Christian conservative Bryan Fischer
has criticized the National Football League (NFL) for supporting
Michael Sam, who on Saturday became the first openly gay football
player drafted by the NFL.
Sam, a 24-year-old All-American
defensive end, was picked Saturday by the St. Louis Rams in the
seventh and final round of this year's draft.
(Related: Michael
Sam becomes first openly gay player drafted by NFL.)
In an op-ed titled The NFL's
Inexcusable Lack of Compassion for Michael Sam, Fischer, a vocal
opponent of gay rights, called on the NFL to pressure Sam to seek
therapy for his sexual orientation. Such therapies, often called
“reparative therapy,” have been deemed harmful and outlawed to
minors in California and New Jersey.
“As I predicted on my radio show, the
NFL pressured somebody into drafting the out-of-the-closet Sam, whose
combine performance revealed that he is not big enough and strong
enough to play defensive line in the NFL and not fast enough and
quick enough to play linebacker,” Fischer
wrote.
“The NFL is celebrating the sexual
equivalent of a brain concussion by going gaga over Michael Sam's
sexual proclivities.”
“For a league increasingly priding
itself on concern for player safety and health, it is bizarre that
they are enthusiastically praising a draftee for a lifestyle that
could send him to an early grave.”
Despite reports that Sam is in a
committed relationship, Fisher stated that he was at risk for
contracting HIV/AIDS.
“If the NFL possessed one ounce of
genuine compassion instead of the ersatz kind that exalts what should
be condemned, they would be meeting privately with Michael Sam to
urge him in the strongest possible terms to pursue reparative therapy
in the hopes of saving his life,” he added.