0 we speak to one player who says it will not work and expresses fears over gays in the locker room. and what hillary clinton thought of monica lewinsky. the first lady and the other women, including the one she called a narcissistic looney tune. and kids love giraffes. the question is what on earth convinced this zoo to think kids would love to see this giraffe shot and cut up and fed to lions. we begin tonight with ten words that could change the face of pro football. >> i'm michael sam. i'm a football player. and i'm gay. >> that is missouri all american defensive end michael sam speaking to "the new york times" revealing what his teammates knew and accepted and his parents knew and accepted. he spoke to the times and told them why he went public. >> i want to own my truth. i didn't want anyone to break a story without me telling it. i want to tell it the way i want to tell it. >> now that he has, the reaction in the nfl where he is expected to be a mid to low round draft pick appears to defend on whether that action is by name or not. yesterday the league tweet wed admire michael sam's honesty and courage. michael is a football player. any player with ability and determination can succeed in the nfl. we look forward to welcoming and supporting michael sam in 2014. but on the other hand when allowed to remain anonymous, nfl coaches and executives sold "sports illustrated" a different story. one said that the league isn't ready in the coming decade or two, one doubted the maturity of players in the locker room, something that jonathan vilma echoed in a recent interview. >> i think he would not be accepted as -- as much as we think he would be accepted. i don't want people to assume we're all homophobic. that's not the case. i imagine if he is the guy next to me and i get dressed naked and take a shower and he looks at me. how do i respond? >> another executive said that the press of a gay player would imbalance an nfl locker room chemically to which frank bruni replied in so many words, get over it. it's a locker room, for heaven's sake, not last call at the raw hide. so joining us now only on "ac360" is jonathan vilma. he was talking about being looked at in the shower. thank you so much for joining us. i appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. >> so less than two weeks ago, this was before michael sam's announcement, you said that a gay player would not be accepted as much as we think he would be accepted. why not? >> right. well, i think that you have a gay player as michael sam who has come out. and he has done a tremendous job. it says a lot about his character and who he is as a person. it's a simple change. people are resistant to change at times. and it's not just as simple as coming into a locker room. so my words, it was a poor illustration of the example i was trying to give on the context. i do apologize for that. i was trying to explain that whenever you have change into something that has been set in stone for so long or something that has been going for so long that change always comes with a little resistant. it was a poor choice of an example i used. i do apologize for that. i was trying to explain when you present someone like a michael sam who is extremely confident and a powerful man in himself within his own rights into an nfl culture that is used to one thing will is going to naturally be that first level or wave of resistance before you have the transition. >> what specifically about this change do you think will lead to the resistance? >> yes, because you have many different dynamics within the locker room. you have people that can be more outgoing, more open minded. some people grew up with or without the acceptance of gays within their families. you have a lot of different elements in the locker room that you just don't see right now. many being on the inside for ten years for locker room, i've been around that. it's not to say that the locker rooms are bad. it's to say there will be people who accept it willing and welcome him with open arms and unfortunately there will be some -- i'm 99% sure the minority will say they are not comfortable with that and don't know how to respond to that. that's just what's going to happen within the first whatever, year, two years, you have more players like michael sam coming out and saying that they're gay, the transition will be smoother. >> you talked about the showers. and this is a subject that does come up quite a bit. if i'm named in the shower, what if he looks at me, how am i supposed to react? what is your concern there? >> there is no concern. again, the point i was trying to make or the context i was trying to take it in, i've never been put in that situation. so it's not as simple as anyone saying, well there's nothing wrong with it. i don't see anything wrong with it. you have other players that may and other players that may not. i don't know and the players don't know. this is the first time you have a michael sam who will -- by all accounts be drafted, openly gay, coming to a locker room. knowing in the nfl for the past however many years has experienced this before. this is all new to everybody. >> let's just take you, too, you played ten years, there are 53 players on a team and showered with literally hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of men. >> yes. >> you think none of them have been gay? >> you know, that's a funny thing about it. i look back at my transcript when i was interviewed by andrea cramer and she said that, she said you don't think anyone is gay? of course, odds are 2% or 5% of the locker room is gay. do you think they are look at you? i don't think i'm that good looking, so i don't think they are looking at me. but the facts are no player before michael sam has come out before getting drafted or during his career