Michael Sam, the NFL’s first openly gay football player and a Texas native, was cut today, Aug. 30, in the seventh round of cuts by the St. Louis Rams.
The defensive player for the Rams may still be able to play for the practice team. “In order to place him on their practice squad, they would need to place him on the waiver wire for a day, thus making him available to the league’s other 31 teams,” The Los Angeles Times explains.
But NFL.com reports that “thirty-one other teams now have an opportunity to pluck Sam off waivers over the next 24 hours.”
Rams coach Jeff Fisher said he was pulling for Sam, who got along well with the team, but the decision to cut him was ultimately a “football decision.”
He added “[Sam] has the ability to play someplace. It’s gotta be the right place, it’s gotta be a fit.”
All of the seventh round drafts were cut to reach the maximum of 53 players.
The University of Missouri graduate became the first openly gay NFL player in the final round of drafting for the NFL earlier this year.
