Michael Sam, the first openly gay player in the NFL, was waived off the Dallas Cowboys practice squad the team announced today via their website.
Sam originally entered the league as a seventh-round draft pick of the St. Louis Rams. He spent offseason and training camp with the Rams before being released and subsequently signed to the Cowboys' practice squad on September 3rd.
Coach Jason Garrett had recently praised Sam's work in practice.
"Comes to work every day and practices hard," Garrett said, according to ESPN. "One of 10 practice roster guys that we have, so he's working on his skills, trying to develop, but also doing a lot of other things. Playing offense, defense, playing the kicking game, that's what a lot of those guys do."
Sam spent the first seven week of the season on the practice squad and never made it onto the 53-man roster.
Sam took to Twitter to express his gratitude to the Cowboys organization.
I want to thank the Jones family and the entire Cowboys organization for this opportunity, as well as my friends, family, teammates, (1/3)
— Michael Sam (@MichaelSamNFL) October 21, 2014
and fans for their support. While this is disappointing, I will take the lessons I learned here in Dallas and continue to fight for an (2/3) — Michael Sam (@MichaelSamNFL) October 21, 2014
opportunity to prove that I can play every Sunday. (3/3)
— Michael Sam (@MichaelSamNFL) October 21, 2014
