BREAKING Michael Sam has been CUT from St Louis Rams!
Michael Sam, the first openly gay athlete drafted into the NFL, was cut by the St. Louis Rams as the team trimmed its roster ahead of the start of the 2014 season, according to multiple reports. The news emerged on Saturday shortly before the NFL's 4 p.m. ET deadline to finalize rosters and trim them down to 53 players.
At a press conference following the announcement, Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher said that Sam was notified of his release on Saturday, who replied "Thanks for the opportunity." Fisher said the decision to release Sam was "a football decision," and, "I was pulling for him, but it didn't work out." Asked about how Sam's time with the Rams was, Fisher said, "There was no distraction. Mike fit in very, very well. He was fun to be around. No issues."
More from The Associated Press:
The St. Louis Rams have cut Michael Sam, the first openly gay player drafted by an NFL team.
The 7th-round draft pick has been outspoken and confident as his progress was watched as closely as any rookie in the league. He has been cheered by athletes and celebrities. In the end, the defensive end couldn't make a team stocked with pass-rushers.
The news was first reported by ESPN.
Sam still has a chance to get picked up by another team or to make the Rams' practice squad.
On Saturday, he attended Missouri's opener in Columbia, a 1 1/2-hour drive west on I-70 from Rams Park. He was introduced to the crowd at the cut down deadline in the end zone alongside defensive E.J. Gaines, a sixth-round pick who made the team.
Sam blew a kiss and waved to the crowd, then walked back to the sideline. He posed for a few pictures then started looking at his phone and headed for the locker room.
The Rams selected Sam, the SEC co-defensive player of the year at Missouri, with the 249th overall pick out of 256 overall during May's draft. Sam came out following his final season at Missouri.
Rams coach Jeff Fisher was proud to have made the landmark pick, but he made clear from the start that he chose Sam because he thought he had the talent to make it.
The Rams selected Sam, the SEC co-defensive player of the year at Missouri, with the 249th overall pick out of 256 overall. He kissed his boyfriend as a national television audience looked on, and arrived brimming with confidence and with a quick retort for anyone who contended he was in the NFL only because he came out.
The Rams drafted Sam even though they didn't need help at defensive end, where they have a pair of first-round picks as starters. The Rams were so well-stocked with picks, taking 11 players overall, they had leeway to take a shot. Fisher said Sam's value as a player "was off the charts."
"I'm determined to be great," Sam said at his introductory news conference, packed with reporters. "I understand that right now you guys want to make a big deal of it."
From the start, teammates seemed to like having Sam around. His energy was infectious and, if there were problems, they stayed behind closed doors. Publicly, Sam was just another late-round pick trying to make the Rams, which, like other NFL teams, held sensitivity training early in camp. The Oprah Winfrey Network put off a planned documentary on Sam, saying it would allow him to focus on his dream of making the team.
At one point, Sam's Rams jersey was the No. 2 seller among rookies at NFLShop.com, trailing only Cleveland's Johnny Manziel, and Sam was among just 10 draftees selected by the NFL to be featured on commemorative coins. Sam headed to the ESPY Awards to pick up the Arthur Ashe Courage award. He got a hug from Hall of Famer Jim Brown on his way to the stage and fought back tears throughout his speech.
"Great things can happen when you have the courage to be yourself," he told the audience.
I’m sure he’ll be picked up by an other team!
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