When the news broke yesterday that former Missouri Tigers defensive end Michael Sam was homosexual, many attempted to brush off what will become one the biggest sports stories of this century as something that shouldn’t be considered news. While it may appear that these people don’t fully understand the word newsworthiness, I think it speaks volumes to where we are in this country in terms of equality.
Sports has undoubtedly benefited the most from social media. The ability to have second-by-second updates no matter where you are is truly something our ancestors never thought of and something that we would now go crazy without. Could you imagine Twitter during the AFL/NFL merger, or the Immaculate Reception? It would have been amazing.
Last night, social media once again stepped up to that bat for sports. When the Michael Sam story broke loose people took to social media to express, for the most part, an overwhelming amount of support.
There was, of course, some negative feedback from some people, but that is sadly to be expected.
However, a large group of fans and athletes don’t understand why this is news. They don’t understand why this is a big deal. As an advocate for equality, this bothers me on some level, but more than anything I believe these people are a great example of just how much the country has changed.
Free Agent cornerback Fabian Washington tweeted out:
Carolina Panthers running back also fell into that category: 
It may seem like these players are just trying to brush off this tremendous story, but to a lot of people, it’s just not a story.
Michael Sam, who will almost certainly become the NFL’s first openly gay player this May, is going to be a media and historical lightening rod for the rest of his life.
Sadly, some people thought that Manti Teo’s fake, dead, gay, male, girlfriend was more of a story and more newsworthy than this.
That was a horrible incident of what has grown to be known as catfishing. This is a moment that will be marked in history books in the section Gay Rights Movement.
Dana Jacobson, CBS Sports, also took to Twitter to sound off on this issue: 
Unfortunately, some people just don’t see the social and historical significance of this. I just hope they don’t see it because we now live in a world where people just don’t care and see everyone as equals. After all, that is what we’re supposed to do.
