Michael Sam's drafting may have been a monumental moment for the National Football League, after it finally opened its doors to allowing openly gay footballers to play the sport, starting with 24-year-old player.
However, it appears that even before Sam could prove himself on the field as a Dallas Cowboys player, critics are already planning to pull him down, along with his team.
According to The Independent, a Christian anti-gay group has voiced out its distaste towards Michael Sam's drafting and signing into the Dallas Cowboys.
The group called American Decency has come forward to relay the message that they are expecting "thousands" of Christians to join them in demonstrating their disappointment to the Cowboys during their opening game against the San Francisco 49ers today.
American Decency's lobbyist and leader Jack Burkman said that they were already against the idea of Michael Sam's drafting into any NFL team since early this year.
Burkman noted that any team that would hire the openly gay player would be "roughed up financially" since his anti-gay group is determined "not to stop until the drafting NFL franchise cannot sell a single ticket, jersey or autographed football".
Burkman's statements against Michael Sam's drafting into the NFL comes after the 24-year-old professional football player told reporters that he is hoping that he would be seen "as Michael Sam the football player, instead of as Michael Sam the gay football player."
Before Michael Sam's drafted by the NFL, he played for the University of Missouri, where he established a name for himself after he was declared the Southeastern Conference's joint best defensive player of the year, according to Guilford.
Born and raised in Texas, Sam came out after graduating and made US history after he was signed by the St. Louis Rams in the seventh and final round of the NFL draft in May.
After getting picked, Michael Sam made a huge buzz for kissing his boyfriend, Vito Cammisano, on live television out of happiness.
Unfortunately, just last weekend, Sam was cut by the St. Louis Rams when the team decided to trim their squad roster from 75 to 53 players.
On Wednesday, Michael Sam was picked by the Dallas Cowboys to be part of their 10-man practice squad, with the prospect of getting into the main squad if he proves himself worthy of a spot during the training.
Cowboys' owner, Jerry Jones, said that it was Sam's "availability, his position and his high motor" that led to his signing into the team.
However, the American Decency's leader, Mr. Burkman, said that Jones had "betrayed American values, Christian values, and his own city's values. The people of Dallas - and Christians all across this land - are about to make him pay a huge financial price. The Cowboys are no longer America's team."
A representative for the Christian group, which claims to have over 3.6 million members, has also issued a statement, saying that American Decency is made up of "like-minded individuals who feel that they need to come together and... [stand against] the deterioration of decency in American sports".
