The 24-year-old will have 24 hours to sign with another team.
AP Photo/Lynne Sladky
Michael Sam, the first openly gay player drafted into the NFL, was released from the St. Louis Rams today, the team announced.
ESPN reports that Sam was cut at 4 p.m. Saturday, when the teams had to trim down their rosters to 53 players to comply with league regulations.
Any NFL team is free to sign Sam until noon ET on Sunday. If that doesn't happen, the Rams could sign Sam to their 10-man practice squad. At least one league source has told ESPN that's what the Rams would like to do.
Rams coach Jeff Fisher called the decision to release Sam "a football decision. It was a football decision back in May when we drafted Mike."
By nearly all accounts, Sam performed well throughout training camp and the preseason, but the Rams are particularly deep and talented at defensive end, Sam's natural position. The Rams kept nine players on the defensive line, including undrafted rookie Ethan Westbrooks. That means Sam essentially lost a tight competition with Westbrooks for one of the final spots.
Instead of waiting to learn if he'd made the team, Sam went to his alma mater, the University of Missouri, to attend its season-opening game against South Dakota State.
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Sam later thanked the Rams for the opportunity in a series of tweets sent about an hour after he was reportedly released.