Now this is one where where even I can't write it off as anything but a big deal. Michael Sam is an All-American at a major football school (Missouri/SEC), likely to be drafted this May by an NFL team and a defensive lineman, for God's sake. One of those big hulking hyper aggressive types smash mouth types.

http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_/id/93526/michael-sam-says-hes-gay

Some sources, citing various NFL team officials, are opining that being out will damage his draft prospects.

http://nesn.com/2014/02/report-michael-sams-nfl-draft-stock-will-drop-after-announcing-he-is-gay/

I hope for the best. Maybe things will work out.

St. Louis Rams pick Michael Sam in seventh round of NFL draft

Watch the video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW-_fFdkegs

The story:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/11/sports/football/michael-sam-picked-by-st-louis-rams-in-nfl-draft.html?hp

Over seven rounds of the N.F.L. draft, teams chose more than 200 players, from surefire stars to kickers and all-but-anonymous players from tiny Division II football programs.

One player who kept being passed over was Michael Sam, a consensus all-American at Missouri and The Associated Press’s defensive player of the year in the Southeastern Conference, considered college football’s most competitive conference. Sam was also the first publicly gay player waiting to be drafted.

Finally, after nearly seven numbing hours of picks on Saturday, the third and final day of the draft, Mike Kensil, the vice president for game operations at the N.F.L., walked to the podium and read Sam’s name. Cheers erupted among the several hundred fans left at Radio City Music Hall.

Sam, a defensive end, was the 249th player selected. Only seven players followed. Then the draft was over.

Read more from the NYT link above.

My favorite quote from the day:

Deion Sanders, a former player who is now a television announcer, wrote on Twitter, “Some team needs to Draft Michael Sam and be real the kid can play!”