I give Thomas credit for speaking his mind. He is entitled to his opinion, even if people don’t agree with it.
He did an in detailed interview with NJ.com about Michael Sam’s arrival into the NFL and he didn’t pull any punches.
Thomas on homosexuality: “I don’t believe in it, I don’t respect it, but if that’s what you want to do, so be it.
On having a gay man see him naked: “I think the biggest thing is going to be in the locker room. Not on the football field, not on the practice field, but in the locker room where guys are walking around naked, guys are joking, the way coaches talk, the way players talk, you have to be careful what you say because you don’t want to offend anybody.”
“It changes things around the locker room. How you can act, how you can talk. Unwanted attention to your organization, unwanted questions that you have to answer. It puts a lot of pressure on certain people who don’t want to be in that position.’’
On why some players might resent Sam: “Some team will have to hire a company to educate us and make sure we’re saying the right thing. All the extra stuff you have to go through, all the extra meetings, that’s something as veteran players we don’t want.”
I’m sure he won’t be the first gay guy to play in the NFL, but he’s the first openly one out, nobody knows him and I think more than anything it’s going to make the locker room uncomfortable.
I think some of the points Thomas makes are valid, I think others are ignorant, but his opinions are probably shared by more than a few players in the NFL who wouldn’t dare go public with those statements.
In the end, no one knows what is going to happen until Sam is in the league. It is my belief (and hope) that as long as he is a good player a lot of these prejudices, stereotypes and ignorant ways of thinking will go away from players.