--- description: He was the first openly gay player to be picked in the NFL draft title: Michael Sam Signs With Canadian Football League Team image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltec5a326de15d4b55/69885159cd6848b99b09fffc/michael-sam.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Sports](/section/sports/) ## Sports Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Football](/tag/football/) ## Football Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Michael Sam Signs With Canadian Football League Team by [Victor Luckerson](/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 22, 2015 3:31 PM CUT  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](/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 22, 2015 3:31 PM CUT 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/ "undefined") ```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":"2026-02-22T07:34:21.323Z","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"}}] ```