Shiyazh Pete's NFL debut with the Dallas Cowboys was brief.

But it gave fellow Navajo citizens a moment to remember.

The rookie offensive lineman played a preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals in August.

Thousands of fans from across the Navajo Nation cheered and waved tribal flags.

Pete played just six snaps and returned to the sideline to a standing ovation.

He was the first member of the Navajo Nation to sign with an NFL team.

The Cowboys have since waived Pete, and he is now a free agent.

He has returned home to the Navajo Nation, where he is thanking fans.

He is also looking for his next NFL opportunity.

He surprised students at his alma mater, Shiprock High School, at their homecoming pep rally.

He also served as grand marshal of the Northern Navajo Nation Fair Parade.

On Monday, he will meet and greet fans at an Indigenous Peoples Day event in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Pete joins a long list of Native athletes who have broken barriers in sports.

Many of them have become role models for Native children.

Jim Thorpe, of the Sac and Fox Nation, won the decathlon and pentathlon at the 1912 Olympics.

He also played professional baseball and football.

Louis Tewanima, Thorpe's Carlisle teammate, took second in the 10,000 meters at the 1912 Olympics.

Duke Kahanamoku, a Native Hawaiian swimmer, helped make surfing known worldwide.

Marathoner Ellison Myers "Tarzan" Brown won the Boston Marathon in 1936 and 1939.

Billy Mills, an Oglala Lakota runner, won Olympic gold in the 10-kilometer run in 1964.

Patti Catalano Dillon, of Mi'kmaw descent, was the first American woman to finish a marathon under 2 hours, 30 minutes.

Ryneldi Becenti was the first Native American WNBA athlete, playing for the Phoenix Mercury in 1997.

Aaliyah Nye, of the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi, joined the WNBA in 2025.

Golfer Notah Begay III, who has Navajo, San Felipe and Isleta heritage, won four PGA Tour events in 1999 and 2000.