2003 draft. Suggs has 94.5 career sacks and has been selected to six Pro Bowls.

"Slow was a big item, and of course, he's turned out to be one of the greatest pass-rushers the league has ever seen," Jones said. "He has a knack, Suggs. These pass-rushers have a knack. Charles Haley, he had a heck of a knack. He did it not only mentally but he did it with head-butting. He did it in a lot of ways. He was brilliant at it. Seriously. Without exaggeration. But he was a pass-rusher. You had to work around him on the run defense, but he was a great player. He made the difference on every team he played on. That's why he owns five Super Bowl rings.

"In this league, if someone has a knack no matter if they don't have the measurables or what have you, and they can cause the passer to not only get him down but hurry him up, then they're valuable. And that's what we're looking for."

What do you guys think about Michael Sam being the first openly gay NFL player? What's your reaction when you first heard it? How do you feel about gay people in sports? How do you feel about gays in general?

I'll start off. I personally think it's awesome he opened up to the world about his sexuality before he was drafted. I've heard some people saying stuff like how uncomfortable players are going to be while showering together and such. I even read a comment from a person who says that gays should not be in the NFL because it's a "man"'s sport.

Man, that's crazy. People need to have some empathy towards the guy. And for Michael, I don't think it was easy. It took a lot of courage and patience to withstand the criticism from the media and public. I know Michael isn't that great of an athlete, but he deserves more than all the bullshit he hears.

Anyway, please share your thoughts.
 
B=========D :eek:
Well as a gay man myself I think it's awesome.
I'm the first openly gay guy on khmerforums.com
 
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believe

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B=========D :eek:
Well as a gay man myself I think it's awesome.
I'm the first openly gay guy on khmerforums.com

are you? or are you messing around?

whatever floats your boat, man. i don't want to see 2 dudes with giving heads. the same goes when it comes to my neighbors whose relationship is a male/female, and the lady giving her dude a head - i don't want to see it. it's none of my business.

what you think about michael sam? would you put him up as someone significant in history, like jackie robinson as being the first black man in baseball? is he goign to pave way for more gays to play football?
 
are you? or are you messing around?

whatever floats your boat, man. i don't want to see 2 dudes with giving heads. the same goes when it comes to my neighbors whose relationship is a male/female, and the lady giving her dude a head - i don't want to see it. it's none of my business.

what you think about michael sam? would you put him up as someone significant in history, like jackie robinson as being the first black man in baseball? is he goign to pave way for more gays to play football?
I love giving head man. Come get some bro. :D
...only kidding.

The Micheal Sam thing is lame but I"m for social equality for all sexuality.

"...cause I'm a good person."

People are people, I'd alway think to myself.

I don't like it when people use psychology to put negative labels on people.
Different people have different brains, but no brain is better than the other.
I have an introverted, borderline personality type- I love it but there's a stigma so I became selectively social.

I am an extremely deep person - that's one of my inner qualities stemming from being "borderline."
Normal people bore the crap outta me :banghead:

I am fearless in my speech, in my demeanor. I don't react to people's reactions.
 
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believe

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I love giving head man. Come get some bro. :D
...only kidding.

The Micheal Sam thing is lame but I"m for social equality for all sexuality.

"...cause I'm a good person."

People are people, I'd alway think to myself.

I don't like it when people use psychology to put negative labels on people.
Different people have different brains, but no brain is better than the other.
I have an introverted, borderline personality type- I love it but there's a stigma so I became selectively social.

I am an extremely deep person - that's one of my inner qualities stemming from being "borderline."
Normal people bore the crap outta me :banghead:

I am fearless in my speech, in my demeanor. I don't react to people's reactions.

are you sure you're not a church minister? those words are deep and powerful. i bet they can be used in a war movie such as braveheart, like when mel gibson pumps up his boys with his speech for war.
 
are you sure you're not a church minister? those words are deep and powerful. i bet they can be used in a war movie such as braveheart, like when mel gibson pumps up his boys with his speech for war.
freakin' believe, NO

hahahahahha
 

Hamster

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It is what it is.
It's none of my business.
If he feels better opening up about it, then so be it.
I'm pretty much indifferent. In other words, I don't care one way or another. It's their choice after all.
 

believe

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It is what it is.
It's none of my business.
If he feels better opening up about it, then so be it.
I'm pretty much indifferent. In other words, I don't care one way or another. It's their choice after all.

For a moment, I thought you were gonna make your 4th sentence longer to fulfill your trend. You let me down by combining 3 to make it longer than your 3rd sentence.

As for the content of your thoughts, I wholeheartedly agree.

Yeah better to be a gay NFL player than to be a wife-beating, dog-fighting NFL player.

Did you just put Sam with scumbag Rice in the same sentence? haha...But I get what you're saying.
 

