Michael Sam is again walking away from professional football

 

Michael Sam will be leaving the CFL for the second time this year. 

 

One week after playing in his first professional football game, Michael Sam is walking away from the sport for the second time in two months.
Citing mental health concerns, Sam said in an announcement in a Twitter post that he will be leaving the Canadian Football League’s Montreal Alouettes.

Sam made his pro football debut with Montreal last Friday night. In doing so, he became the first openly gay player to play in a CFL game.


Sam, who became the first openly gay player to be drafted into the NFL, left the Alouettes in June for “personal reasons” and was subsequently suspended by the team. Sam, however, returned to the team two weeks later and was reinstated.

Sam’s attempt to become the first openly gay player to play in a regular-season NFL game has not been easy. The team that drafted him, the St. Louis Rams, cut Sam before the the 2014 regular season began, and the Dallas Cowboys, who picked him up shortly after, released him in October after he spent a few weeks playing on their practice squad.