It's not social engineering; it's controlling the image of the NFL.   The NFL could not care less about gay rights.  It's their image and their political power they are trying to protect.  

 

And by the way, if you're looking for a "...place in our lives where the social engineers aren't engaged with trying to change our thoughts, attitudes, voting habits, and deeply held personal beliefs.." dream on.  Such a place has never existed in modern history.   In a free market, there are always going to be people trying to control your thoughts and behavior, whether they're trying to get you to buy their toilet paper or trying to get you to vote their way.  

 

Was the Civil Rights act social engineering? Women's Suffrage?

 

Sometimes minds need changing.

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If something can corrupt you, you're corrupted already.
- Bob Marley


 

Some of us would like there to be at least one place in our lives where the social engineers aren't engaged with trying to change our thoughts, attitudes, voting habits, and deeply held personal beliefs. If a hugely corporate entity filled with milquetoast executives like the NFL can't be that place then, darn it, there aren't going to be ANY left.

 

What you just said is the moral equivalence of "Them colored people got their own water fountain, their own bathroom, and their own entrance, why do I need to keep hearing about racism? I want to be insulated in my beliefs and not have them challenged."

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It's not social engineering; it's controlling the image of the NFL.   The NFL could not care less about gay rights.  It's their image and their political power they are trying to protect.  

 

 

Good point on controlling the image of the NFL, after all it is a business.  But, it's ridiculous to say the NFL could not care less about gay rights. 

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Kaishakunin for hire.

* (disclaimer) If you think I'm serious, hit yourself in the face w/ a hammer.

 

What you just said is the moral equivalence of "Them colored people got their own water fountain, their own bathroom, and their own entrance, why do I need to keep hearing about racism? I want to be insulated in my beliefs and not have them challenged."

 

[BLEEP]. What I just said was, "I don't need politics jammed into every aspect of my life. Somethings aren't and shouldn't be political."

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“An empty vessel makes the loudest sound, so they that have the least wit are the greatest babblers.”. - Plato

Good point on controlling the image of the NFL, after all it is a business.  But, it's ridiculous to say the NFL could not care less about gay rights. 

 

Okay, maybe some people who work for the league care one way or the other.   But as an entity, the NFL does not care much either way.   It wants to appear that it does, but as you so correctly point out, it is a business and the business of business is business.   They care about the bottom line, not whether a gay guy gets a fair shot of not.   

 

Or, as Michael Corleone said, "It's not personal, Sonny.  It's just business."  

 

It's not social engineering.  It's just business. 

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[BAD WORD REMOVED]. What I just said was, "I don't need politics jammed into every aspect of my life. Somethings aren't and shouldn't be political."

 

I have noticed that a lot of people complain about gay rights getting "jammed down their throat" or as flsprtsgod says, "jammed into every aspect of my life."   It's an image that evokes their deepest fears.  

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[BAD WORD REMOVED]. What I just said was, "I don't need politics jammed into every aspect of my life. Somethings aren't and shouldn't be political."

 

Nope, whatever people choose to involve politics in IS political.

 

I think women's reproductive rights should not be political and there should be no restrictions on a woman's choice or the ability of medical providers to provide for those choices, but those things have been made political anyway.

 

People's rights are very strongly rooted in politics, and this is about the rights of people to be equally protected under the law, not your ability to insulate yourself from issues you don't want to confront.

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During the 49ers-Cowboys telecast,   Joe Buck mentioned that he spoke to Michael Sam during the week.    This is the first time I can ever recall during a regular season telecast that an announcer mentioned a Practice Squad player.  

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Nope, whatever people choose to involve politics in IS political.

 

I think women's reproductive rights should not be political and there should be no restrictions on a woman's choice or the ability of medical providers to provide for those choices, but those things have been made political anyway.

 

People's rights are very strongly rooted in politics, and this is about the rights of people to be equally protected under the law, not your ability to insulate yourself from issues you don't want to confront.

 

Protecting a child from death is political and one of the sole true functions of legitimate government. Michael Sam being pushed into the league by the league solely because he likes men is unnecessary. If he's good enough he'll make the team, if he's not then the league has to treat him different than other guys who aren't good enough. I know you libs need politics to be your everything, but some of us would just like football to be about football.

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“An empty vessel makes the loudest sound, so they that have the least wit are the greatest babblers.”. - Plato

Protecting a child from death is political and one of the sole true functions of legitimate government. Michael Sam being pushed into the league by the league solely because he likes men is unnecessary. If he's good enough he'll make the team, if he's not then the league has to treat him different than other guys who aren't good enough. I know you libs need politics to be your everything, but some of us would just like football to be about football.

 

Protecting a woman's right to choose what to do with her own body is the very definition of liberty.

 

As for Sam, he's good enough to play in the NFL, that was clear in the preseason. The NFL understands its interests, and being as inclusive as possible is very much one of them.

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Okay, maybe some people who work for the league care one way or the other.   But as an entity, the NFL does not care much either way.   It wants to appear that it does, but as you so correctly point out, it is a business and the business of business is business.   They care about the bottom line, not whether a gay guy gets a fair shot of not.   

 

Or, as Michael Corleone said, "It's not personal, Sonny.  It's just business."  

 

It's not social engineering.  It's just business. 

