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Former Mizzou teammates of Michael Sam now with Edmonton are excited he's in CFL

Edmonton Eskimos' Kendial Lawrence (R) slips a tackle by Calgary Stampeders' Brandon Smith during their CFL football game in Edmonton July 24, 2014. REUTERS/Dan Riedlhuber (CANADA - Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL) (REUTERS)

One of the questions around Michael Sam becoming the CFL's first openly-gay player has been about how he'll be received by teammates and opponents, and who better to answer that than current opponents who played on his team in college? The Edmonton Eskimos have a pair of players who meet that criteria, running back Kendial Lawrence and quarterback James Franklin. Both played for the Missouri Tigers with Sam. Chris O'Leary of The Edmonton Journal caught up with Lawrence and Franklin this week to talk about Sam, and their answers bode well for how he'll fit in the CFL.

“I’m very happy for him. He’s kind of like my brother,” said Lawrence, who graduated in 2012 after spending three seasons with Sam.

Lawrence phoned his former teammate last week when news broke that Sam had signed a two-year deal to play in Montreal.

“I’m happy he has a chance to play football and showcase his talent,” Lawrence said.

“He’s been working hard and we’re both on similar paths, trying to make it to become a professional athlete,” said Franklin, a rookie quarterback who signed with the Eskimos over the winter. “It’s really exciting that he’ll have that opportunity and I know he’s going to work hard and I know he’s going to do the best that he can. I have the feeling that he’s definitely going to have some success.”

A narrative some have peddled, especially amongst NFL fans and media, is that an openly-gay player like Sam could be a distraction in the locker room. However,  Franklin told O'Leary that wasn't the case at all when Sam came out to the team before Mizzou's impressive 2013 season, where the Tigers went 12-2 and win the SEC East in only their second year in the conference. (He later came out to the public after their Cotton Bowl win over Oklahoma State in January 2014.) In fact, Franklin and Lawrence said Sam's announcement wasn't a big deal.

It wasn’t really much of a difference because we all already knew and he was there, just like every other guy,” Franklin said. “We had the same goals in mind and that was to win a championship and win games and he definitely helped us do that.

“We didn’t really have a reaction when he came out. It was something that he wanted to do and it wasn’t any different for us. We knew who he was and when he came out it was just like kudos to him because it definitely takes a lot of courage to come out and do something like that.”

"Everyone was very welcoming, very accepting,” Lawrence added. “At the end of the day, he’s still our brother and he’s still our teammate. We obviously knew it, but we were so committed to the team and to winning that we weren’t really worried about it. Our first priority was being accountable to each other and that’s all that mattered.”

So, that should help quiet some of the talk about Sam being an outsider or a distraction. It's clear that he's been able to fit in well with teammates wherever he's gone, whether that was before or after his public announcement that he was gay. (The NFL as a whole may not be as accepting, as the data suggests Sam's sexuality is the only reason he's not still in that league; other players with worse college production, measurables and preseason production are still hotly-sought by the NFL.) It's also notable that even teammates like Franklin who say they disagree with homosexuality were able to get along just fine with Sam, which should dispel some fears that he'll be divisive in the locker room. For his part, Sam's also said that he never felt discrimination from teammates in college or the NFL, and he's talked about how he's focused on football, not trying to be a trailblazer. These comments from his former teammates are just more proof that the idea of openly-gay players as team-killing distractions is ridiculous.