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ST. LOUIS -- Jeff Fisher has never been afraid to buck a trend, draft a troubled player or grant a second chance. The coach of the Rams stuck with Adam "Pacman" Jones and Kenny Britt when he was at Tennessee, despite their off-field problems. Britt is now reunited with Fisher in St. Louis. Fisher recently rehired Gregg Williams, the defensive co-ordinator who was given a one-year suspension by the league for the bounty scandal with the Saints. It was not a surprise that it was Fisher who helped Michael Sam make history as the first openly gay player drafted by an NFL team. "He is an amazing leader, and even better, hes a better man," said Wade Davis, the head of an advocacy group for lesbian and gay athletes. Davis currently is doing some work with the NFL. "He looks at everything from all angles and hes not afraid to take on a challenge." The 56-year-old Fisher deflects any praise for being a trailblazer, insisting it was simply a football decision to upgrade one of the NFLs top pass rushes by taking Sam at No. 249. "In our world, nobodys going to agree with what you do 100 per cent of the time because everybody has opinions, and thats fine," Fisher said. "Im concerned about whats going on in the building, with the staff and players, the direction were headed. Thats always been the case." At least on the field, Fisher can relate to the challenge for Sam. He also was a seventh-round pick, the fourth wheel of a star-studded Southern California secondary that featured Ronnie Lott, Dennis Smith and Joey Browner. He then carved out a career playing under Mike Ditka for a Super Bowl winner in Chicago and is entering his 19th season as an NFL head coach. Lott, a Hall of Famer, recalls Fisher smoothly making the switch from wide receiver to cornerback. "To me, its easy to play wide receiver because you know where youre going," Lott said. "Having to react, respond and do it with confidence and knowing youre not going to win every play, thats the mindset on defence. The determination he had then has stayed with him." Not long after Sam came out in February, Fisher said hed have no problem having him on the team, that this was an age of diversity. Turns out it wasnt just talk. Several picks before the Rams took Sam, Fisher broached the subject with owner Stan Kroenke and general manager Les Snead. Ditka said he wasnt surprised it was Fisher who stepped up when every other team was backing away from Sam. Ditka, who once traded all his draft picks to land Ricky Williams, called it a "pretty gutsy move." Players have fallen in lockstep with their coach on the question of picking Sam. Defensive end Chris Long called it a "football move" and so did linebacker James Laurinaitis. "I dont think it was courageous," Laurinaitis said. "I think its a calculated move by the organization. ... If you have the opportunity to draft a guy that you think is extremely productive and maybe you had a higher grade on him than where he is, you go ahead and take that. I think football-wise, it was a very smart decision." Fisher wouldnt say how far Sam slid on the Rams draft board. The coach joked that divulging that information might affect Sams rookie contract. Titans broadcaster Thom Abraham remembers Fisher in 2009 after Tennessees 0-6 start removing his sport coat, tie and shirt at the podium of a civic function to reveal a Peyton Manning jersey underneath. The punch line: "I just wanted to know what it felt like to be a winner." "Picking Sam did not surprise me one bit," Abraham said of Fisher. "Hes confident in his ability to be out front, and almost represent the NFL." Sam has had several off-season workouts and more practices are on tap this week with the veterans. Long said Sam was working hard and former Missouri teammate, receiver T.J. Moe, said the team viewed Sam simply as someone trying to make it in the NFL. "He is on the team. Theres a 90-man roster, it doesnt go 89 and then Michael Sams over there, this is the gay team, this is the straight team," Moe said. "Michael Sam is on this team and hes treated just like anybody else." And if Sam struggles, nobody that knows Fisher well doubts the coach will have any problem cutting him loose. "He doesnt like doing that part of it," said Brad Hopkins, a former Pro Bowl offensive tackle who played his entire NFL career under Fisher. "But he knows it has to be done, and that you cant make everybody happy." Air Max 95 Outlet Online Store . Philippe Desrosiers stopped 42 shots through overtime and three more in the shootout to pick up his third shutout of the season for Rimouski (31-15-7). Zachary Fucale made 28 saves for Halifax (34-17-3) in the loss. Air Max 95 Clearance . -- Stacy Lewis shot 7-under 65 to lead the LPGA Tour team to the championship of the 3Tour Challenge on Tuesday. http://www.cheapairmax95canada.com/ . Bradley is one of eight players selected to the team who also played in this years World Cup in Brazil. The MLS all-stars