B-2
NATIONAL SCOREBOARD
THE NEW MEXICAN Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Men’s Division I
BASKETBALL BasketBall NBa eastern Conference
atlantic Toronto Brooklyn New York Boston Philadelphia southeast Miami Atlanta Washington Charlotte Orlando Central Indiana Chicago Detroit Cleveland Milwaukee
W 27 23 20 19 15 W 35 25 25 22 16 W 40 25 22 18 9
l 24 26 31 34 38 l 14 24 25 29 37 l 11 25 29 33 42
Pct .529 .469 .392 .358 .283 Pct .714 .510 .500 .431 .302 Pct .784 .500 .431 .353 .176
Western Conference
GB — 3 7 9 13 GB — 10 101/2 14 21 GB — 141/2 18 22 31
southwest W l Pct GB San Antonio 37 15 .712 — Houston 35 17 .673 2 Dallas 31 21 .596 6 Memphis 27 23 .540 9 New Orleans 22 29 .431 141/2 Northwest W l Pct GB Oklahoma City 41 12 .774 — Portland 36 15 .706 4 Denver 24 26 .480 151/2 Minnesota 24 28 .462 161/2 Utah 17 33 .340 221/2 Pacific W l Pct GB L.A. Clippers 36 18 .667 — Phoenix 30 20 .600 4 Golden State 31 21 .596 4 L.A. Lakers 18 33 .353 161/2 Sacramento 17 34 .333 171/2 Monday’s Games Indiana 119, Denver 80 Toronto 108, New Orleans 101 Detroit 109, San Antonio 100 Houston 107, Minnesota 89 Boston 102, Milwaukee 86 Golden State 123, Philadelphia 80 tuesday’s Games Sacramento at Cleveland, 5 p.m. Dallas at Charlotte, 5 p.m. Atlanta at Chicago, 6 p.m. Washington at Memphis, 6 p.m. Miami at Phoenix, 7 p.m. Oklahoma City at Portland, 8 p.m. Utah at L.A. Lakers, 8:30 p.m.
NCaa Men’s aP top 25 Poll
1. Syracuse (65) 2. Arizona 3. Florida 4. Wichita St. 5. San Diego St. 6. Villanova 7. Kansas 8. Duke 9. Michigan St. 10. Cincinnati 11. Iowa St. 12. Saint Louis 13. Louisville 14. Kentucky 15. Michigan 16. Iowa 17. Virginia 18. Creighton 19. Texas 20. Memphis 21. Wisconsin 22. Ohio St. 23. SMU 24. UConn 25. Pittsburgh
Rec 23-0 23-1 21-2 25-0 21-1 21-2 18-5 19-5 20-4 22-3 18-4 22-2 19-4 18-5 17-6 18-6 19-5 19-4 18-5 18-5 19-5 19-5 19-5 18-5 20-4
Pts 1,625 1,525 1,477 1,445 1,373 1,288 1,234 1,130 1,025 970 925 908 866 769 702 686 608 552 417 333 242 214 205 194 175
Men’s top 25
Pvs 1 2 3 4 5 6 8 11 9 7 16 13 14 18 10 17 20 12 15 24 — — — 22 25
Monday’s Results Kansas State 85, No. 7 Kansas 82, OT West Virginia 102, No. 11 Iowa St 77 No. 17 Virginia 61, Maryland 53 sunday’s Results No. 1 Syracuse 57 Clemson 44 No. 2 Arizona 76 Oregon State 54 Wisconsin 60 No. 9 Michigan State 58 No. 22 UConn 75 UCF 55 St. John’s 70 No. 12 Creighton 65 tuesday’s Games No. 3 Florida at Tennessee, 5 p.m. No. 4 Wichita State vs. Southern Illinois, 6 p.m. No. 5 San Diego State at Wyoming, 9:05 p.m. No. 15 Michigan at No. 22 Ohio State, 7 p.m. No. 19 Texas vs. Oklahoma State, 5 p.m.
