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NEW YORK -- Michael Sam was picked by the St. Louis Rams in the seventh round of the NFL draft Saturday, becoming the first openly gay player drafted by a pro football team. Sam played at Missouri, and came out as gay in media interviews earlier this year. His team and coaches knew his secret and kept it for his final college season. He went on to have the best season of his career: He was the Southeastern Conference defensive player of the year. "Thank you to the St. Louis Rams and the whole city of St. Louis. Im using every once of this to achieve greatness!!" Sam tweeted with a frenzied typo moments after he was picked, including a picture of himself wearing a Rams cap and a pink polo shirt. The pick came after several rounds of suspense. The first round of the day came and went, no Sam. Then the second, and the third, and finally, the day was down to just a handful of picks. When Mike Kensil, the NFLs vice-president of game operations, walked to the podium at Radio City Music Hall in the drafts final minutes to announce the Rams second-to-last pick, the crowd got a sense something was up. Very few of the last day picks were announced at the podium. Twitter lit up with suggestions the Rams were about to make news. When Kensil said: "The St. Louis Rams select ... Michael Sam..." the fans gave a hearty cheer, chanting "Yes! Yes! Yes!" and "Michael Sam!" Sam was in San Diego watching with friends and family at the home of his agent, Joe Barkett of Empire Athletes. ESPN and the NFL Network had cameras there and showed Sams reaction. Sam was on the phone bending over, with his boyfriend hugging him and rubbing his left bicep. When Sam got off the phone, the tears started. He gave his boyfriend a big kiss and a long hug as he cried and his eyes reddened. After, they shared cake -- and another kiss. Sam will start his professional career not far from the place where he played his college ball, with three former Missouri teammates. The 6-foot-2, 255-pound Sam was considered a mid-to-late round pick, far from a sure thing to be drafted. He played defensive end in college, but hes short for that position in the NFL and slower than most outside linebackers, the position hell need to transition to at the professional level. He was taken with the 249th overall pick out of 256. Players from Marist, Maine and McGill University in Canada were selected before Sam. "In the world of diversity we live in now, Im honoured to be a part of this," Rams coach Jeff Fisher said during an interview on ESPN. The impact of Sams selection goes far beyond football. At a time when gay marriage is gaining acceptance among Americans, Sams entry into the NFL is a huge step toward the integration of gay men into professional team sports. Pro sports have in many ways lagged behind the rest of society in acceptance. Publicly, most people in and related to the NFL have been supportive of Sam. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has said Sam would be welcome in the league and judged solely on his ability to play. A few wondered whether teams would be reluctant to draft Sam because of all the media attention that would come with it. Fair or not, the NFL -- coming off a season in which a bullying scandal involving players on the Miami Dolphins was one of the biggest stories in sports -- was looking at a possible public relations hit if Sam was not drafted. He would likely have been signed as a free agent and given a chance to make a team in training camp, but to many it would have looked as if he was being rejected. Now that hes there, it could be seen as an opportunity for the NFL to show that crass locker room culture is not as prevalent as it might have looked to those who followed the embarrassing Dolphins scandal. JaVale McGee Jersey . Alexander was released last week by the Edmonton Eskimos, where he spent the past three seasons at safety. He had 121 defensive tackles, five special teams tackles and seven interceptions in 51 regular-season and three playoff games. Kyle Kuzma Jersey . Hawkins severely sprained his left ankle while making a diving catch during training camp and went on injured reserve with a designation he could return midway through the season. He was back at practice Wednesday. https://www.lakersjerseycheap.com/761j-l...kers.html.Those stars, most notably the top line of James van Riemsdyk, Tyler Bozak and Phil Kessel, struggled against the Montreal Canadiens and must be better as the Leafs look ahead to facing the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers this weekend. Troy Daniels Lakers Jersey . Mats Zuccarello and Derek Stepan scored shootout goals, and backup goalie Cam Talbot earned his second win in two nights as the Rangers shook off a late tying tally and beat the Maple Leafs 2-1 Monday night. Michael Cooper Lakers Jersey . -- The Oakland Athletics and free agent right-hander Bartolo Colon have agreed to terms on a US$2 million, one-year contract, bolstering their depleted starting rotation.TSN.ca presents its latest weekly power rankings for the 2013-14 Barclays Premier League season. Rankings were weighted evenly between separate lists made by TSN Radio host and soccer analyst Gareth Wheeler as well as TSN.cas soccer editors. 