Media Manipulation and Michael Sam

I found this interesting this morning. ESPN is once again attempting to warp reality in an effort to drum up controversy about "the first openly gay player in NFL history" not being on an NFL roster.
espn.go.com...

On ESPN's homepage, this article was linked under the banner "SAM EDGED 5-SECOND BARRIER IN COMBINE 40"

The use of "5-second barrier" is very fascinating to me here. Here's the article (which interestingly enough has a different headline than the link to the article)
espn.go.com...

TEMPE, Ariz. -- The official results are in, and Michael Sam broke the 5-second mark in the 40-yard dash at the NFL veterans combine Sunday.

Michael Sam's official 40 time was 4.99 seconds, ran on his second attempt at the veterans combine. His first try was clocked at 5 seconds flat.
Sam's official 40 time was 4.99 seconds, ran on his second attempt. His first try was clocked at 5 seconds flat.

Again, this is being presented in a clear "OMG, he has blazing speed, why is he not playing!!!" manner. In reality, here is the 5-year average (as of 2013) for the NFL rookie combine by position:
espn.go.com...

Sam is trying to be either a LB or a DE, although at this point the man would likely take any spot he was offered on a roster...

Five-year NFL combine averages (2008-12)
POS HT WT Arm Hand Bench 40 VJ BJ 20-shuttle 3-cone
QB 6-2⅞ 223.1 32¼ 9⅝ 17.8 4.87 31 9-2 4.34 7.09
WR 6-0¾ 202.3 32⅛ 9⅜ 15.4 4.55 35 10-0 4.25 6.92
RB 5-10⅝ 213.3 31¼ 9¼ 20.5 4.59 34½ 9-9 4.28 7.00
FB 6-0⅝ 242.6 32 9½ 24.1 4.80 33½ 9.6 4.39 7.19
TE 6-4⅛ 251.6 33⅜ 9⅜ 21.5 4.77 33½ 9-8 4.37 7.08
OC 6-3¼ 303.3 32⅝ 9½ 27.3 5.30 27 8-4 4.66 7.70
OG 6-4⅛ 314 33½ 9⅞ 26.2 5.36 27 8-3 4.85 7.84
OT 6-5¼ 314.7 34⅛ 10⅜ 25.3 5.32 27 8.5 4.80 7.80
DE 6-3⅜ 266.3 33½ 9⅞ 25.6 4.88 32½ 9-5 4.46 7.26
DT 6-27 304.8 33½ 9⅞ 28.3 5.13 29 8-9 4.66 7.64
ILB 6-1¼ 241.5 32⅛ 9½ 22.7 4.80 33 9.7 4.31 7.10
OLB 6-1⅜ 238.1 31½ 9⅝ 22.7 4.74 33½ 9-9 4.34 7.12
CB 5-11 193.2 31½ 9⅛ 15.5 4.55 35 10-1 4.17 6.90
S 6-0¼ 208.9 31¾ 9⅜ 18.1 4.62 34¼ 10-0 4.24 7.00

Average DE 40 time was 4.88 seconds
Average ILB 40 time was 4.80 seconds

For reference:
itiswhatitis.weei.com...

With the offensive line missing center Bryan Stork, it’s possible the team looked to make up for that by Brady getting the ball out quickly, allowing less time for the defense to get to Brady. It was a consistent plan throughout, as Brady took an average of 1.81 seconds from snap-to-throw in the first half, and 1.80 in the second half.

The man simply is not quick enough to reach an NFL QB and he is not large enough to serve as a run stuffer. Despite ESPN's efforts to turn this into an "anti-gay" thing by making his stats sound like a no-brainer NFL player, the truth is he's not in the NFL because of his physical limitations and stats as compared to the other players at his positions. This is absolutely not a case of a player who would be on any of the 32 teams if only he had a busty blonde on his arm every time he was off the field.

Look at what news entities which don't make sports their bread and butter (and thus don't make as much $$$ off of sports controversies as ESPN does) had to say here:
www.usatoday.com...

TEMPE, Ariz. – Michael Sam can't use his 40-yard dash time as his ticket for another shot at the NFL.

Sam's unofficial times of 5.07 seconds and 5.10 in the 40-yard dash on Sunday -- when he was the biggest name of the approximately 100 participants in the NFL's first veteran combine – were worse than his marks before last year's draft.

www.tmz.com...

After Sam posted unimpressive numbers, including a slower 40-yard dash time than he posted at the 2014 rookie combine ... multiple high powered NFL sources tell us they believe there's no chance Sam makes an NFL roster this season.
As one big time NFL agent put it ... "My real honest opinion is that he was flat out horrible. He did not belong out there."
An NFL scout who was at the combine tells TMZ Sports he looked stiff and slow ... but says Sam's attitude was even worse. "He thinks he's a superstar. It would be nice if he could do something on the field to back up the attitude."

www.breitbart.com...

