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On February 9, 2014, Michael Sam publicly declared he was a homosexual. The Missouri Tigers Defensive End and SEC Defensive player of the year is eligible for the upcoming NFL draft in May. The watershed announcement gives rise to a bit of a legal minefield and the league and teams will look to ensure that no lines are crossed. Lets break it down. Does the NFL have any rules any place protecting homosexuals from discrimination? They do have protection for homosexual players, although it wont apply unless Sam gets drafted. Article 49 of the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement provides that you cant discriminate against a player on the basis of "race, religion, national origin" or "sexual orientation". The reference to "sexual orientation" is brand new in the CBA, and the other 3 major sports also have a similar provision. Heres the catch: the CBA wont apply to Sam if hes not drafted. While the CBA provides that it covers all "present and future" players, it still restricts that player pool to drafted rookies or undrafted players who are negotiating with a team. If undrafted, Sam wouldnt qualify as either type of player. So that means if Sam goes undrafted, the NFL CBA wont apply to him. Is that it? Is there nothing else protecting a player like Sam? There is, but its not perfect. Theres no federal law prohibiting discrimination based upon sexual orientation. The existence of such a law would be ideal for Sam since it wouldnt matter where he would end playing since a federal law covers the entire country. There are laws at the state level, although not every state has them. In all, 21 states have laws on the books that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation in the context of private employers. So that shakes out to 27 of the 32 NFL teams being the subject of gay employment protection laws. So which teams are in states where there arent state or other local laws protecting gay people? The five teams are as follows: Carolina Panthers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Houston Texans, Arizona Cardinals and Tennessee Titans. Heres the big question: if Michael Sam is not drafted, can he sue and win? Indeed, that is the big question. Sam is projected to be a mid to late round pick. In order to be successful in a lawsuit against the league he will need to show that he was not drafted because he is a homosexual. That can be tough in the context of a draft – even if it is true. We have seen the draft stock of players inexplicably drop in all the sports. We routinely see players drafted a lot later (or earlier) than projected. Apart from the top prospects, drafts can be highly unpredictable. Indeed, drafts are complicated beasts and it can be hard to show that a player wasnt drafted simply because he is gay. To have a shot at winning a lawsuit, Sam would need strong evidence supporting his case. He would be looking for things like incriminating statements or emails that provide that a team conspired not to draft Sam because of his sexuality. That may not be easy to find. Teams may pass on Sam because he is gay, but just never say it. Ultimately, Sam would need a smoking gun, and absent that he would have a tough time winning a lawsuit. Do you think teams will take a pass on Sam because hes gay? Reason would suggest that some teams may shy away from Sam because he is gay. From a philosophical standpoint, some executives may not be comfortable with the idea of a gay player. Other teams may not have an issue with his sexuality, but may still take a pass because they fear he will become a distraction. Indeed, we have already heard anonymous executives express this sentiment. While some may believe he could become a distraction, and by extension adversely affect his team, it seems unlikely to be the case. The NFL is filled with real and legitimate distractions: DUIs, domestic violence, vehicular manslaughter, murder and whatever Dez Bryant did last Sunday. None of these events have led to the downfall of a team or the demise of the league. And most certainly something as innocuous and irrelevant as a players sexuality wont become a problem. Vapormax For Sale Cheap .J. -- Pete Carroll said it was the suspension of linebacker Bruce Irvin last spring that finally got the attention of the rest of the Seattle Seahawks that they needed to be taking their commitment to the team more seriously. Nike Vapormax Wholesale China . -- Antoine Bibeau bought the Val-dOr Foreurs valuable time at the Memorial Cup with his 51-save shutout Friday. http://www.discountvapormax.com/ . The Canucks figured to be active prior to Wednesdays trade deadline, getting a jump on things the previous day when they dealt goaltender Roberto Luongo to the Florida Panthers for netminder Jacob Markstrom and forward Shawn Matthias. Cheap Vapormax China . New York then missed its next six shots and scored only two points the rest of the night. The Los Angeles Clippers defence and the Knicks general ineptitude both played a role in the unsurprising finish to a meeting of two teams headed in opposite directions. Cheeap Vapormax Online .com) - Blake Griffin led five Clippers in double figures with 24 points and the LA Clippers got back on track with a 101-97 win over the Utah Jazz.Jonny Evans has warned Northern Ireland another below-par performance against Azerbaijan will endanger their World Cup qualification bid. The team ranked 88th in the world are the visitors to Belfast on Friday night, as they were four years ago early in Michael ONeills reign, when his side had to rely on a stoppage-time David Healy goal to prevent a shock away victory.Worse was to follow later in that World Cup qualification process when Azerbaijan claimed a 2-0 success in Baku, one month after ONeills side had been beaten in Luxembourg during a period when Northern Ireland recorded just one victory in 22 games. Northern Ireland boss Michael ONeill says he couldnt ask for much more from his players Both nations have seen their fortunes improve in the intervening years and three points at Windsor Park would put Northern Ireland above Azerbaijan into second place in Group C as they aim to reach back-to-back finals of major competitions.I think weve come a long way, Evans said as he reflected back on the previous meetings with Azerbaijan.Michael spoke about that, how to deal with teams like that. I think they surprised us out there with how organised they were. Watch NOW TV Watch Sky Sports for just ?￡6.dddddddddddd99. No contract. The expectations on us as a team have risen dramatically and I do think for Azerbaijan as well. Theyre sitting well in the group and Im sure they will be pleased with how theyve started.The last game against them at home, we equalised late on, [but] I think we were in control in that game. I know back then we were disappointed with the result. A car is believed to have developed a technical fault and caught fire outside Northern Irelands team hotel I think now it would be even more so and it would really derail our campaign if we were to perform like that again. It would be disappointing for us to perform like that.In terms of how we approach the game, were in a better mindset and weve got a much clearer plan going into the game of how were going to win.Watch Northern Ireland v Azerbaijan on Friday night. Coverage begins on Sky Sports 1 HD at 7:30pm. Also See: ONeill content with start Sky Live: N Ireland v Azerbaijan Grigg keen to impress for NI Northern Ireland fixtures ' ' '