Monday’s Games east Georgetown 83, Providence 71 Quinnipiac 83, Marist 78 Siena 77, Fairfield 75 West Virginia 102, Iowa St. 77 Virginia 61, Maryland 53 south Kansas State 85, Kansas 82, OT Bethune-Cookman 72, NC A&T 71 Delaware St. 79, Savannah St. 59 Hampton 71, Md.-Eastern Shore 65 James Madison 59, Hofstra 53 Miami 77, Florida St. 73 Morgan St. 82, Coppin St. 77 NC Central 92, Florida A&M 49 Norfolk St. 75, Howard 49 SC-Upstate 75, ETSU 63 UNC Wilmington 66, Towson 53 W. Carolina 83, Furman 75 Wofford 95, Hiwassee 60 southwest Ark.-Pine Bluff 76, Alabama St. 71 Arkansas St. 72, W. Kentucky 58
Women’s aP top 25 Poll
Rec Pts Pv 1. UConn (36) 25-0 900 1 2. Notre Dame 23-0 864 2 3. Duke 22-2 811 5 4. Louisville 23-2 758 4 5. South Carolina 22-2 739 6 6. Stanford 22-2 737 3 7. Baylor 20-3 710 7 8. Tennessee 19-4 659 8 9. Maryland 19-4 604 10 10. NC State 21-3 541 14 11. Penn St. 18-5 525 9 12. Oklahoma St. 19-4 452 12 13. West Virginia 20-3 448 17 14. Texas A&M 18-6 380 19 15. Arizona St. 20-4 359 11 16. Vanderbilt 17-5 355 18 17. North Carolina 17-6 317 13 18. Kentucky 17-6 298 15 19. LSU 18-6 274 16 20. Gonzaga 22-3 235 20 21. Nebraska 17-5 202 22 22. California 16-7 118 23 23. Purdue 17-7 113 25 24. St. John’s 18-5 69 — 25. Michigan St. 16-8 61 24 Others receiving votes: Middle Tennessee 32, Rutgers 31, Wichita St. 29.
Women’s top 25
Monday’s Results No. 17 N.Carolina 89, No. 3 Duke 78 No. 8 Tenn. 81, No. 16 Vanderbilt 53 tuesday’s Games No games scheduled. Wednesday’s Games No. 4 Louisville vs. Temple, 5 p.m. No. 7 Baylor at Texas Tech, 5:30 p.m.
TRANSACTIONS tRaNsaCtIoNs BaseBall National league
WASHINGTON NATIONALS — Agreed to terms with RHP Tyler Clippard on a one-year contract.
BasketBall NBa
DETROIT PISTONS — Promoted assistant coach John Loyer to interim head coach. HOUSTON ROCKETS — Called up F Robert Covington from Rio Grande Valley (NBADL). PHILADELPHIA 76ERS — Named Jake Reynolds vice president of ticket sales and service.
FootBall National Football league
DETROIT LIONS — Named Jim Bob Cooter quarterbacks coach. JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS — Named Robert Saleh linebackers coach, Scottie Hazelton assistant linebackers coach and Scott Trulock trainer. WASHINGTON REDSKINS — Named Doug Williams personnel executive.
HoCkey National Hockey league
ANAHEIM DUCKS — Reassigned LW Emerson Etem to Norfolk (AHL). DETROIT RED WINGS — Recalled RW Mikael Samuelsson from Grand Rapids (AHL). Assigned RW Tomas Jurco and C Riley Sheahan to Grand Rapids.
