St. Louis Rams Cut Michael Sam

The St. Louis Rams released Michael Sam today in the final cut before the official season begins. ESPN reports:

Sam's efforts to become the first openly gay player in NFL history came up just short in a competition against undrafted rookie Ethan Westbrooks. Westbrooks is one of nine defensive linemen to land a roster spot. Sam officially hit waivers Saturday at 4 p.m. ET when all NFL teams had to trim their rosters down 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. According to one league source, the Rams would like to bring Sam back to their 10-man practice squad. "There will be no challenge, no challenges whatsoever," for whatever team picks up Sam, Rams coach Jeff Fisher said at a news conference. "There's no challenge with respect to Mike Sam," Fisher said. "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."

More from the Washington Post:

Now that Michael Sam has been released by the St. Louis Rams, failing to make their season-opening 53-man roster, the question becomes: What’s next for him? It appears that, following a productive preseason, he will have a home in the NFL, although it’s not immediately clear where that will be or what roster status he will have. The most likely outcome, according to people throughout the league, is that Sam ends up right back where he started and is re-signed by the Rams to their 10-member practice squad, making him eligible to practice with the team — and continue to try to develop into an NFL-ready player — but not play in games. That’s if he’s not signed by another team to its roster, which those in and around the league also consider possible.

The celebrating is already underway at Breitbart and Free Republic.

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)
— Michael Sam (@MichaelSamNFL) August 30, 2014

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)
— Michael Sam (@MichaelSamNFL) August 30, 2014

The most worthwhile things in life rarely come easy, this is a lesson I've always known. The journey continues.
— Michael Sam (@MichaelSamNFL) August 30, 2014