Paula Deen doesn't get it. She just can't understand why people are giving her so much trouble over comments she made a "long time ago." She feels as if she's being singled out. She feels like a victim.

"I feel like 'embattled' or 'disgraced' will always follow my name," said Deen in an interview with People Magazine. "It's like that black football player who recently came out. He said, 'I just want to be known as a football player. I don't want to be known as a gay football player.' I know exactly what he's saying."

Paula Deen just wants to be known as a celebrity chef, not a racist celebrity chef. It's exactly what "that black football player" was talking about.

The football player she's referring to, of course, is NFL prospect Michael Sam. The 24-year old defensive end for the Missouri Tigers shocked the football world last month when he came out as gay. If drafted, he will be the first openly gay professional football player in history.

Michael Sam received a great outpouring of support from the media but, while Sam appreciated the attention, he also thought it was overblown.

"I just wish you guys would see me as Michael Sam the football player instead of Michael Sam the gay football player," he told reporters during a press conference.

Paula Deen's successful career as a celebrity chef took a tremendous nosedive after she openly admitted to using the n-word in the past. At the time she seemed oblivious to the weight of her racist language, and despite claims that she wants to change, it doesn't look as if she's learned much since then.

"I was obsessed with the person America had confused me with -- after I had lived my life so clean and open," Deen said to People. "It's amazing that some people are given passes and some are crucified. I have a whole new empathy for these situations, though. My dad always told me, believe half of what you see and none of what you hear."

Paula Deen is now "fighting to get her name back" but comments like these aren't going to help her along.