OLYMPICS olyMPICs Medals table
at sochi, Russia Through Monday, Feb. 10 (18 total events) Nation G s Canada 3 3 Netherlands 3 2 Norway 2 1 Russia 1 2 United States 2 0 Austria 1 2 Czech Republic 0 2 Germany 2 0 France 1 0 Sweden 0 2 Italy 0 1 Poland 1 0 Slovakia 1 0 Switzerland 1 0 China 0 1 Finland 0 1 Slovenia 0 1 Britain 0 0 Ukraine 0 0
B 1 2 4 3 3 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Monday’s Medalists
tot 7 7 7 6 5 3 3 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
alPINe skIING Women super Combined GOLD—Maria Hoefl-Riesch, Germany SILVER—Nicole Hosp, Austria BRONZE—Julia Mancuso, Squaw Valley, Calif. BIatHloN Men 12.5km Pursuit GOLD—Martin Fourcade, France SILVER—Ondrej Moravec, Czech Republic BRONZE—Jean Guillaume Beatrix, France FReestyle skIING Men Moguls GOLD—Alex Bilodeau, Canada SILVER—Mikael Kingsbury, Canada BRONZE—Alexandr Smyshlyaev, Russia sHoRt tRaCk sPeeDskatING Men 1500 GOLD—Charles Hamelin, Canada SILVER—Han Tianyu, China BRONZE—Victor An, Russia sPeeDskatING Men 500 GOLD—Michel Mulder, Netherlands SILVER—Jan Smeekens, Netherlands BRONZE—Ronald Mulder, Netherlands
How U.s. olympians Fared
alPINe skIING Women’s super Combined Final Ranking (Downhill; Slalom in parentheses) 3. Julia Mancuso, Squaw Valley, Calif., (1, 1:42.68; 13, 52.47) 2:35.15. — BRONZE NR. Stacey Cook, Mammoth, Calif., DNF; NR. Laurenne Ross, Bend, Ore., DNF; NR. Leanne Smith, North Conway, N.H., DNF. BIatHloN Men’s 12.5km Pursuit 22. Tim Burke, Paul Smiths, N.Y., 35:37.0 (2). 38. Lowell Bailey, Lake Placid, N.Y., 36:34.8 (3). 53. Leif Nordgren, Marine on St. Croix, Minn., 39:31.4 (7). FReestyle skIING Men’s Moguls Qualifying Run 1 8. Bradley Wilson, Butte, Mont., 21.68 (Q); 25. Patrick Deneen, Cle Elum, Wash., 10.36. Run 2 1. Patrick Deneen, Cle Elum, Wash., (25, 10.36; 1, 22.38) 22.38 (q). Ranking 8. Bradley Wilson, Butte, Mont., 21.68 (Q); 11. Patrick Deneen, Cle Elum, Wash., (25, 10.36; 1, 22.38) 22.38 (q). Finals Run 1 9. Patrick Deneen, Cle Elum, Wash., 22.27 (Q); 20. Bradley Wilson, Butte, Mont., 9.90. Run 2 6. Patrick Deneen, Cle Elum, Wash., (9, 22.27; 6, 23.32) 23.32 (q).
Medal Run 6. Patrick Deneen, Cle Elum, Wash., 22.16. lUGe Women’s singles after two Runs 3. Erin Hamlin, Remsen, N.Y., 1:40.632; 10. Kate Hansen, La Canada, Calif., 1:41.375; 15. Summer Britcher, Glen Rock, Pa., 1:42.152. sHoRt tRaCk sPeeDskatING Men’s 1500 First Round Heat 3 — 2. J.R. Celski, Federal Way, Wash., 2:15.675 (Q). Heat 4 — 3. Eddy Alvarez, Miami, 2:17.532 (Q). Heat 6 — 4. Chris Creveling, Kintersville, Pa., 2:16.553. semifinals Heat 2 — 1. J.R. Celski, Federal Way, Wash., 2:21.603 (A). Heat 3 — NR. Eddy Alvarez, Miami, PEN. Final a 4. J.R. Celski, Federal Way, Wash., 2:15.624. Women’s 500 First Round Heat 4 — 2. Emily Scott, Springfield, Mo., 45.210 (Q). Heat 6 — NR. Alyson Dudek, Hales Corners, Wis., PEN. Heat 7 — 4. Jessica Smith, Melvindale, Mich., 1:13.344. Women’s 3000 Relay None competed. sPeeDskatING Men’s 500 24. Shani Davis, Chicago (22, 35.390; 28, 35.59) 1:10.98. 26. Tucker Fredricks, Janesville, Wis. (18, 35.278; 37, 35.72) 1:10.99. 27. Mitchell Whitmore, Waukesha, Wis. (20, 35.34; 35, 35.71) 1:11.06. NR. Brian Hansen, Glenview, Ill., NRS.
