Free-agent defensive end Michael Sam has been accepted into the NFL’s veteran combine, reports ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter.

The combine will take place at the Arizona Cardinals training facility in Tempe, Ariz., on March 22 and is open to free agent players who were previously eligible for an NFL draft. The event will only be available to 100 players.

Sam was drafted in the seventh round of the 2014 NFL draft by the St. Louis Rams but was cut at the end of training camp after making three sacks during the preseason. He was signed by the Dallas Cowboys to their practice squad and spent seven weeks with the team before he was released in October.

Sam, the first openly gay football player to be drafted in the NFL, says he can make it on an NFL roster.

[daily_cut.nfl]• One year later, Michael Sam reflects

“I don’t believe that being gay has kept me off an NFL roster, but I will challenge anyone who says I don’t have the talent to make it in the league,” Sam wrote on The MMQB last week.

Sam was recently selected to participate in ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars,” which premieres on March 16.

“Through all the ups and downs, though, I’ve remained focused on getting back on an NFL roster. It’s why I get up early every morning and push myself at the gym, and why I’m looking to participate in the first-ever NFL veterans combine this winter,” he wrote.

- Scooby Axson