Sam's a 
St. Louis man

Defensive end Michael Sam of the University of Missouri became the first openly gay player to be selected in a National Football League (NFL) Draft when he was picked in the seventh round by the St. Louis Rams yesterday morning (Singapore time).

Sam, the co-defensive player of the year in the Southeastern Conference who announced he was gay in February, would become the first openly gay player in the NFL should he make the team's 53-man regular season roster this summer.

The NFL (@nfl) tweeted: "Welcome to the NFL, @MikeSamFootball."

Sam, 24, would become the second openly gay player in one of North America's four major professional team sports following basketball's Jason Collins, who joined the NBA's Brooklyn Nets this season.

- Reuters.