--- title: Michael Sam Signs With Montreal Alouettes in Canadian Football League description: He was the first openly gay player to be picked in the NFL draft canonical: https://time.com/3894222/michael-sam-signs-canadian-football-league/ author: Victor Luckerson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-22T15:31:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:59:11.099Z article:section: Sports og:title: Michael Sam Signs With Canadian Football League Team og:description: He was the first openly gay player to be picked in the NFL draft og:url: https://time.com/3894222/michael-sam-signs-canadian-football-league/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltec5a326de15d4b55/69885159cd6848b99b09fffc/michael-sam.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1872 og:image:height: 1053 og:image:alt: Defensive End Michael Sam, from Missouri, arrives before the NFL Super Regional Combine football workout on March 22, 2015 in Tempe, Ariz. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Michael Sam Signs With Canadian Football League Team twitter:description: He was the first openly gay player to be picked in the NFL draft twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltec5a326de15d4b55/69885159cd6848b99b09fffc/michael-sam.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Michael Sam Signs With Canadian Football League Team > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## Video: Wearing a Weapon: The Football Helmet's Dangerous Evolution [Watch (HLS stream): Wearing a Weapon: The Football Helmet's Dangerous Evolution](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ArcR8sPL.m3u8) (2:19)  _Published 2015-01-28. The history of how helmets arrived on the football field_ by [Victor Luckerson](https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson May 22, 2015 3:31 PM UTC  Defensive End Michael Sam, from Missouri, arrives before the NFL Super Regional Combine football workout on March 22, 2015 in Tempe, Ariz. Defensive End Michael Sam, from Missouri, arrives before the NFL Super Regional Combine football workout on March 22, 2015 in Tempe, Ariz. Rick Scuteri—AP by [Victor Luckerson](https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson May 22, 2015 3:31 PM UTC Former NFL player Michael Sam has joined the Canadian Football League. The defensive end has signed with the Montreal Alouettes to a two-year deal, the team announced Friday. Sam, a former star college player for the Missouri Tigers, struggled during his NFL rookie season in 2014\. After being picked in the seventh round of the draft by the St. Louis Rams, he was released by the team in August and picked up by the Dallas Cowboys for their practice squad. The Cowboys released Sam in October. Sam garnered global headlines last year as the first openly gay player to be picked in the NFL draft. **_Read Next_**_:_ [_U.S. Ranks Worst in Sports Homophobia Study_](http://time.com/3852611/sports-homophobia-study/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3894222/michael-sam-signs-canadian-football-league/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3894222/michael-sam-signs-canadian-football-league/"},"headline":"Michael Sam Signs With Canadian Football League Team","datePublished":"2015-05-22T15:31:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:59:11.099Z","description":"Former player for Rams and Cowboys heads north","url":"https://time.com/3894222/michael-sam-signs-canadian-football-league/","keywords":["Football","Michael Sam"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltec5a326de15d4b55/69885159cd6848b99b09fffc/michael-sam.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Victor Luckerson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltec5a326de15d4b55/69885159cd6848b99b09fffc/michael-sam.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Defensive End Michael Sam, from Missouri, arrives before the NFL Super Regional Combine football workout on March 22, 2015 in Tempe, Ariz.","caption":"Defensive End Michael Sam, from Missouri, arrives before the NFL Super Regional Combine football workout on March 22, 2015 in Tempe, Ariz.","creditText":"Rick Scuteri—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/football/","name":"Football"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3894222/michael-sam-signs-canadian-football-league/","name":"Michael Sam Signs With Canadian Football League Team"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Wearing a Weapon: The Football Helmet's Dangerous Evolution","description":"The history of how helmets arrived on the football field","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ArcR8sPL/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-01-28T20:10:52.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ArcR8sPL.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3894222/michael-sam-signs-canadian-football-league/","duration":"PT2M19S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3894222/michael-sam-signs-canadian-football-league/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```