Scroll To Top
Sports

Michael Sam Released From Dallas Cowboys, Vows to Fight for Opportunity to 'Play Every Sunday'

Michael Sam Released From Dallas Cowboys, Vows to Fight for Opportunity to 'Play Every Sunday'

Michael_sam_droppedx400

The Cowboys gave the first out gay man drafted in the NFL his walking papers today.

trudestress

Michael Sam has been cut from the Dallas Cowboys practice squad.

Sam, the first openly gay player to be drafted into the National Football league, got his release from the Cowboys today, The Dallas Morning News reports. As a member of the practice squad and not the regular roster, he had not appeared in a game.

Sam was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in May and was cut in August. The Cowboys signed him to the practice squad September 3.

"Questions persisted about how the 6-2, 261-pound Sam fit with the Cowboys," the Morning News reports. The coaches weren't sure he could play defensive end "in a system that places tremendous emphasis on speed and explosiveness," the paper notes.

Sam recently defended his abilities, saying, "Did you not watch my preseason? Did it look like I was slow? Then I'm an end."

Sam, who was an All-American defensive lineman at the University of Missouri, will now "have to make his case with another club," the Morning News reports.

This comes just after reports that Sam's sexual orientation had been a nonissue with the Cowboys, bearing out his wish to be judged only on his playing abilities and putting the lie to speculation that his being gay would be a "distraction."

Indeed, that still appears to be Sam's goal, judging by his tweets sent out immediately after the news of his cut broke:

trudestress
Advocate Channel - The Pride StoreOut / Advocate Magazine - Fellow Travelers & Jamie Lee Curtis

From our Sponsors

Most Popular

Latest Stories

Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.
Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.