Without Googling his name, how many people reading this column recognize the name Edward “Chip” Sarafin? My guess is the vast majority have not heard of him. But tonight, he makes history.
On Aug. 13, Sarafin revealed to Compete magazine that he is gay. His teammates already knew, and the fifth-year senior is going to become the first openly-gay NCAA Division I football player when the Arizona State Sun Devils take the field against the Weber State Wildcats at home. But if you checked ESPN, you would not see any story about it.
When I found out about the news, I immediately went to ESPN.com. It was not one of the featured stories. The SportsCenter app did not send an alert. Instead, a seven-paragraph story was on the sidebar of the homepage. That’s it.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about Michael Sam. Sam came out after his senior season at Mizzou, and consequently, his sexuality was a major story line for when he entered the draft, not the fact he was the SEC Defensive Player of the Year. The St. Louis Rams selected him with the 249th pick in the draft, which made him the NFL’s first openly gay player.
It seemed the media storm had subdued after the draft, but then it started coming back once the preseason began. Media outlets everywhere were talking about if Sam would make it on the 53-man roster, or if he could play at the NFL level. The media blew up when Sam did the money sign after sacking Johnny Manziel.
And then ESPN made a fool out of itself when it asked Rams players if they felt comfortable showering with Sam.
Rams players said what everyone else was saying: that it was not a big deal at all. Chris Long, the Rams’ starting defensive end, tweeted that ESPN was the only one making a big deal about Sam. Jeff Fisher, the Rams’ head coach, said the piece was unethical and unprofessional. ESPN did issue an apology on the story and contacted the Rams, which Fisher did say he appreciated. But the damage was already done.
What ESPN’s coverage of Sarafin and Sam shows is how far we, as a culture, have come towards accepting openly gay athletes, but also how far we still have to go.
The fact that there was so little coverage of Sarafin’s coming out means that people do not care if a player is openly gay or not. And ESPN’s coverage shows that the media is still trying to make it a storyline, regardless of it is there or not.
The bottom-line is that a player’s worth on a team should be determined by his or her athletic prowess, not his or her sexual orientation.
Chip Sarafin can play. Michael Sam can play.
