John Madden says Al Davis would have drafted Michael Sam
By Dan Zinski
Former coach Tony Dungy opened up a whole can of controversy last week when he said that he would not have drafted Michael Sam. Another former coach with a Super Bowl win on his resume, John Madden, was asked about the Sam controversy by Sports Illustrated.
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SI wanted to know from Madden if the late Raiders owner Al Davis would have drafted Sam. Madden said that Davis would not have pulled a Dungy in that situation:
"“Yes, he would have,” Madden said. “He would have brought anyone to the Raiders who would have helped the team…But I think that’s a coach’s job. You have players from all over and then you have to take them and mold them into a 53-man unit plus an eight-man practice squad. You have to be able to use them and get them to work together. If they do those things, it will be fine. Sometimes we jump to social or other issues and we forget the first one which is fitting in, learning the defense, and adding to the defense. All those things come first.”"
Dungy said fear of distraction would have kept him from drafting Sam, and some took this as a homophobic statement. Madden clearly believes that coaches shouldn’t be concerned about potential distractions and should only care about what a player can bring to the team on the field.
And he thinks Al Davis shared that philosophy.
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