Michael Sam is one of GQ Men Of The Year!!
Michael Sam, the NFL's first openly gay player, has been named one of GQ's Men Of The Year as it emerges he could be recruited into the Arena Football League by Mötley Crüe front man Vince Neil.
Sam, 24, made history this year when he was drafted into the NFL's St Louis Rams after publicly revealing he is gay.
But he has yet to play a regular season game as he was dropped by the Rams in August, snapped up by the Dallas Cowboys days later, only to be dropped again in October, having never made it out of the practice squad.
The move to Neil's newly-formed Las Vegas Outlaws would be widely recognized as a step down for the defensive end, who many analysts expected to be offered a contract in the Canadian Football League.
Sam signed his historical contracts as the first 'out' player with the St Louis Rams in May, and then another with the Dallas Cowboys in September, despite a disappointing performance in the NFL Scouting Combine.
His first signing prompted a letter from Barack Obama congratulating the NFL on 'taking an important step forward today in our Nation's journey' by drafting a gay player.
However, his deal was terminated at the end of the preseason.
Sam then joined the Cowboys on September 3, and practiced for seven weeks before being dropped. He was never placed on the 53-man active roster.
The latest potential lifeline for Sam, who has yet to play a regular season game, comes as Mötley Crüe's Neil builds the franchise's first ever squad for their debut season in 2015.
Deemed to be too small to play defensive end in the NFL, the smaller scale of Arena Football could play to Sam's strengths.
The singer told the Las Vegas Review Journal he plans to make the offer in the coming days.
It is unclear whether Sam plans to accept the offer.
Neil's venture was approved by the league on June 17 this year, and had his chosen name, the Outlaws, approved in August.
The squad will play at the Thomas & Mack Center on the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, campus.
Neil follows Jon Bon Jovi, Tim McGraw, and KISS members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley into the indoor league.
Sam was today revealed as one of GQ's Men Of The Year and cover stars.
He came out to his Missouri teammates before his senior season in August 2013, when he had 11 1/2 sacks.
He told his father and the rest of the world three months before the May draft.
When he was dropped by the Cowboys, Sam thanked the family of owner Jerry Jones on Twitter, along with 'friends, family, teammates, 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 opportunity to prove that I can play every Sunday,' Sam wrote.
The signing of Sam by the Cowboys brought an overflow crowd to coach Jason Garrett's daily news conference, and he was surrounded by about two dozen reporters in the only interview he conducted on the same day.
But he mostly blended in after that, making occasional appearances in the locker room when it was open to the media and earning praise from Garrett and defensive coordinator and defensive line coach Rod Marinelli the few times they were asked about him.
'Comes to work every day and practices hard,' Garrett said.
'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.'
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