The St. Louis Rams created one of the most historic moments not just in the 2014 NFL Draft, but in the history of the entire league on Saturday when they selected Missouri defensive end Michael Sam in the seventh round of the event, making him the first openly gay player to ever be drafted.
As the moment was playing out, ESPN had cameras with Sam to catch the emotion in the room when he finally got the call from head coach Jeff Fisher, emotion which included Sam kissing his boyfriend in a moment of celebration.
Some, unfortunately, were offended by the action and that list apparently includes former eight-year NFL veteran running back Derrick Ward, who immediately expressed his displeasure on twitter.
I'm sorry but that Michael Sam is no bueno for doing that on national tv. I'm fine with it being a new day in age but for him to do that on
— Derrick Ward (@derrickward32) May 10, 2014
National tv is disgusting. Gay or not.
— Derrick Ward (@derrickward32) May 10, 2014
Ok, now initially he did say “gay or not,” yet later on during his little rant (which you can take a look at his entire timeline for) he used the popular tool for people against gay actions as an argument–the bible.
But for real though most of u need to read the bible. It'll explain a lot in that book. #knowledge
— Derrick Ward (@derrickward32) May 11, 2014
Sam, unfortunately, is going to have his detractors and unfortunately in our social media-driven world, they’re going to have themselves brought to light like this.