Tony Dungy: I wouldn’t have taken Michael Sam

[Mick]

I'm sure Dungy was completely understanding about owners who didn't want to be the first to hire a black head coach and "deal with all that".....right Tony? As Lincoln purportedly said..."Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt."

 

[ChrisW]

my issue with Sam is that I think we wasted a draft pick. Doesn't make sense to me to draft a player for our deepest and strongest position when we:

A. Planned on going after Westbrook anyway.

B. Are at a point where we are literally throwing poo at the wall to see what sticks in the secondary.

C. Needed more competition on OL for backup spots.

JMO of course, and I hope he proves me wrong. Everything I've heard and seen of him shows me he has a great first step. But I'm not convinced that he has anything else.
I think we would have gotten him UDFA.

I'd like you to expound on this "poo" on the wall in our secondary. We've done very well to upgrade the talent in the secondary over the last couple of years.

 

[DCH]

my issue with Sam is that I think we wasted a draft pick. Doesn't make sense to me to draft a player for our deepest and strongest position when we:

A. Planned on going after Westbrook anyway.

B. Are at a point where we are literally throwing poo at the wall to see what sticks in the secondary.

C. Needed more competition on OL for backup spots.

JMO of course, and I hope he proves me wrong. Everything I've heard and seen of him shows me he has a great first step. But I'm not convinced that he has anything else.
I think we would have gotten him UDFA.

Would you feel better if we'd taken Roberson and signed Sam?

 

[Alan]

blue4 picking nits:
my issue with Sam is that I think we wasted a draft pick. Doesn't make sense to me to draft a player for our deepest and strongest position when we:

A. Planned on going after Westbrook anyway.

B. Are at a point where we are literally throwing poo at the wall to see what sticks in the secondary.

C. Needed more competition on OL for backup spots.

JMO of course, and I hope he proves me wrong. Everything I've heard and seen of him shows me he has a great first step. But I'm not convinced that he has anything else.
I think we would have gotten him UDFA.

Your fears would only be valid if we missed out on a player we wanted with that pick. Looking at your example of Westbrook, we seem to have gotten him anyway. In addition, what player, O-line or secondary, did we miss out on that you wanted?

 

[jjab360]

I'm not going to bash Dungy for his views, but he does come off like a coward in this situation, imo.

 

[DCH]

Your fears would only be valid if we missed out on a player we wanted with that pick. Looking at your example of Westbrook, we seem to have gotten him anyway. In addition, what player, O-line or secondary, did we miss out on that you wanted?

To be fair, as fans we could have preferred options. I would love to have taken Yawin Smallwood there. Maybe Isaiah Crowell, but that's a lot of RBs. One could argue that George Uko or Jackson Jeffcoat would have been as good if not better pure DE prospects as Sam, but that's a six/half-dozen sort of thing. Purifoy wouldn't have been a bad pick either, but we grabbed Roberson as an UDFA. Or Dion Bailey to compete as a pure center-fielding FS.

But the bottom line is that Snead and Fisher liked Sam better than any of these prospects. Hard to argue with that. We also had as good a shot as anyone to take almost any of them after the draft... only Smallwood was drafted among those I liked.

 

[Boston Ram]

I have always thought Dungy was a bit of a fraud. Its too bad he views things this way. Like others have said its a good thing for Dungy that Chuck Knoll and Rich McKay were not afraid to give him a shot.

 

[bluecoconuts]

Actually in a way he is right, things did happen. Like being asked to talk to someone about potential struggles and ending up talking her away from suicide rather than be who she is.... But you know, Sam is just a distraction.

 

[A55VA6]

To be honest, I've never liked Dungy. He's a little bitch. He wouldn't have taken Michael Sam because he wouldn't have been able to handle it.

 

[Memento]

I had no problem with taking Sam. Westbrooks is supposed to be developing as a DT anyway, and in my honest opinion, Carrington's spot in the lineup isn't totally secure. And we can keep nine defensive lineman on the roster.

As for distractions...it's only what the media has made it out to be. The Oprah thing was only for one day before Sam pulled the plug. Like Moe said, it's not like the team is 89 players plus Sam. If the team doesn't have a problem with it, I don't have a problem either - and based on Sam's track record at Mizzou, he's a good teammate, and there won't be any problems.

 

[Rams and Gators]

I can hear them coming, duck Tony

Hearing voices again?

 

[VARam]

I'm sure Dungy was completely understanding about owners who didn't want to be the first to hire a black head coach and "deal with all that".....right Tony? As Lincoln purportedly said..."Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt."

Being black or homosexual are entirely two different issues.

 

[bluecoconuts]

Being black or homosexual are entirely two different issues.

True, and they are both completely out of your control

 

[Prime Time]

Let's not go to the "homosexual good or bad/genetic or choice" meme or else this thread will die a miserable death. I know it's a tough subject to tackle but instead let's see if we can discuss Michael Sam as a football player and a potential Ram.

 

[Thordaddy]

I understand why he doesn't want to make the choice, if he feels like the choice would inhibit his teams chances to win,I think we threw Mike a bone and helped the league out,I don't think his talent warranted the choice but I could be wrong,that said ,iI'm fine we did it ,I think one of the things it did do was give the players MORE respect for their coach and that's always a good thing,in the end I think whether Mike makes the team or not it wasn't a waste and the gravitas will last even if we cut him.
Tony is entitled to his pov I got nothing against him either,IT's NOT LIKE Mike was a sure first round pick if he was all that others would have grabbed him sooner ,I refuse to believ Fishers the only one in the league with the guts to give it a try,FWIW I still think Stan played heavily in the decision, and probably had zero input into ANY of the other draft choices.

 

[Speeps]

I wonder if Dungy's religious views color that statement. I read his book a few years back - and he is pretty hard core about the bible.

I give it two weeks and Dungy will regret having said this - history is being written right now and equality - even for sexual orientation - is winning. You don't want to be on the wrong side of that a decade from now any more than you would have wanted to be on the wrong side of segregation.

This is exactly what I thought. Extremely religious guy who cherishes his bible. Of course he wouldnt draft Sam.

 

[Debacled]

Dungy has always been a coach like this. It has absolutely nothing to do with Michael Sam being gay. Dungy is also the same kind of coach that would shy away from drafting any woman who would be good enough to play in the NFL. Dungy is the type of coach to shy away from drafting lets say a Johnny Manziel.

Is he being unfair? Absolutely not. A coach should be able to run a team as he see fits. His way is by building as stable of a team as possible. Mind you Fisher operates with virtually the opposite mentality. He loves the guys that want to get in your face and under your skin. He wants to create a tense and intimidating environment.

For what its worth, stuff has already happened. Remember that attempt at making a reality show literally weeks after getting into the facility? Its stuff like that Dungy would want to avoid.

Name me any other bubble roster player that coaches would be happy to put up with generating a ton of non-football buzz?

 

[Memphis Ram]

Wouldn't have expected that from Dungy.

 

[Loyal]

It should always be a football decision first, and foremost. If drafting Sam was some sort of statement, then it's BS......If he makes the Rams better, then that's the objective....I just don't think he can make the 53 man roster, maybe the Practice Squad?

 

[PrometheusFaulk]

Name me any other bubble roster player that coaches would be happy to put up with generating a ton of non-football buzz?

You mean, besides Kenny Britt?

I absolutely agree with your premise.

Dungy doesn't like controversy. Fisher doesn't mind it. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't, with either take. But neither guy is "right" or "wrong."