Hamster

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For a moment, I thought you were gonna make your 4th sentence longer to fulfill your trend. You let me down by combining 3 to make it longer than your 3rd sentence.
LOL I didn't even realize I was doing that. Haha.
 

believe

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What do you guys make of this? Ray Rice's wife is now defending him. I smell battered woman syndrome.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/1...ends-ray-rice-criticizes-media-instagram-post

A day after a new video surfaced showing Ray Rice hitting his then-fiancée in the face in a hotel elevator, prompting the Baltimore Ravens to release the running back and the NFL to increase his suspension from two games to indefinite, Janay Rice defended her husband and criticized the media.

"I woke up this morning feeling like I had a horrible nightmare, feeling like I'm mourning the death of my closest friend," she wrote in an Instagram post. "But to have to accept the fact that it's reality is a nightmare itself. No one knows the pain that the media & unwanted [opinions] from the public has caused my family. To make us relive a moment in our lives that we regret everyday is a horrible thing.

"To take something away from the man I love that he has worked his ass off for all his life just to gain ratings is horrific. THIS IS OUR LIFE! What don't you all get. If your intentions were to hurt us, embarrass us, make us feel alone, take all happiness away, you've succeeded on so many levels. Just know we will continue to grow & show the world what real love is! Ravensnation we love you!"

Rice added, "I have to be there for [Janay] and my family right now and work through this."

After that, Ray handed his phone to his wife. "I love my husband. I support him," Janay Rice said. "I want people to respect our privacy in this family matter."

TMZ Sports released the video that showed Rice assaulting his wife on its website Monday. Earlier Tuesday TMZ reported that sources connected with the Revel Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City told TMZ Sports no one from the NFL asked the casino for the video of the couple in the elevator from the Feb. 15 incident. Instead, the league apparently relied on previously released video that showed Rice dragging his fiancée -- who is seemingly unconscious -- from the elevator before determining that he would serve a two-game suspension. The penalty was levied in July.

The Ravens said Monday that they'd not seen the video released Monday by TMZ Sports, either. Asked why the team wasn't able to view the video sooner, coach John Harbaugh told reporters at a Monday night news conference: "I don't know why that would be a hard thing to understand. It wasn't available. It wasn't there for us. It wasn't something that we ever saw or had access to."

The Associated Press reported Monday night that it had viewed a higher-quality video provided by a law enforcement official, and that Rice and Palmer could be heard shouting obscenities at each other. According to the AP, after she collapses, he drags her out of the elevator and is met by some hotel staff. One of them can be heard saying, "She's drunk, right?" And then, "No cops." Rice doesn't respond.

The video, which is slightly longer than the TMZ version and includes some audio, was shown to the AP on condition of anonymity because the official isn't authorized to release it.

The NFL repeated Tuesday that authorities did not make available the video of the assault, despite a claim by TMZ.com that the league did not ask the hotel for it. In statements, the league said it had asked New Jersey State Police for it, and had "reached out multiple times to the Atlantic City Police Department and the Atlantic County prosecutor's office."

The Ravens reached their decision to release Rice in a quick meeting between Harbaugh, owner Steve Bisciotti, general manager Ozzie Newsome and team president Dick Cass, according to Harbaugh.

"The Baltimore Ravens terminated the contract of RB Ray Rice this afternoon," the team's statement read.

Bisciotti first saw the video on television and decided almost immediately that Rice had to be released, a source told ESPN's Ed Werder. Bisciotti called a meeting to confer with other members of the organization's hierarchy. Newsome called Rice to inform him of the team's decision. Harbaugh also spoke to Rice, while Bisciotti contacted NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

The source said that Rice admitted to the Ravens from the start that he was guilty of striking Janay and, for the most part, accurately described what they eventually saw on the video. But the brutality of the assault when seen on the security video made a different impression.

"His description was not too much different -- except it looks more violent when you see it," a team source said. "He's a likable guy, and he's done so many things the right way in his career, but he's paying for what he did and the fact there was a video. You can't erase the video."

The source insisted the Ravens had requested copies of the video through multiple sources without success. At one point, a police officer who had seen the video described what it contained to Ravens officials.

"We hadn't seen the video," the source said. "The video changes the perspective."

The Ravens are not expected to further address the situation.

The NFL's two-game suspension of Rice was widely criticized at too lenient.

A spokesperson for the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office told ESPN's Don Van Natta on Monday: "Mr. Rice received the same treatment in the court system that any first-time offender in similar circumstances has received. We have no comment beyond that."

Rice's lawyer, Michael Diamondstein, declined to comment when contacted by the AP.

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who, in 2010 was the first player suspended under the NFL's personal conduct policy, said Tuesday he would pray for Rice and his wife. The Steelers visit the Ravens on Thursday.

Rice, 27, was charged with felony aggravated assault in the case and in May was accepted into a pretrial intervention program that allowed him to avoid jail time and could lead to the charge being purged from his record. Rice hasn't spoken often to the media since his arrest, but on July 31 he called his actions "inexcusable" and said this is "something I have to live with the rest of my life."