Women’s olympics Hockey
Preliminary Round Group a W l oW ol Pts GFGa United States2 0 0 0 6 12 1 Canada 2 0 0 0 6 8 0 Finland 0 2 0 0 0 1 6 Switzerland 0 2 0 0 0 0 14 Group B W l oW ol Pts GFGa Russia 1 0 0 0 3 4 1 Sweden 1 0 0 0 3 1 0 Japan 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 Germany 0 1 0 0 0 1 4 Monday, Feb. 10 Group A: USA 9, Switzerland 0 Group A: Canada 3, Finland 0 tuesday, Feb. 11 Group B: Germany vs. Sweden, 3 a.m. Group B: Russia vs. Japan, 8 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 12 Group A: Switzrlnd vs. Finland, 1 a.m. Group A: Canada vs. United States, 5:30 a.m. thursday, Feb. 13 Group B: Japan vs. Germany, 1 a.m. Group B: Sweden vs. Russia, 10 a.m.
Sam: LB might be mid-round pick Continued from Page B-1 isolated guys here and there who might try to make a fuss about it, but players by and large are very much, ‘Hey, we’re here to do a job, we’re here to go out and play football.’ “In terms of the coaching/front office side, I think there’s where issues are going to arise because they are going to look at this like, ‘Hey, is this going to cause a distraction for the team?’ And by distraction, they mean, ‘We’re not really OK with having a gay player on our team, we can’t come out and say that, so we’re going to use the word distraction,’ ” Kluwe added. “And unfortunately, those are the people who determine if you’re employed or not.” John Elway has a unique perspective running the Broncos’ front office now after a Hall of Fame playing career, and he said Monday he’d have no problem drafting Sam. “We will evaluate Michael just like any other draft prospect: on the basis of his ability, character and NFL potential. His announcement will have no effect on how we see him as a football player,” Elway said. “Having spent 16 years in an NFL locker room, the bottom line is that it’s about treating others with respect and earning that respect. By all indications, it appears Michael has done just that throughout his football career.” Several coaches said if a player is accountable and a winner, being gay is a non-issue. “If anybody can come in and help us win games and be successful — black, white, yellow, straight, gay — I don’t think it matters,” said new Green Bay quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt. Before Sam revealed his sexual orientation, the pass-rusher was projected as a mid-round draft pick.
Men’s Curling
Country W Sweden 2 China 1 Norway 1 Switzerland 1 Denmark 1 Canada 1 Britain 1 United States 0 Germany 0 Russia 0 Monday, Feb. 10 Norway 7, United States 4 Britain 7, Russia 4 Sweden 7, Switzerland 5 China 7, Denmark 4 Canada 11, Germany 8 Denmark 11, Russia 10 Switzerland 5, Canada 4 Sweden 8, Britain 4 tuesday, Feb. 11 Canada vs. Sweden, 3 a.m. United States vs. China, 3 a.m. Britain vs. Germany, 3 a.m. Norway vs. Russia, 3 a.m.