will compete against German giants Bayern Munich in Portland on Aug. Air Max 95 For Sale Cheap . -- Jacksonville Jaguars rookie receiver Marqise Lee has agreed to terms on a four-year contract worth more than $5 million. Air Max 95 Cheap Sale . - Kobe Bryant and LeBron James traded hugs, big shots and verbal jabs all night with warmth and humour. TORONTO -- Kevin Pillar had a chat with slugger Jose Bautista as they practised their swings shortly before the Toronto Blue Jays took on the Minnesota Twins on Monday night. Bautista offered some words of encouragement for the backup outfielder and told him to be aggressive at the plate. It proved to be sage advice. Pillar hit a one-out flare to right field off Casey Fien that drove in pinch-runner Erik Kratz with the winning run to give the Blue Jays a 5-4 walkoff victory at Rogers Centre. "It was a slider off the plate and I was just able to nestle it in somewhere," Pillar said. "And it feels good." Earlier in the inning, Pillar made a miscue in left field by diving for Kurt Suzukis sinking liner. He couldnt come up with the ball and it rolled by him, allowing the Twins to move within a run. Eduardo Escobar followed with a blooper off closer Casey Janssen that landed just inside the left-field line and brought Suzuki home with the tying run. "Baseball is a weird game," Pillar said. "You get a chance to make up for a mistake that you made maybe in the previous inning or early in the game. I was fortunate enough to make that happen." Edwin Encarnacion had staked Toronto (39-26) to an early lead with a three-run homer in the first inning off Minnesota starter Ricky Nolasco. Jose Reyes added a solo homer in the fifth inning for the Blue Jays, who lead the major leagues with 91 home runs. With the win, the Blue Jays remained 5 1/2 games ahead of second-place Baltimore in the American League East division standings. The Orioles defeated the Boston Red Sox 4-0 Monday. It was Torontos 16th victory in its last 20 games. "Weve been playing good baseball but you still need to win some of those games like that," said Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. "For the longest time, everything has been going our way. Tonight things didnt go our way but we still managed to come out and pull out a nice win." Minnesota (29-33) scored a pair of quick runs off Toronto starter R.A. Dickey before many fans had taken their seats on a glorious spring evening. Danny Santana hit his first career leadoff home run and Brian&nnbsp;Dozier followed with a rainbow shot just inside the foul pole in left field.dddddddddddd Dickey settled down after that, retiring 11 straight batters at one point before Josh Willinghams triple in the sixth inning. The Twins loaded the bases but Dustin McGowan came on and got Trevor Plouffe to ground into a double play to end the threat. Janssen (1-0), who blew his second save of the season, gave up three hits in the ninth inning. With the crowd deflated after the Twins tied the game, Minnesota pitcher Matt Guerrier (0-1) walked Dioner Navarro to open the bottom of the ninth. Kratz came in to pinch-run, moved to second on a Reyes single and then scored with room to spare. "You walk the leadoff guy, you give yourself pretty much a mess and anything can happen after that," said Twins manager Ron Gardenhire. Pillar, who entered the game in the ninth as a defensive replacement for Melky Cabrera, said his defensive miscue was on his mind when he came to the plate. Thinking about his chat with Bautista, Pillar swung and missed the first two times before making contact. "Its a huge roller-coaster of emotions right there," he said. "I guess thats baseball. Theres a lot of ups and downs. You have to find a way to get back centred and deal with the task at hand." Notes: Encarnacion leads the Blue Jays with 20 homers this season. Reyes now has four homers this year. Dozier has 13 home runs while Santana has gone deep twice. ... Dickey allowed five hits, two earned runs, two walks and had three strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings. ... Nolasco allowed seven hits, four earned runs and a pair of walks. He had six strikeouts. ... Morales signed a one-year, prorated contract Sunday. The Cuban slugger hit .277 with 23 homers and 80 RBIs with Seattle last season. ... The Twins have hit four leadoff home runs this season. ... Toronto southpaw J.A. Happ is scheduled to start Tuesday night against right-hander Kevin Correia. ... The teams will wrap up the series Wednesday with an early afternoon game. ... Bautista has reached base safely in 62 of 65 games this season. ... Announced attendance was 19,428. The game took two hours 53 minutes to play. China NFL Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap Basketball Jerseys Online Stitched Hockey Jerseys Wholesale Baseball Jerseys Football Jerseys Outlet College Jerseys For Sale Cheap MLB Jerseys Wholesale Soccer Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys For Sale Wholesale NFL Jerseys ' ' '