Michael Sam (Photo Credit: G.J. McCarthy/The Dallas Morning News)
The Dallas Cowboys have cut defensive end Michael Sam from their practice squad. Sam was a consensus All-American and the Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Year as a senior. After completing his 4-year college football career at University of Missouri, Sam came out as gay. In the seventh round of the 2014 NFL Draft, The Saint Louis Rams picked Michael Sam which lead to a the most talked about kiss since the Britney Spears and Madonna kiss at the MTV VMA‘s in 2004. Michael Sam was the 249th overall pick, but the first publicly gay player to be drafted in the league.
At the end of training camp, Michael Sam was cut from the Saint Louis Rams. It seemed like it was a temporary setback because in September, The Dallas Cowboys picked up Michael Sam, but for their practice squad.
Today on Twitter, Michael Sam expressed his gratitude to the team and the Jones family for the opportunity.
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
The move is surprising since previously, Michael Sam’s work on the practice squad was praised by Dallas Cowboys Coach Jason Garrett. “[He] comes to work every day and practices hard.” “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.”
Earlier this summer, ESPN reported that Sam was not a serious contender for the active team roster. To us, it seems like more than anything the Cowboys used him as a publicity stunt to attract attention to themselves. What a shame to let an amazing talent go!