American defensive end, became the first openly gay player to be selected by a professional football team. He was picked near the end of the draft. Would he have been selected sooner if he hadn't come out to his college teammates before the start of the 2013 season and gone public with it earlier this year? We'll never know. 

Sam is not the only openly gay player in the major U.S. professional sports -- and he still needs to make the opening day roster. Jason Collins, a veteran of the National Basketball Association, came out at the end of last season. He was a free agent at the time but was signed by the Nets during the season. And, just before that Robbie Rogers, a former member of the U.S. national soccer team who also played for England's Leeds United, announced his retirement at the peak of his career, and then came out. At the urging of a group of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) teens, he returned to pro soccer, signing with Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy.

However, Sam's story is unique. The NFL is an unusual workplace and American football is often seen as the pinnacle of manliness where intense physical punishment is part of the game. Regardless of where Sam was drafted, his selection has significant implications -- for professional sports, for the workplace, for equality and for the country as a whole.

What Does This Mean for HR Pros

But more to the point for HR professionals, there are a couple of angles to this story we have yet to hear much about, such as "Is it even legal in Missouri?"

Well, technically speaking – maybe not. Missouri is not one of the more progressive states, like New York or California, that have passed legislation banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. As Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill reminded folks who follow her on Twitter: "Michael Sam could still be fired for just being gay according to MO law. Let's fix that in Jeffcity."

It's not likely that the St. Louis Rams, who drafted Sam, will use that gaping sinkhole in the law to dismiss Sam, but they could. An attorney and board president of the LGBT Community Center of Metropolitan St. Louis has reminded Missourians that gay professionals have virtually no protections in the workplace in the state. Not only can employees be fired for being LGBT, there's nothing stopping an employer from asking them about their sexual orientation. Some believe the Rams' selection of Sam could prompt a change in the state's law.

Further, Congress has yet to pass – or even bring to a vote – a national law banning such discrimination. Of course, they don't pass much of anything these days, but that's a separate conversation.

The "Pink Ceiling" Persists

Then there's the matter of C-Suite employees – namely, chief executive officers (CEOs) and corporate presidents. In a recent New York Times column appropriately titled "The Upshot," the reporter, Claire Cain Miller, came out (no pun intended) with a litany of observations about the dearth of openly gay CEOs in corporate boardrooms.

While saluting the NFL for breaking yet another discrimination barrier, Ms. Miller points out that, among the top 1,000 U.S. corporations, there are precious few David Geffens who are out and proud (perhaps being a billionaire has its privileges).

This may not necessarily be an anti-gay or homophobic issue, though no one's really proved otherwise. Ms. Miller also reminds us that among those same Fortune-1,000 companies, only have 48 have women at the helm, four-plus decades into the feminist revolution. What's more, the first African-American chief executive was only appointed 15 years ago – and the civil rights movement certainly predates the women's movement.

Glacial progress is still progress, to be sure. But perhaps most disturbing in the NYT piece is a reference to a recent survey published by the gay activist organization, Human Rights Campaign, which indicates that LGBT professionals still tend to be closeted in 2014, despite the fact that 91% of Fortune 500 companies offer protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation. Many professionals, both on the senior-executive and more junior-employee level, apparently still fear for their jobs and careers.

But looking on the bright side, Ms. Miller concludes with the notion that, if pro football can change, so too can corporate America. This is likely the beginning, not the end, of the HR conversation on the subject.