Q Toon: Coming Clean

Prior to the St. Louis Rams' decision not to sign openly gay linebacker Michael Sam, ESPN aired a report from Josina Anderson that focused to a weird degree on whether Michael Sam was showering with his teammates or not:

"Another Rams defensive player told me that Sam is, quote, 'respecting our space,' and that, from his perspective, he seems to think that Michael Sam is kind of waiting to take a shower as not to make his teammates feel uncomfortable, while [Kendall] Langford and linebacker Alec Ogletree told me that they didn't know that specifically, and also weren't tracking that. Now, while Langford told me, 'Listen, I have not been in the shower at the same time as Michael Sam,' he said that there definitely could be a million reasons as to why that is; he said he could be doing extra work on the practice field, he could be riding his bike, he could be doing extra cardio. But overall, Langford said, he seems to be adjusting to the life in the NFL and to the state of the game..."

At the risk of having no punch line for this week's cartoon, I didn't want to ridicule Rams players, who for the most part seem to have been most gracious and complimentary of Mr. Sam. Langford was quoted in Anderson's report as saying, "If he doesn't make our team, I'm pretty sure that someone will pick him up on another team. ... He's shown some flashes." (His pre-season flashes included eleven tackles and three sacks, in case you're counting.)

And Chris Long responded to the report by tweeting "Dear ESPN: Everyone but you is over it."

After first defending the report by saying that "multiple Rams brought up the shower topic," the network eventually apologized: "ESPN regrets the manner in which we presented our report. Clearly yesterday we collectively failed to meet the standards we have set in reporting on LGBT-related topics in sports."

Since I sent this cartoon in to Q Syndicate, the Dallas Cowboys have picked Sam up for their practice squad. The former Mizzou defensive end is reportedly thrilled to return to Texas, his childhood home.