Pittsburgh Steelers Would Be Good Home For Michael Sam

[BradshawsHairdresser]

[URL]http://www.sbnation.com/longform/2014/2/12/5401774/myron-rolle-profile-florida-state-football-nfl-rhodes-scholar[/URL]

Great article about Myron Rolle that touches on bullying, NFL locker rooms, etc

Interesting article. It's hard for me to buy the author's premise, though. If Rolle had been good enough to play safety in the NFL, it seems to me that the Steelers would have kept him around.

[feltdizz]

Interesting article. It's hard for me to buy the author's premise, though. If Rolle had been good enough to play safety in the NFL, it seems to me that the Steelers would have kept him around.

I'm not really concerned about Rolle finding a home in the NFL. I was more interested in his take on the NFL locker room and "team first" concept being low on the list.

We've heard a bunch of people say Sam will be embraced and it's team first but I have my doubts because every time a player comes in FA or we pick a guy up off the street the first thing they say is it's totally different than everywhere else they have played when it comes to team unity and team concept.

[SteelerOfDeVille]

probably not tight end

wide receiver

(DeVille slaps his own hand...)

[feltdizz]

wide receiver

(DeVille slaps his own hand...)

split end.... (smacks other hand)

[phillyesq]

Interesting article. It's hard for me to buy the author's premise, though. If Rolle had been good enough to play safety in the NFL, it seems to me that the Steelers would have kept him around.

It was an interesting read, but I can't imagine the Steelers or any other franchise passing on a player because he was too intelligent. Matt Birk's career was just fine.

[SteelerOfDeVille]

It was an interesting read, but I can't imagine the Steelers or any other franchise passing on a player because he was too intelligent. Matt Birk's career was just fine.

Disagree... I was passed over because I'm so smarte!

[steelsnis]

It was an interesting read, but I can't imagine the Steelers or any other franchise passing on a player because he was too intelligent. Matt Birk's career was just fine.

I actually disagree with that. I think sometimes, coaches would rather have a rockhead who will run through a wall for them without questioning the "why" of it. If a guy is too cerebral, especially at certain positions, it can get him in trouble at times by overthinking things instead of just doing it.

Of course when cerebral meets talented and driven is when you can get a special player.

[feltdizz]

I actually disagree with that. I think sometimes, coaches would rather have a rockhead who will run through a wall for them without questioning the "why" of it. If a guy is too cerebral, especially at certain positions, it can get him in trouble at times by overthinking things instead of just doing it.

Of course when cerebral meets talented and driven is when you can get a special player.

Our D was too complex for the Rhodes Scholar... lol.

Seriously, I think the article brings up a good point. You have more than a few knuckleheads in the NFL and some are probably just as slow as Rolle..

Back in HS I had a friend who went to Columbia for a gifted summer program... he missed summer basketball with our HS team and had to work his way from the bottom to get playing time once the season started even though he was better than most players. Coaches don't give a damn about a commitment to books... they want to see you in the gym.

I don't think Rolle should be given a spot just because he is a Rhodes Scholar but when you hear some of these players speak you really have to wonder if they prefer the dumb jock over the smart one.

[flippy]

It was an interesting read, but I can't imagine the Steelers or any other franchise passing on a player because he was too intelligent. Matt Birk's career was just fine.

Anyone who's really smart would never even try to play football. Who needs the head injury? I'll take a dumb thumper on juice all day every day.

[feltdizz]

Kerry Rhodes: I wasn't 'blacklisted'


http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10477666/kerry-rhodes-believe-was-blacklisted

Veteran safety [URL="http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/8537/kerry-rhodes"]Kerry Rhodes[/URL] hopes to play in the NFL if he can find the right opportunity, and doesn't believe rumors about his sexuality -- which he has always maintained were not true -- derailed his opportunity to play in the NFL last season.
"I don't think I was blacklisted," Rhodes said during a phone interview Tuesday. "Especially with the NFL I don't think they would do that ... to me it was a product of me wanting to do other things and not finding the right opportunity."
As the NFL is about to welcome the first openly gay player in [URL="http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/draft/player/_/id/33852/michael-sam"]Michael Sam[/URL], who will enter the NFL draft this season, many assume Rhodes had not been offered a job after a former associate told a number of websites that Rhodes was gay. Some speculated that Rhodes wouldn't feel comfortable coming out, but Rhodes said that has never been the case.

"I emphatically said no once and that's all I need to say and people who know me know that's definitely not the case," Rhodes said. "To me I'm definitely not and I can't control what people think, so I move on."
The [URL="http://espn.go.com/nfl/team/_/name/ari/arizona-cardinals"]Arizona Cardinals[/URL] offered Rhodes a contract at the end of the 2012 season, when Rhodes was named the No. 4 safety in the league by Pro Football Focus. He turned that offer down, and poured his energy into a production company, acting in a comedy series "Good Cop, Bike Cop" and rolling out some children's fitness initiatives with his foundation.
Rhodes thinks money, more than rumors, might have hampered his signing with a team, since he wasn't going to take a deal that he wasn't comfortable with.



the guy holding him outed him online...