l 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 2
Women’s Curling
Country W Canada 1 Sweden 1 Switzerland 1 Russia 1 Japan 0 South Korea 0 Britain 0 Denmark 0 China 0 United States 0 Monday, Feb. 10 Switzerland 7, United States 4 Canada 9, China 2 Sweden 6, Britain 4 Russia 7, Denmark 4 tuesday, Feb. 11 Switzerland vs. Denmark, 10 p.m. Sweden vs. Canada, 10 p.m. Russia vs. United States, 10 p.m. South Korea vs. Japan, 10 p.m. Britain vs. United States, 8 a.m. South Korea vs Switzerland, 8 a.m. Denmark vs Japan, 8 a.m. China vs. Russia, 8 a.m.
tuesday’s schedule
Biathlon Women’s 10km Pursuit, 8 a.m. Cross-Country skiing Men’s and Women’s Individual Sprint Free, 3 a.m. Men’s and Women’s Individual Sprint Free Finals, 5 a.m. Figure skating Pairs short program, 8 a.m. Freestyle skiing Women’s Slopestyle Qual., 11 p.m. Women’s Slopestyle Final, 2 a.m. luge Women’s Singles (Run 3), 7:30 a.m. Women’s Singles (Run 4), 9:20 a.m. ski Jumping Women’s Individual (normal hill) First Round, 10:30 a.m. Women’s Individual (normal hill) Final, 11:20 a.m. snowboard Men’s Halfpipe Quarterfinals, 3 a.m. Men’s Halfpipe Semifinals, 8 a.m. Men’s Halfpipe Final, 10:30 p.m. speedskating Women’s 500 (Race 1), 5:45 a.m. Women’s 500 (Race 2), 7:30 a.m.
HOCKEY HoCkey
NHl eastern Conference
atlantic GP Boston 57 Tampa Bay 58 Montreal 59 Toronto 60 Detroit 58 Ottawa 59 Florida 58 Buffalo 57 Metro GP Pittsburgh 58 N.Y. Rangers 59 Philadelphia 59 Columbus 58 Washington 59 Carolina 57 New Jersey 59 N.Y. Islanders 60
W 37 33 32 32 26 26 22 15 W 40 32 30 29 27 26 24 22
l ol Pts GF Ga 16 4 78 176 125 20 5 71 168 145 21 6 70 148 142 22 6 70 178 182 20 12 64 151 163 22 11 63 169 191 29 7 51 139 183 34 8 38 110 172 l ol Pts GF Ga 15 3 83 186 138 24 3 67 155 146 23 6 66 162 167 24 5 63 170 161 23 9 63 171 175 22 9 61 144 158 22 13 61 135 146 30 8 52 164 200
Western Conference
Central GP W l ol Pts GF Ga St. Louis 57 39 12 6 84 196 135 Chicago 60 35 11 14 84 207 163 Colorado 58 37 16 5 79 174 153 Minnesota 59 31 21 7 69 145 147 Dallas 58 27 21 10 64 164 164 Winnipeg 60 28 26 6 62 168 175 Nashville 59 25 24 10 60 146 180 Pacific GP W l ol Pts GF Ga Anaheim 60 41 14 5 87 196 147 San Jose 59 37 16 6 80 175 142 Los Angeles 59 31 22 6 68 139 128 Phoenix 58 27 21 10 64 163 169 Vancouver 60 27 24 9 63 146 160 Calgary 58 22 29 7 51 137 179 Edmonton 60 20 33 7 47 153 199 Note: Two points are awarded for a win; one point for an overtime or shootout loss. sunday’s - Feb 24 No games scheduled.
ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO
Kluwe said reports that Sam’s draft stock could drop because he revealed his sexual orientation “basically could have been lifted from any American sporting paper in the 1940s when Jackie Robinson was about to enter Major League Baseball. It’s like we’ve been here before. Why do we have to keep doing the same thing?” Sam will likely face even more scrutiny from opponents’ fans than Chargers linebacker Manti Te’o did after getting fooled by a hoax involving a fake girlfriend while at Notre Dame. What will help Sam is landing on a team with strong veteran leadership, something that was lacking in Miami, where tackle Jonathan Martin walked away at midseason, alleging guard Richie Incognito led daily harassment with racial, aggressive and sexually charged comments. Incognito was suspended for the final eight games and Martin’s career was thrown in limbo. Former Redskins tight end Chris Cooley said Sam’s performance on the field and as a team-
mate should quickly overshadow any stereotypes about sexual orientation. “I don’t think he faces any challenges as a player. I don’t think he faces a lot of challenges as a person,” Cooley said. “I think once he establishes himself as the kind of teammate he’s going to be, I think everybody will accept it fine.” Eagles All-Pro guard Evan Mathis said Sam will face obstacles no matter what. “NFL players shouldn’t judge Michael Sam based on his sexuality, but some guys will. MLB players shouldn’t have judged Jackie Robinson based on his skin color, but some did,” Mathis said. “Whether or not the NFL is ready for it, it needs to happen. There are still people on this Earth who lived through the prohibition of alcohol and the Civil Rights movement. They can look back and reflect on how primitive those times were. “Current generations will look back at marijuana prohibition and gays having to fight for equal rights and think how primitive those times were.”
TENNIS teNNIs
atP WoRlD toUR aBN aMRo World tournament
Monday at ahoy’ stadium Rotterdam, Netherlands Purse: $2.05 million (Wt500) singles First Round Paul-Henri Mathieu, France, def. Ivan Dodig, Croatia, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4. Michael Berrer, Germany, def. Jesse Huta Galung, Netherlands, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3. Tomas Berdych (3), Czech Republic, def. Andreas Seppi, Italy, 6-3, 6-3. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (5), France, def. Florian Mayer, Germany, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. Philipp Kohlschreiber, Germany, def. Sergiy Stakhovsky, Ukraine, 6-2, 7-5. U.s. National Indoor Championships Monday at the Racquet Club of Memphis, Memphis, tenn. Purse: $647,675 (Wt250) surface: Hard-Indoor singles First Round Jiri Vesely, Czech Republic, def. Marinko Matosevic (5), Australia, 6-3, 6-2. Michael Russell, United States, def. Michal Przysiezny (7), Poland, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.
Wta toUR Qatar total open
Monday at the khalifa tennis Complex Doha, Qatar Purse: $2.44 million (Premier) singles First Round Peng Shuai, China, def. Nadia Petrova, Russia, 7-6 (5), 7-5. Annika Beck, Germany, def. Mona Barthel, Germany, 7-6 (5), 6-2. Venus Williams, United States, def. Petra Martic, Croatia, 6-2, 6-2. Hsieh Su-wei, Taiwan, def. Flavia Pennetta, Italy, 7-5, 6-3. Tsvetana Pironkova, Bulgaria, def. Roberta Vinci (11), Italy, 6-3, 6-3. Petra Cetkovska, Czech Republic, def. Sloane Stephens (14), United States, 7-5, 6-1.
atP WoRlD toUR Money leaders
through Feb. 9 1. Stanislas Wawrinka $2,456,685 2. Rafael Nadal $1,385,092 3. Roger Federer $532,382 4. Tomas Berdych $526,522 5. Lukasz Kubot $288,843 6. David Ferrer $284,406 7. Gael Monfils $277,070 8. Andy Murray $265,791 9. Grigor Dimitrov $252,701 10. Novak Djokovic $242,811 11. Robert Lindstedt $237,038 12. Fabio Fognini $215,102 13. Florian Mayer $188,815 14. Marin Cilic $174,159 15. Roberto Bautista Agut $156,320 16. Edouard Roger-Vasselin $146,958 17. Kei Nishikori $146,000 18. Richard Gasquet $140,402 19. Kevin Anderson $131,335 20. Tommy Robredo $128,810 21. Stephane Robert $128,065 22. Juan Martin del Potro $127,005 23. Denis Istomin $126,666 24. Eric Butorac $121,669 24. Raven Klaasen $121,669 26. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga $121,405 27. Nicolas Mahut $120,129 28. Lleyton Hewitt $116,279 29. John Isner $109,479 30. Jeremy Chardy $108,792
Wta toUR Money leaders
1. Li Na $2,460,485 2. Dominika Cibulkova $1,207,811 3. Eugenie Bouchard $500,074 4. Agnieszka Radwanska $488,431 5. Sara Errani $358,395 6. Victoria Azarenka $344,255 7. Serena Williams $316,353 8. Ekaterina Makarova $289,631 9. Roberta Vinci $284,847 10. Ana Ivanovic $283,275
Gay: Time to move forward Continued from Page B-1
Linebacker Michael Sam warms up before the Cotton Bowl against Oklahoma State on Jan. 3 in Arlington, Texas.