“It was bad,” a scout said of the defensive end’s showcase to Pete Prisco of CBS Sports. A personnel director labeled Sam’s performance “marginal” to Fox Sports.

Sam, who ran a slow-footed 4.9 forty at the rookie combine last year, never broke five seconds at the made-for-television event over the weekend. He ran unofficial times of 5.1 and 5.07. The high school defensive end I followed during the 2012 season in writing The War on Football ran a 4.9 forty. Sam’s speed at the rookie combine, let alone his time in Tempe, make him lead-legged for a college club.

To put Sam’s slowness in perspective, Jadeveon Clowney, who plays the same position as Sam, ran a 4.53 at least year’s combine. How can Sam compete coming off the edge against guys a half-a-second faster in the forty?

Just to be clear, I'm not suggesting directly that ESPN is pushing a "gay agenda" here. I'm still divided on whether I believe they play any role in that. espn.go.com... What I am claiming is that they are manipulating sexual orientation and fabricating discrimination purely to create controversy, which sells on their network centered around sports. ESPN has become such a giant, bloated feature in our nation that they feel almost untouchable... very few sport's fans are going to simply stop watching ESPN. That said, quite a few non-sports fans may start watching ESPN because controversy and manufactured outrage puts butts in seats in 2015.

Don't fall for the propaganda.

a reply to: burdman30ott6

You are putting Average times of DE and LB....Teams aren't looking for average....He is an average player and with what comes along with him in the form of baggage, is an average player worth putting on the roster? If I was an NFL owner, I am looking for above average talent, not the guys who just come in the middle (no pun intended)...

a reply to: Chrisfishenstein

Kind of a double edged sword. If they don't hire him, cause he is an average player, they are accused of being homophobic. On the other hand, if they do hire him, it could be considered a PR stunt.

originally posted by: Autorico
a reply to: Chrisfishenstein

Kind of a double edged sword. If they don't hire him, cause he is an average player, they are accused of being homophobic. On the other hand, if they do hire him, it could be considered a PR stunt.

I completely agree and that is probably the biggest reason he isn't getting attention, even though he is just average....If a team hires him, being average, they are having to speak to the media about hiring a gay player which is purely PR...I am not holding anything against Michael Sam, but if the first openly gay football player was an elite talent, this would be a lot bigger of a story...It just seems people talk about Michael as not being hired because he is gay, it is because he is average...Or teams like Dallas were in the media for hiring him because he was gay for PR....I don't blame teams for staying away, you are wrong either way you do it here with him...

a reply to: burdman30ott6

I know this is a conspiracy site so let'em rip.

If you are saying that ESPN stretches reality to be evocative then that is apparently true. They all do that. Not news.

If you are saying there is an overarching conspiracy in media and ESPN is a pawn, that's harder to see. I guess people are very tuned in to the things they fear.

Homosexuals, as a generality, are laughably low on my personal list of threats. Some people really seem to be fixated on the theme.

ESPN is in the business of sports news and entertainment. When not airing people running, jumping, and hitting balls REAL GOOD, they have to find a reason to draw viewers in order to entice advertisers to buy airtime. Sometimes that means inventing stories and making mountains out of molehills.

It's all one big front to sell Disney products and programming with a hint of sports added.

originally posted by: the owlbear
ESPN is in the business of sports news and entertainment. When not airing people running, jumping, and hitting balls REAL GOOD, they have to find a reason to draw viewers in order to entice advertisers to buy airtime. Sometimes that means inventing stories and making mountains out of molehills.

It's all one big front to sell Disney products and programming with a hint of sports added.

Notice how ESPN RARELY covers hockey? Because apparently mostly white/Canadian athletes aren't as much eye candy as a black openly gay football player...You see plenty of other garbage on ESPN and it is sad they don't focus on sports there, that is the main reason I don't watch it as much as I used to...They are more interested in the story than the sport...

He's right up there with Tim tebow. They are not good enough to play in the nfl.

a reply to: Chrisfishenstein

The problem is he isn't even average. He's 19/100ths off average for an ILB and 11/100ths off average for a DE. He's about 50 lbs too light to be a DT and would make a very small DE. He lacks the traits needed to make up for those serious deficiencies for the positions.

That's what I'm saying here. ESPN, by virtue of the manner in which they are reporting his 4.99 40 time is manufacturing their own controversy. Instead of being forthright with the facts: "Sam's 40 time is far from the time of a legitimate NFL defender," they presented the time worded in a way that makes the reader say "Damn, Sam is blazing fast! Why isn't he in the NFL again?" There's a complete absence of comparison presented in the article aside from the one time for Nathan Slaughter... a wideout. Surely there were other DEs and LBs at the vet's combine whose times could have been posted for a comparison to Sam.

