Union prez: Players will accept Sam

— -- NFLPA president Domonique Foxworth thinks that NFL players will accept  Michael Sam "with open arms."

Sam, an All-American defensive lineman from  Missouri, said Sunday that he is gay during an interview with ESPN's "Outside the Lines."

Assuming he is drafted in May, Sam would become the first openly gay player in NFL history.

Foxworth said during an interview with ESPN's "Mike & Mike" that whichever team drafts Sam will not be hurt.

"I know that the union will accept him with open arms, as will our players," Foxworth said Monday morning.

Foxworth, who is set to step down as the NFLPA's acting president next month, acknowledged that Sam likely will encounter some "difficult patches" in his transition to the NFL. But Foxworth also believes that Sam's future teammates will support him.

"The team's gonna build up around their teammate, and it's going to galvanize the team," Foxworth said. "Everyone's talking about how this could disrupt the locker room. Some NFL locker rooms need disrupting, to be frank. Coaches go through a lot of different things to try to build a bond between the team, and what's going to build a bond more than having a player that all the guys know is kind of a target for opposing fans and maybe a target for opposing players?

"That type of stuff is what makes you build up around a guy, and Missouri seemed to have a pretty good season. So I expect whatever team he goes to is not going to be adversely affected. If anything, they could be positively affected by adding a man like that."

Sam led the SEC with 11.5 sacks and 19 tackles for loss last season, helping Missouri reach the SEC championship game.

Most NFL draft projections see Sam as a midround pick, with some saying he could go as high as the third round with a possible position switch to outside linebacker. Sam is rated as the 12th-best outside pass-rusher in the draft by ESPN Scouts Inc.

"I just want to go to the team who drafts me," Sam said Sunday. "Because that team knows about me, knows that I'm gay, and also knows that I work hard. That's the team I want to go to."

Several current NFL players, including DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Martin, took to Twitter to express their support for Sam.