The St. Louis Rams released defensive end Michael Sam on Saturday afternoon.
He survived the first round of roster cuts, but Sam’s efforts to become the first openly gay player in NFL history came up short as the Rams conducted a second trim.
Sam was officially waived Saturday at 3 p.m. CST – when all NFL teams had to trim their rosters down to the league-mandated 53 players. From there, the other 31 teams will have 24 hours to put in a claim for Sam.
Sam was a seventh-round draft pick, No. 249 overall.
In Thursday night’s preseason finale against Miami, Sam finished his preseason work with a team-high six tackles.
Teams can begin signing players waived in the final round of cuts after the waiver period ends Sunday.