We do have this tweet from reporter Michael David Smith:
twitter.com...

Follow

Michael David Smith
‏@MichaelDavSmith
Slower than every DE at this year's Combine. RT @daringantt Michael Sam runs an unofficial 5.10 and 5.07 in his 40s

Seems like ESPN was focusing on Sam breaking yet another barrier, only this time the barrier had already been broken, beaten, and destroyed by all of Sam's peers... making it a completely ridiculous point of back patting by ESPN.

a reply to: Chrisfishenstein

They cover hockey all the time... Not sure what you are watching. They have segments of sportcenter dedicated to hockey.
They rarely cover soccer and that is diverse as all hell, but not popular kinda like hockey.
Hockey is getting a bigger surge and you are seeing more coverage.

As far as sam, I agree average player and that is what I hear all the time on ESPN as well, I don't see it pushed at all that he is being black balled.

Shoot even the article is not painting it as fast by any means.

Is Michael Sam's 40 Time A Concern?

That is the title of the video.

I wish we could just get on with it. Regardless of his sexual orientation he is not NFL material. Apparently he does have really good field awareness and game IQ which would account for his college stats. In the combine he was was slower in the 40, cone and shuttle than any drafted DE in 2014 and I think he was even slower in the 20 I would have to look it up. He still got his shot in the NFL and couldn't cut it on 2 different teams. If you add that to a quote from the TMZ article burdman posted he had a # attitude. He thinks he's a star. (thanks Oprah)

Thing is, if he wasn't Michael Sam, he wouldn't be on ESPN's radar at all. There is only one reason why he is. Guys like Sam who were big-time players in college and can't really make the NFL cut are dime a dozen, and you aren't seeing any articles about any of them on ESPN, only Sam.

So why is Sam still on ESPN's radar? Why do they still think he's news?

originally posted by: burdman30ott6
a reply to: Chrisfishenstein

The problem is he isn't even average. He's 19/100ths off average for an ILB and 11/100ths off average for a DE. He's about 50 lbs too light to be a DT and would make a very small DE. He lacks the traits needed to make up for those serious deficiencies for the positions.

That's what I'm saying here. ESPN, by virtue of the manner in which they are reporting his 4.99 40 time is manufacturing their own controversy. Instead of being forthright with the facts: "Sam's 40 time is far from the time of a legitimate NFL defender," they presented the time worded in a way that makes the reader say "Damn, Sam is blazing fast! Why isn't he in the NFL again?" There's a complete absence of comparison presented in the article aside from the one time for Nathan Slaughter... a wideout. Surely there were other DEs and LBs at the vet's combine whose times could have been posted for a comparison to Sam.

We do have this tweet from reporter Michael David Smith:
twitter.com...

Follow

Michael David Smith
‏@MichaelDavSmith
Slower than every DE at this year's Combine. RT @daringantt Michael Sam runs an unofficial 5.10 and 5.07 in his 40s

Seems like ESPN was focusing on Sam breaking yet another barrier, only this time the barrier had already been broken, beaten, and destroyed by all of Sam's peers... making it a completely ridiculous point of back patting by ESPN.

The misleading headline is pretty typical of journalism with a liberal bent. Pick any issue and I can show you misleading liberal headlines that would be torn apart by simple questions regarding the actual numbers involved. Gun control. Health care. Global Warming. Income inequality. It is pretty obvious what the subtle agenda really is in regards to Michael Sam.

a reply to: Edumakated

I believe this post is about the media in general. why bring politics into it?

originally posted by: Autorico
a reply to: Edumakated

I believe this post is about the media in general. why bring politics into it?

Because the mainstream media is largely carrying the water for liberal progressives. To try to separate the media from politics is a fools errand imho. The OP did an excellent job of pointing out how words are manipulated to present a certain view point under the cover of being "objective" when it is patently clear from any disinterested observer that there is an agenda.

a reply to: ketsuko

Until they did this veteran combine he wasn't, and after this he won't be.

This was the nail in his coffin imo.
Now if he gets a broadcasting job that will be another story.

a reply to: Edumakated

What is even misleading?

They don't call it fast, the title of the video calls for concern with the time.

Noting in the article says anything close to what was outlined in the op.

originally posted by: ketsuko


So why is Sam still on ESPN's gaydar? Why do they still think he's news?

fixed
well you know a lot of those media people are "sensitive" types
and given then that most media is Mind Kontrol...
so of course these "sensitive" people drunk on their own koolaid are going to promote gaydom
any chance they get. there's your gay agenda right there.

never mind that when they throw these public hissy fits it's contraproductive in the long term, as it will lead to backlash,
and TPTB will eventually throw the whole LGBT movement to the mob, as yet another disposable scapegoat, in a long lineup of such scapegoats, readily available for when things get too hot for TPTB