He added: "I know that's not who I am as a man. That's not who my mom raised me to be. If anybody knows me, they know I was raised by a single parent, and that was my mother. I let her down, I let my wife down, I let my daughter down. I let my wife's parents down. I let the whole Baltimore community down. I let my teammates down. I let so many people down because of 30 seconds of my life that I know I can't take back."

On Monday, teams were notified that any contract with Rice would not be approved or take effect until further direction is provided by Goodell, a league source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.

The executive director of the NFL Players Association, DeMaurice Smith, told SI.com that the video is disturbing and jarring.

"The video is really all the information I've seen. I did learn on the way over to the facility about Mr. Rice being released, and have not yet talked to [Goodell] about any other discipline," Smith said, according to the report. "I did hear that [Rice had been suspended], but I tend to rely on the commissioner and learning all the facts first-hand. That's what we'll do, and once we know what those facts are, that will dictate our next steps."

Information from ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter and The Associated Press is included in this report.
 

believe

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I did a lot of research and I think I'm gonna go with the Sony

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-HDRAS100V-Video-Camera-White/dp/B00HNJWSH4

Seems like the GoPro is overrated. The video quality isn't even as good as the Sony's and it costs more. I think the GoPro did some heavy advertisement after they went IPO this year, and it won a lot of hearts of their fans.
I'll look into bro. Thanks.

HAHA I check out the video quality. I dont think I can agree with you. Can you send me some footage?

Btw, the go pro is twice as small.
 

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I'll look into bro. Thanks.

HAHA I check out the video quality. I dont think I can agree with you. Can you send me some footage?

Btw, the go pro is twice as small.

http://www.dropzone.com/news/Gear/Best_Action_Camera_2014_-_Ultimate_POV_Camera_Shootout_1027.html

Twice as small? Doesn't look like it to me.

Here are some images which compares various cams from the site above:

10213-work-pov-cam-exit-shot.jpg


10206-work-Wingsuit-Overhead.jpg


10221-work-LowLight-Labeled.jpg


10212-work-Codec1-Labeled.jpg
 

believe

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There are other sites I've checked out. Personal cams from Youtube pretty much tells me the quality of these cameras and I found the Sony better for my taste.

The Sony looks smaller than the GoPro to me. The latest model is the one on the far right.

maxresdefault.jpg
 
I like to see some videos. It's not just the picture quality but also the moving pictures quality. But yeah, I'm starting to see what you are saying.
How about some videos for clarification.
 
How much do they run for, the sony?
Not bad bro - get the sony and put up some videos.
Thing is, they make the drone with attached to the Go Pro.
I plan on getting a drone, you should get one too.
 
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believe

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I like to see some videos. It's not just the picture quality but also the moving pictures quality. But yeah, I'm starting to see what you are saying.
How about some videos for clarification.

good thing i 'favorited' the videos i found. here they are:


the above videos touched on image stabilization, hdr mode, exposure, underwater, etc. i personally think the video quality, in most situations, of the sony stands out more. i have seen, however, in other lit situations where the gopro does a better job as its pictures are much more sharper and a little more vivid.

what's big is that the sony clearly beats the gopro in low light situations...by a mile. to me, this is the deal breaker. it's like night and day - literally. also, the latest gopro goes for $400, whereas the sony is currently $268 at amazon, which is a fraction of the gopro's cost.

keep in mind, i don't claim to be a video expert, but i can't justify spending 400 on a device that my human eyes can't really tell much difference. i got a feeling that because the gopro went IPO this year, they've gotten enough money to do heavy advertisement and they've succeeded in making gopro fanboys/girls.:hungover:

btw, i bought something...not gonna tell you. i'm gonna video tape and see what your opinion on its quality. it's like a blind test haha;)
 
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good thing i 'favorited' the videos i found. here they are:


the above videos touched on image stabilization, hdr mode, exposure, underwater, etc. i personally think the video quality, in most situations, of the sony stands out more. i have seen, however, in other lit situations where the gopro does a better job as its pictures are much more sharper and a little more vivid.

what's big is that the sony clearly beats the gopro in low light situations...by a mile. to me, this is the deal breaker. it's like night and day - literally. you couldn't see shit with the gopralso, the latest gopro goes for $400, whereas the sony is currently $268 at amazon, which is a fraction of the gopro's cost.

keep in mind, i don't claim to be a video expert, but i can't justify spending 400 on a device that my human eyes can't really tell much difference. i got a feeling that because the gopro went IPO this year, they've gotten enough money to do heavy advertisement and they've succeeded in making gopro fanboys/girls.:hungover:

btw, i bought something...not gonna tell you. i'm gonna video tape and see what your opinion on its quality. it's like a blind test haha;)
I"m seen some amazing go pro videos. i'll show u some.
Can't wait to see the video. :D
 
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