Study Shows NY Would Be Most Accepting Of Gay Football Player Michael Sam
If drafted, 24-year-old Michael Sam will become the first openly gay player in the NFL.
We have to admit, living in an incredibly liberal city and state really inspires pride in us from time-to-time, especially when it comes to positive findings like this.
This week, our liberal human decency streak worked in our favor when news broke that New York would be most receptive if either of our teams drafted Michael Sam, the former college football player who recently came out as gay and may become the first openly gay NFL player in history if drafted. Researchers at Emory University analyzed tweets from all 31 NFL markets from February 9 (the day Sam came out) to February 11 and figured out which franchise’s fans would be most accepting of the former University of Missouri player if he were to join their team.
The study, which combined the fan bases of the Jets and the Giants, found that #1 New York was followed closely (and unsurprisingly) by the fans of Missouri’s St. Louis Rams. From there, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Kansas City, Washington, Philly, Tampa and Seattle were found to be most receptive in that order.
The NFL markets least receptive to Sam were all over the U.S. and (surprisingly) not confined to the Bible Belt. Nashville, home of the Tennessee Titans, was found to be the least receptive to Sam with Oakland, Green Bay, Pittsburgh and San Diego preceding the Southern city.
Obviously, the study has some flaws, especially since fans of most sports teams don’t always live in the city their team plays in and Twitter is by no means the most scientific of platforms, but this is something that’s worth knowing and reveling in anyway.
Follow Nikita Richardson on Twitter @nikitarbk