1. Manchester City (Last Week-1) Two huge victories have Manchester City one point away from clinching their second Premier League title in three years. A 3-2 road victory over Everton and a 4-0 home win against Aston Villa means that City needs only a draw from their final game to celebrate the championship. 2. Liverpool (LW-2) After building a three point lead, Liverpool conceded all three goals and were forced to settle for a 3-3 draw. Liverpool will now need Manchester City to lose to West Ham to have a chance at claiming the Championship. 3. Chelsea (LW-3) The three horse title race was reduced to two as the single point Chelsea earned from a 0-0 home draw against Norwich was not enough to keep them in the title picture. They did secure a third place finish and direct entry into the group stage of the Champions League. 4.Arsenal (LW-4) The fourth English team headed for the Champions League is Arsenal who earned a 1-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion. 5. Everton (LW-5) Ross Barkley and Romelu Lukaku both found the net for Everton, but their faint hope of qualifying for the Champions League was dashed after a 3-2 loss at the hands of Manchester City. 6. Tottenham (LW-6) Tottenham will need one point from their final game to guarantee themselves a place in Europa League next season after they were beaten 2-0 by West Ham United. 7. Manchester United (LW-7) Three points from two games for Manchester United as they defeated Hull City midweek after dropping a 1-0 game to Sunderland. United still has an outside shot at qualifying for Europa League. 8. Southampton (LW-8) Rickie Lambert scored in the 93rd minute to give Southampton a 1-0 victory over Swansea City. 9. Stoke City (LW-9) Peter Odemwingie, Marko Arnautovic, Oussama Assaidi and Jonathan Walters all found the net as Stoke City demolished Fulham 4-1. 10. Crystal Palace (LW-10) Crystal Palace threw a major wwrench into the Premier League title picture when Damien Delaney and Dwight Gayle twice, found the net in a nine minute span to snatch a 3-3 draw with Liverpool.dddddddddddd. 11. Swansea City (LW-11) Swansea City lost 1-0 to Southampton after conceding the winning marker in injury time. 12. Newcastle United (LW-13) Shola Ameobi, Loïc Remy and Steven Taylor all scored for Newcastle as they broke a six game losing streak with a 3-0 victory over Cardiff City. 13. West Ham United (LW-15) Attempting to finish the season strong, West Ham earned a 2-0 victory over Tottenham in their home finale. 14. Sunderland (LW-16) Sunderland became just the second team in the history of the Premier League to be bottom of the table at Christmas and survive relegation as they picked up six points and safety with wins over Manchester United and West Brom. 15. Hull City (LW-12) A pair of 3-1 defeats for Hull City as they were defeated by Aston Villa on the weekend and Manchester United during the week. 16. Aston Villa (LW-17) Aston Villa had an up and down week as they defeated Hull City and held Manchester City scoreless for the first half of their midweek fixture. They conceded four times in the second half to drop that second game at Etihad Stadium. 17. West Bromwich Albion (LW-14) Barring disaster West Brom will survive relegation, despite picking up nothing from losses to Arsenal and Sunderland. The Baggies enter the weekend with a three point, +17 goal differential advantage over Norwich City in the battle to avoid the final drop position. 18. Norwich City (LW-20) It will take a major miracle to keep Norwich in the Premier League after a 0-0 draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. They will need a West Brom loss and to overturn a 17 point goal differential to have a chance at survival. 19. Fulham (LW-18) Kieran Richardsons 80th consolation marker was not nearly enough as Fulham were relegated from the Premier League following a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Stoke City. 20. Cardiff City (LW-19) Straight back down to the Championship for Cardiff City as they were relegated from the Premier League with a 3-0 loss to Newcastle. ' ' '