For the time being, Michael Sam will be putting football aside.
This was after Sam announced that he would be stepping away from the game for the meantime, saying that the last 12 months were pretty difficult for him and that he was concerned about his mental health.
His departure was confirmed by Canadian club Montreal Alouettes, saying that Sam had indeed left the organization.
Sam was the first openly gay player to be drafted in the NFL. He was initially drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the seventh round of the 2014 NFL Draft but was released in August 2014. The Alouettes picked up Sam in May of this year.
He debuted for the team last August 7, when the Alouettes bowed to the Ottawa Redbacks.
It remains to be seen if the "personal reasons" cited by Sam had something to do with his reported split with Vito Cammisano.
In a post made here last month, we did report about Sam and Cammisano's alleged breakup after a six-month engagement.
The two became popular for that celebrated same-sex kiss back in 2014, moments after Sam was drafted by the Rams. They went through rough times in the course of their relationship and such is seen as the reason for the split.
Ever since the rumored end of their romance, Sam just wasn’t the same. He had missed a large chunk of training camp, including the Alouettes season-opener last June 12, 2015.
According to a report from the Montreal Gazette, head coach Tom Higgins had planned to field in Sam again in their game against the Edmonton Eskimos. All that didn’t materialize, however, after Sam limped off the field, which would later on be revealed as a back injury.
Sam was not around during the Alouettes match with the Eskimos and coach Higgins revealed that he was unaware of Sam’s whereabouts. But he later on added that since Sam was on the injured list, it was not mandatory for him to be on the sidelines.
And apparently, the situation has led to Sam quitting football, at least for now, as he deals with personal issues.
“We support him, thank him for his hard work and wish him well. The young man has had a lot of pressure for a while. He will bounce back” team general manager Jim Popp was quoted as saying.
Though it remains to be seen what lies ahead for Sam and the Alouettes, the defensive end player has been placed on the team’s suspended list for now according to an official team statement.