Michael Sam is a Cowboy no more.
The defensive end, who made headlines for being the first openly gay player to be drafted by the NFL, was released from the Dallas Cowboys practice squad on Tuesday.
His short-lived career with the Cowboys began on Sept. 3 after he was cut from the St. Louis Rams.
Sam immediately reacted on Twitter, thanking fans for the support. Sam also spoke of his determination to play in the NFL, thanking Dallas for lessons learned and vowing to "continue to fight for an opportunity to prove that [he] can play every Sunday."
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
During his few short weeks with the team, Sam never made it off the practice squad. But NFL insiders were quick to point out that this was not necessary the end of the road for Sam's professional career.
"Plenty of NFL veterans have been cut multiple times, so there's no reason to think this is the end of the road for Sam. It will be interesting, however, to see if Sam can land on a practice squad during this season," wrote Around the NFL Editor Gregg Rosenthal. "If not, there will likely be a spot for him when rosters expand again in the offseason."