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. A. J. 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Hockey Canada also announced it will hold a skills camp for all levels of minor hockey in Lac-Mégantic during the 2013-14 season. Representatives from Hockey Canada, the Hockey Canada Foundation and Hockey Quebec were on hand Tuesday night at a meeting of the AHM de Lac-Mégantic to make the announcement and presentation. Tyler Flowers Braves Jersey . He never mentioned anything about his hitting. The 33-year-old right-hander had success with both Sunday, pitching six solid innings and helping the offence-starved Mets with an RBI single as New York salvaged a doubleheader split with a 4-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.Alameda, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Jack Del Rio is an NFL head coach again. According to multiple reports, Del Rio has reached an agreement with the Oakland Raiders, meaning the 51-year-old will move from one of the NFLs best teams over the past three seasons to one of its worst. NFL.com reported that Del Rio will receive a four-year contract. He will become the Raiders seventh full-time head coach since 2004. Del Rio joins the Raiders after two seasons as defensive coordinator for AFC West rival Denver. The Broncos had the NFLs third-ranked defense during the regular season, a jump of 11 places from Del Rios first year at the helm. He was head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2003 until he was fired in 2011 near the end of his ninth season. The Jaguars were 68-71 under Del Rio, making the playoffs twice. He takes over on a full-timme basis for Dennis Allen, who was fired by Oakland in September after the Raiders lost their first four games.dddddddddddd Allen was 8-28 in two-plus season at the helm. Former Miami Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano served as interim coach for the Raiders after Allens firing, leading them to a 3-9 mark the rest of the way. The 3-13 record was Oaklands worst since a 2-14 mark in 2006. The Raiders havent had a winning season since 2002, the year they won 11 games on the way to a Super Bowl appearance under Bill Callahan. Before his stint as Jaguars head coach, Del Rio was defensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers in 2002 after spending time on the coaching staffs of the New Orleans Saints and Baltimore Ravens. In 2013, he served as interim head coach of the Broncos for four games while John Fox recovered from heart surgery. ' ' '