Tony Dungy Faz Declarações Polémicas sobre Michael Sam

Tony Dungy, ex-head coach dos Tampa Bay Buccaneers e dos Indianapolis Coltstreinados, fez na semana passada declarações polémicas sobre Michael Sam. Recordem que Michael Sam é o primeiro jogador da NFL a assumiu ser gay. Ele assumiu a sua orientação sexual ainda antes do Draft, o que suscitou muitas dúvidas quanto ao seu futuro na NFL. Ele acabou por ser escolhido na sétima ronda do Draft no lugar 249 pelos St. Louis Rams. Leiam o nosso artigo para saberem mais.

Nas suas declarações Tony Dungy refere que não teria escolhido Michael Sam no Draft. Dungy acabou por emitir um comunicado a referir que não é homofóbico e a tentar explicar o teor das suas declarações polémicas. Segundo ele somente respondeu à questão se teria ou não seleccionado Michael Sam no Draft, ao que eu respondeu que não porque a sua orientação sexual seria uma distracção para a equipa. Dungy reforça ainda que acha que Michael Sam merece uma chance na NFL.

Aqui está o seu comunicado:

“On Monday afternoon while on vacation with my family, I was quite surprised to read excerpts from an interview I gave several weeks ago related to this year’s NFL Draft, and I feel compelled to clarify those remarks.

I was asked whether I would have drafted Michael Sam and I answered that I would not have drafted him. I gave my honest answer, which is that I felt drafting him would bring much distraction to the team. At the time of my interview, the Oprah Winfrey reality show that was going to chronicle Michael’s first season had been announced.

I was not asked whether or not Michael Sam deserves an opportunity to play in the NFL. He absolutely does.

I was not asked whether his sexual orientation should play a part in the evaluation process. It should not.

I was not asked whether I would have a problem having Michael Sam on my team. I would not.

I have been asked all of those questions several times in the last three months and have always answered them the same way—by saying that playing in the NFL is, and should be, about merit.

The best players make the team, and everyone should get the opportunity to prove whether they’re good enough to play. That’s my opinion as a coach. But those were not the questions I was asked.

What I was asked about was my philosophy of drafting, a philosophy that was developed over the years, which was to minimize distractions for my teams.

I do not believe Michael’s sexual orientation will be a distraction to his teammates or his organization.

I do, however, believe that the media attention that comes with it will be a distraction. Unfortunately we are all seeing this play out now, and I feel badly that my remarks played a role in the distraction.

I wish Michael Sam nothing but the best in his quest to become a star in the NFL and I am confident he will get the opportunity to show what he can do on the field.

My sincere hope is that we will be able to focus on his play and not on his sexual orientation.”