Dallas Cowboys release rookie Shiyazh Pete, first Navajo Nation NFL player

The Dallas Cowboys have released rookie offensive lineman and the first member of the Navajo Nation to sign with an NFL team, Shiyazh Pete, his agent announced on Sunday.

"The Dallas Cowboys are releasing my client Shiyazh Pete (OL, Kentucky). Had a memorable preseason and should get the opportunity to continue developing somewhere this season," Pete's agent Brett Tessler said in a post on X.

Pete made history in his first NFL appearance, when thousands of Navajo Nation members traveled to Arizona to cheer the 23-year-old on, including the nation's president Buu Nygren, who said, "Shiyazh Pete's journey is a powerful example of what hard work, dedication and believing in yourself can accomplish. Every step he takes onto that field carries the pride of his family, his community, and the Navajo Nation. He is showing our young people that no dream is too big and that where you come from can be your greatest source of strength. Shiyazh is not only competing for a place in the NFL. He is representing our Diné people with humility, courage and determination. We are incredibly proud of him, and we will continue to stand behind him and cheer him on every step of the way."

"It's hard to find the words to describe it," Pete said after the game. "English probably isn't the language I'd use to describe it in, but 'hózhó [walking in beauty]."

"Fate brought us here as strangers, but this game, this star, this team will make us brothers," he said in a post-game locker room speech that went viral.

Tessler did not say what Pete's next steps would be or if he has spoken with other teams.