NFL Defensive End, Michael Sam, Cut From St. Louis Rams

Image Credit: Out Magazine/Michael Sam's Instagram (mikeysam52)

Michael Sam, the first openly gay football player drafted into the NFL, was recently cut from the St. Louis Rams on Saturday, August 30. The 24-year-old was a seventh-round draft pick that specialized in the defensive end of the sport. ESPN's NFL Nation reporter Nick Wagoner,who covers the team, released quite a bit of details on the incident.

Nick Wagoner reports:

Sam officially hit waivers Saturday at 4 p.m. ET when all NFL teams had to trim their rosters to the league-mandated 53 players. From there, the other 31 teams will have until noon ET on Sunday to put in a claim for Sam. If he goes unclaimed, he will be free to sign with a practice squad.Ultimately, the Rams decision to cut Michael Sam came down to his football skills. He was good, but nine other defensive lineman were better."There will be no challenge, no challenges whatsoever," for whatever team picks up Sam, Rams coach Jeff Fisher said at a news conference Saturday.

"There's no challenge with respect to Mike Sam. He's not about drawing attention to himself. He kept his head down and worked and you can't ask anything more out of any player for that matter." Fisher repeated over and over that it was purely a football decision."I will tell you this: I was pulling for Mike," he said. "I really was, and I don't say that very often. Mike came in here and did everything we asked him to do."The coach personally delivered the news to all of the cuts, except for Sam, who attended Missouri's opener in Columbia, a 1½-hour drive west on I-70 from Rams Park, and learned via cell phone. 

Michael took to his Twitter account the same day to thank the Rams for the opportunity and hoped for better things to come in the future.

@MichaelSamNFL: I want to thank the entire Rams organization and the city of St. Louis for giving me this tremendous opportunity and allowing me to (1/2)

 

@MichaelSamNFL: show I can play at this level. I look forward to continuing to build on the progress I made here toward a long and successful career (2/2)

 

@MichaelSamNFL: The most worthwhile things in life rarely come easy, this is a lesson I've always known. The journey continues.

— Brittany C. Jackson

Twitter: @xPlatinumChanel