The Michael Sam Kiss – Rob, Ryan, and KISS Listeners Weigh in

Over the weekend, Michael Sam was drafted to the St. Louis Rams.  This will make him the first openly gay football player in the history of the National Football League.  He celebrated getting drafted by kissing his boyfriend on ESPN live television.  Many people in the world of social media were outraged.  Many were elated.  Everybody seemed to have an opinion.  Here are some of ours:

THE ROB:

While I think we will one day live in a world where somebody being homosexual in ANY setting will not classify as a "human interest story," the fact of the matter is that this story is actually very important.  In America, football (the NFL) is probably the number one past-time...  And it has never had an openly gay player in the locker room.  While I've been very happy that MOST of the comments I see in the media and online are very supportive, some people do not accept his way of life.  Football locker rooms are notorious for being some of the most "manly" dwellings in the world, and Michael Sam is the first person who is openly walking into one with the courage to tell the world he is gay...  And THAT is important!  No matter what happens in his career, Michael Sam will be able to say that he made a huge impact on football and gay athletes.  He will have the spotlight shone on him and be under a microscope, but future athletes will be able to follow Michael's lead and eventually, even the "manly" world of sports will learn that homosexuality is nothing to be afraid of.  I applaud Sam for his courage, and the Rams for their draft pick.

RYAN O'BRYAN:

As I said Tuesday morning on the show, I hope the day comes where a person making the announcement they are homosexual isn't a "news" story, but for now it is. When it comes to Michael Sam, if the guy can be a productive football player, which he was in college at the University of Missouri, then it shouldn't matter what his sexual orientation is.

Thankfully, a majority of you felt the same way in the comments on our Facebook page, and I think that's in line with most of America thinks as well. For those who are, for whatever silly reason, appalled that ESPN broadcast a few kisses between Sam and his boyfriend while celebrating the realization of a lifelong dream, let me say this, if you're not appalled by a show that has one man, or woman, date and make out with 20 members of the opposite sex living in the same house to help them decide who they be their spouse, then you shouldn't be appalled by this.

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