l 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1
said, “Who am I to judge?” He said people “should not be marginalized” because of their sexual orientation and “must be integrated into society.” Now, change is about to come to the NFL, the behemoth of the American sports landscape. It was inevitable, but the league now finds itself in a difficult, and potentially awkward, predicament. Its identity has been built on machismo and violence. It is a league rich with alpha males bursting with muscles who unapologetically smash into one another, to the delight of millions of fans. Initially, it may be hard for many viewers, and some football players, to see Sam, who announced publicly Sunday that he is gay, as another hard-nosed tough guy on his team’s defense. But I suspect he will change their perceptions, if a team gives him a chance. Some fans will love him, some will hate him. Some may reserve judgment until they see him rip the heads off his opponents, just as any other defensive player would do. Like so many other minorities, Sam will have to work harder to prove his worth. Fans will probably judge him more harshly, and he will have to perform better than other rookies to prove he belongs in the NFL. He also will have to survive his own locker room. And in the NFL, that may be his biggest obstacle. It is a place where bullying is a part of the culture, and because of Miami Dolphins offensive lineman Richie Incognito, the public has seen glimpses of that culture’s dysfunction. When Incognito used racial slurs to refer to his teammate Jonathan Martin, and when he left a voice message for Martin saying, “I’ll kill you” — that was just “Richie being Richie.” Martin said he felt so attacked that he left the league, and Sam is likely to endure far more attention than Martin ever did. Even more disturbing than Incognito’s actions were his teammates’ inaction. By doing nothing to stop any bullying, they encouraged it. So, we may not be able to trust Sam’s
NFL teammates to protect him as well as his Missouri teammates apparently did. He may have to brace himself for a rough road ahead. Former Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe says homophobia exists in the league. He is convinced that the Vikings released him because he had taken a strong stand for same-sex marriage. He also claimed that the special teams coach, Mike Priefer, had made anti-gay comments to players, including, “We should round up all the gays, send them to an island and then nuke it until it glows.” If what Kluwe says is true, Sam surely wouldn’t be a good fit with the Vikings. But he should have hope. Other coaches in the league, including ones from years past, like Vince Lombardi, have shown themselves to be more progressive. If Sam had played for Lombardi, he would probably have had a clear, safe chance to shine. Lombardi had a gay brother and preached equal treatment of his players in his locker rooms. He made the rules and punished the dissenters — and that was all his teams needed to fall into line. He showed what could be done to affect locker room culture if coaches just took the lead. Teams also could rally around Sam, as the Washington Redskins did in the 1960s and ’70s with All-Pro tight end Jerry Smith, who was long rumored to be gay. His teammates never made an issue of it — probably because he could play. After Smith died of AIDS in 1986, it was reported that several of his teammates were pallbearers because they felt like family off the field as well as on it. Roger Goodell, the league commissioner, will bear some responsibility for making sure that Sam is treated respectfully. How Goodell handles the Incognito case will signal his appetite for changing the league’s culture. There is no question that Goodell will be watching Sam closely and will be monitoring his treatment in the locker room — if only because he knows the world will be watching, too. But first, of course, Sam must be drafted. It’s time to move forward. The teams and the league are on the clock.