in the nfl and openly said i am gay. and i'm sticking strictly to that context. >> you say as far as you know -- >> no, as i said, that was a very poor example. that was a poor example on my part which i'm glad i'm able to clarify that. that's a poor example of me trying to show the bigger picture which is the dynamics of the locker room. we're there 12, 13 hours a day and we're around us, men, guys, straight, gay, religious or nonreligious, whatever is it. there is a culture that gets developed. account be a winning culture or a losing culture. for me, as i told andrea cramer in that interview as long as he can play, i'm okay with it. >> what about the locker room culture might make it difficult for a gay athlete or a michael sam? >> well the culture in the locker room, i don't think would make it difficult for a guy like michael sam. again, michael sam, you can tell is comfortable and confident in himself and a very good football player. there is nothing for him to be worried about. he is going to step in and he's going to play football. he's going to be a football player. that's what he is. for other guys who are not as strong minded or strong willed as michael sam. they may be timid or there may be times how they don't know how to react or assert themselves. >> i know you went to miami. but missouri is a good school also. and his teammates and coaches, michael sam's coaches knew all season. the s.e.c. is a good conference. it's almost like pro football. if he can succeed in a season playing in the s.e.c., why on earth couldn't he success playing in the nfl? >> i believe he will succeed playing in the nfl. i think that he's going to do very well. again, you have -- of course we look at the football player. but you look at him as a person and his character and for him to be as strong as he is and strong minded as he is, he is a leader. those are all pluses for him. you have gms and scouts looking a it him. and he can play football. >> i want to bring in a slightly different perspective here. former punter chris kluwe who is an ambassador for the lgbt group. you have been an outspoken supporter of same-sex marriage. you have spoken out for gay rights in the nfl and also said it may have cost you your job in the nfl. so, i want to ask you to look at this from that perspective right. there you have been supportive of michael sam. if you think you were run out of the nfl because of your support of same-sex marriage, don't you think it will be tough for a gay football player. >> there will be people who don't get it and don't understand why you should not discriminate. but i think that is the minority. it may be a vocal minority. but everything i have seen in the last eight years i've been in the league it has been shifting to more tolerance and accepted. and i think the issue is with the coaches and the executives. you have the older guard, this elder generation way of looking at things and don't understand that a football player goes out to play football and in the locker room we are around each other the entire day and see each other more than our own families. we'll be fine as players. it's not the players you have to worry about. it's the coaches and front office. >> that "sports illustrated" article quotes personnel managers who have concerns and don't think that michael sam will fit in. cbs their sports commentary online says his draft prospects have dropped 70 slots overnight because of this new information. do you think this hurts his prospects in the nfl? >> i think it does and i think it's unfortunate that's the case. it shouldn't hurt his prospects what he is. everyone has freedom to pursue his own life. michael sam wants to be a football player. it shouldn't matter what his sexuality is. it's unfortunate that we are still in that transition process where it probably will hurt his draft status but he is making a key step forward so in the future it won't hurt other guys' draft status. they be able to be openly gay and it won't be a story. >> jonathan says things are changing over the last several years. your words seem to have changed over the last few weeks. as a captain, what would you say to your teammates were michael sam drafted by the saints? >> there is nothing to say. the first thing that matters is can he play football? when he steps into the locker room and on the field, my concern is getting him lined up and making sure that he knows the call and can go out there and play football. and he can play to our ability or our expectations. so for me as a captain, it's really about holding everybody accountable to the level that we said. i think that the saints have done a good job holding players to a standard. we have had some good runs in the playoffs these last four, five years. and it's about keeping the culture where it is. it's worried about production on the field. the white noise, anything not concerned with football throughout the season. so we would take an easy backseat to worrying about is michael sam gay or not gay, whatever the situation is. we know he is gay, is he a good player? we will find out. >> thank you so much for being with us tonight. >> thank you. up next for us, what did hillary clinton think of monica lewinsky, really? at the time? and her husband's motivation for having an affair with lewinsky. see what forgotten papers reveal. it's the circle of life. why did a zoo have to make it a show for the kiddies. and what made them sacrifice a healthy giraffe in the process? we'll be joined by jack hanna, who is furious. aflac. ♪ aflac, aflac, aflac! ♪ [ both sigh ] ♪ ugh! ♪ you told me he was good, dude. yeah he stinks at golf. but he was great at getting my claim paid fast. how fast? mine got paid in 4 days. wow. that's awesome. is that legal? big fat no. 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