Of course they care about the bottom line just like any business that wants to achieve, maintain or grow profitability.  So much so, that I'm willing to bet the NFL wants the best product and athletes on the field, regardless of sexual preference (or skin color or religious beliefs for that matter).  In that regard they do care about individual rights and giving a shot to the best players, as they should.  The NFL doesn't need to host a gay pride parade to prove their PCness.

 

How could you possibly know that maybe only "some" people working for the league care one way or another about gay rights? It would be more realistic to suggest that 50% +- 5-10% of them do (which is on par with public polls supporting gay marriage).  Personally, I can't speak for every NFL team owner, commissioner or employee, but I know for a fact that at least the Jaguars organization cares about gay rights and have been public supporters and advocates for the LGBT community since at least the late 90's.  

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Kaishakunin for hire.

* (disclaimer) If you think I'm serious, hit yourself in the face w/ a hammer.

 

During the 49ers-Cowboys telecast,   Joe Buck mentioned that he spoke to Michael Sam during the week.    This is the first time I can ever recall during a regular season telecast that an announcer mentioned a Practice Squad player.  

 

This is my initial point.  NFL fans don't care or want to hear about social issues either on a television station dedicated to sports or a particular sport, and it's not relevant news during a sporting event.  I would wager that Jaguars fans can't name more than one player on the current team's practice squad without looking it up.  I would also wager that the average NFL fan couldn't name much more than one practice squad player on any team.

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There are 10 kinds of people in this world.  Those who understand binary and those who don't.

This is my initial point.  NFL fans don't care or want to hear about social issues either on a television station dedicated to sports or a particular sport, and it's not relevant news during a sporting event.  I would wager that Jaguars fans can't name more than one player on the current team's practice squad without looking it up.  I would also wager that the average NFL fan couldn't name much more than one practice squad player on any team.

It's really no different than the tebow coverage. The media covers it non stop because it's polarizing. People talk about it and yell about it weather support him or don't. Weather they want to hear it or are sick of it. 

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It's really no different than the tebow coverage. The media covers it non stop because it's polarizing. People talk about it and yell about it weather support him or don't. Weather they want to hear it or are sick of it.

I dont recall Goodell calling a bunch of teams on Tebows behalf when he got released. But then again, in our rapidly approaching liberal utopia, some animals are more equal than others.

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“An empty vessel makes the loudest sound, so they that have the least wit are the greatest babblers.”. - Plato

I dont recall Goodell calling a bunch of teams on Tebows behalf when he got released. But then again, in our rapidly approaching liberal utopia, some animals are more equal than others.

 

Wait, did Tebow get cut after his first preseason or did he actually play for multiple teams over multiple years?

 

By the comparison you're making it seems like he must have gotten cut after his first preseason. Is that correct?

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I dont recall Goodell calling a bunch of teams on Tebows behalf when he got released. But then again, in our rapidly approaching liberal utopia, some animals are more equal than others.

Animals? Bless your heart.

 

You can cherry pick all you want. To not admit it's the exact same thing from the point of the media is clearly your bias showing. 

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It's really no different than the tebow coverage. The media covers it non stop because it's polarizing. People talk about it and yell about it weather support him or don't. Weather they want to hear it or are sick of it. 

 

It's pretty close to the same thing.  The 24/7 coverage of Tim Tebow had less to do with his ability to be an NFL player, and more to do with his faith.  One glaring difference though, Tebow actually played as a starter and was never placed on a practice squad.  At least some of the coverage was about his ability/performance as an NFL player.  I did hate the whole "tebowing" thing that I'm glad didn't last.  Personal issues whether it's faith, sexual orientation or whatever else has no business being covered by sports networks.

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There are 10 kinds of people in this world.  Those who understand binary and those who don't.

Wait, did Tebow get cut after his first preseason or did he actually play for multiple teams over multiple years?

 

By the comparison you're making it seems like he must have gotten cut after his first preseason. Is that correct?

No, I'm simply pointing to another extremely popular player, popular like Sam for non - football reasons, who league didnt try to keep by actively engaging teams to sign him. Maybe if Tebow had come out then he'd get the special treatment too.

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“An empty vessel makes the loudest sound, so they that have the least wit are the greatest babblers.”. - Plato

Animals? Bless your heart.

 

You can cherry pick all you want. To not admit it's the exact same thing from the point of the media is clearly your bias showing.

I'm not talking about the media except to highlight the similarity between the two and disparity in league actions on their release.

 

Edit: And, if you truly don't understand my reference, you should read a bit before you enter a conversion with adults.

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“An empty vessel makes the loudest sound, so they that have the least wit are the greatest babblers.”. - Plato

No, I'm simply pointing to another extremely popular player, popular like Sam for non - football reasons, who league didnt try to keep by actively engaging teams to sign him. Maybe if Tebow had come out then he'd get the special treatment too.

 

Your comparison is misguided.

 

First is that religious people aren't persecuted like gay people are.

 

Second is that Tebow didn't need the NFL to request that teams consider him because he was a first round pick and played for multiple teams.

 

Sam won't be around forever, and I suspect he'll never get the amount of respect around the league that his abilities merit due to bigotry, but it was in the NFL's interests to see if any team would even attempt to give him a fair chance in the NFL.

 

Luckily for the NFL, America's team stepped up to the plate.

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