Miami Dolphins safety Don Jones has been fined for tweeting "horrible" as the first openly gay NFL player celebrated being drafted by kissing his partner.

Michael Sam (24), who came out in February, was captured on camera receiving the call telling him he had been selected as the 249th pick out of 256.

He broke into tears and began shaking, then he kissed his partner, in a photo widely shared on social media.

Shortly after the St. Louis Rams took Sam, Jones tweeted the remarks "OMG" and "Horrible". It was not clear if he referring directly to the kiss.

The tweets were taken down a short time later and Jones apologised for his comments. The Dolphins said he had been fined an undisclosed amount and will undergo educational training.

"We were disappointed to read Don's tweets" coach Joe Philbin said in a statement.

"They were inappropriate and unacceptable, and we regret the negative impact these comments had on such an important weekend for the NFL".

"We met with Don today about respect, discrimination and judgment. These comments are not consistent with the values and standards of our programme".

The Dolphins were engulfed in a locker-room bullying scandal last year that embarrassed the NFL. A former NFL player, Derrick Ward, also tweeted his "disgust" at the public display of affection.

"National tv is disgusting. Gay or not" he tweeted.

He said he was not a homophobe, tweeting "Even if he kissed a girl I woulda said the same thing".

However, US President Barack Obama sent his congratulations to Sam, calling the player's selection "an important step forward".

He said that from the playing field to the corporate boardroom, gay and lesbian Americans, "prove every day that you should be judged by what you do and not who you are".