Michael Sam Signs with the Dallas Cowboys

Michael Sam, the first openly gay player in the NFL, has signed with the Dallas Cowboys just four days after being let go from the St. Louis Rams, ESPN reports.

Cowboys coach Jason Garrett called signing Sam "a good move for our football team right now," during a news conference Wednesday. "We're bringing a player in we wanted to see on the practice field and got nothing but good reports about him from our people and the people in St. Louis," Garrett said. "We just want to give him a chance to come in and see if he can help our football team."

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Sam, 24, had three sacks in the preseason for the St. Louis Rams but was cut on Saturday when the team had to reduce the number of players on its roster to the mandated 53 players. Prior to that, Sam was last year's Southern Eastern Conference co-defensive player of the year when he played for Missouri.

Despite the circumstances surrounding his sudden team change, Sam expressed his excitement about becoming a Cowboy via his Twitter account. "As a kid growing up in Texas I always loved the Dallas Cowboys, so to join this incredible organization is really a dream come true. I want to thank the Jones family, the entire Cowboys organization, and the city of Dallas for giving me this opportunity," he wrote. " I look forward to putting my helmet and pads on every day to work my hardest to help bring a sixth Super Bowl Championship to Dallas!!"

Sam first came out as gay in February. He was set to star in an OWN docu-series chronicling his experience as the NFL's first openly gay athlete, but the project was postponed in May so that Sam could have "total focus on football" and so that filming would not cause a distraction for Sam or his teammates.

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