Fox's Brian Kilmeade: Gay NFL player Michael Sam hurts team like dogfighter Michael Vick

Fox News host Brian Kilmeade this week compared to Michael Sam, the first openly-gay NFL player, to Michael Vick after he was convicted of dogfighting.

On the Wednesday edition of Fox & Friends, Kilmeade pointed out that former coach Tony Dungy had recently come under fire for saying that he would not have drafted Sam because he would have been a distraction.

"Sure, is the distraction bigger than what will occur on field?" co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck explained. "But he's getting slammed. Tony Dungy is getting abused in the media. It's a fact that this story is a big deal in the media. You know, Michael Sam, did he make it a big deal? Who knows?"

Co-host Steve Doocy defended Dungy's right to "express his opinion," and noted that the former coach had been called a hypocrite for helping Vick get his career back on track after he was sentenced to 23 months in federal prison for dogfighting and criminal conspiracy.

Vick and his partners reportedly admitted electrocuting, shooting, hanging, and beating dogs to death if they were not aggressive enough.

"Steve, to your point," Kilmead added. "Michael Vick, coming out of prison, he was a distraction in the locker room because that's a major story every time you walk in."

As Media Matters observed on Wednesday, an ESPN survey found that 86 percent of players in the NFL were not concerned about having a gay teammate.

Watch the video below from Fox News' Fox & Friends , broadcast July 23, 2014.