In a shocking move, Missouri football player and NFL prospect Michael Sam came out as homosexual recently.The million dollar question, of course, is how will Sam’s sexuality affect his draft stock. At the moment of this printing, NFLDraftScouts.com has Michael Sams rated as a 3rd to 4th round draft pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. It would be unfortunate, yet not surprising, that he continues to fall down this projection as he has since the announcement. This is a big moment not only in football, but American sports as a whole.

There isn’t much precedent to predict how this will play out. The best case scenario is that he is drafted according to his talent alone. Every athlete should be accepted regardless of race, religion or sexual orientation. To do otherwise would be to accept bigotry in the workplace. In almost every other job or career, what Michael Sam did would not be big news, but sadly it is in the NFL.

These past two years we have seen Jason Collins of the NBA, pro wrestler Darren Young and Major League Soccer (MLS) player Robbie Rogers all come out as gay. Collins has yet to be signed though that is most likely because of his age than any bigotry in the NBA. Young and Rogers have been met with mostly support. Sam on the other hand will have to deal with meeting his new teammates who will know little about him, whereas the aforementioned athletes came out after years of building relationships with teammates and co-workers. He is the first to announce he is gay before the draft. Will they view him as “THE gay athlete” or just an athlete?

It’s hard to tell but recent news has made it clear there is bigotry within NFL locker rooms. Take for example former 49ers player Chris Culliver’s remarks in Jan. 2013, of the team not being “with that sweet stuff”. It should be noted that Culliver later apologized after media scrutiny. Former Vikings punter Chris Kluwe claims that a bigoted coach is the reason he was fired. Kluwe, while not homosexual himself, is an outspoken gay rights supporter and says the problem isn’t just in locker rooms but with coaches as well. If a gay rights advocate claims to have experienced bias, what hope does Sam have himself of being accepted?

There is a bit of hope if we look into the past however. Current and future head coaches can learn from legendary Hall of Fame 49ers coach Bill Walsh. In the book The Genius, author David Harris interviewed the team’s former trainer, Lindsy McLean, who was homosexual. He said of Walsh, “There was no homophobic bone in his body. He respected my private life and left it at that.” Trainers are of course in locker rooms before, during and after each game and practice. If this wasn’t an issue in the 1980’s it’s hard to believe it should be one now.

This shouldn’t even be a question. Michael Sam should be accepted as a player, period. To not be accepted would make a statement that the league and its employees are open to discriminating against a man because of his sexual orientation. Yes, there may be backlash against the team that ultimately sings him, but that would be nothing in comparison to the embarrassment teams would feel in the future if they pass up on a talented young athlete because of something that should not matter.