The Rams drafting Michael Sam to avoid ‘Hard Knocks’ in 2014 is ridiculous

It’s been almost two years since the St. Louis Rams selected defensive end Michael Sam in the seventh round of the 2014 draft. Why you must be asking is this article about Michael Sam if he is no longer with the Rams? Well a silly report  has hit the news following the Rams agreement to become this years Hard Knocks team. Howard Balzer reported the news via social media that the NFL agreed not to have Rams on Hard Knocks in 2014 if they drafted Michael Sam. 

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Let’s take a look back when the Rams did draft Mr. Sam. At the time, the Rams were on the top of the world because they drafted the first openly gay player in the National Football League. Sam was the SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year in 2013, and it was a solid pick for the Rams as they looked to beef up the D-line. However It turns out, according to multiple sources, that the league agreed to not let the Rams be in conversation for Hard Knocks if they drafted Michael Sam.

Two years later, now the Rams are relocating back to Los Angeles, and as the annual league meeting closed Wednesday, the NFL revealed that the Los Angeles Rams will be the next team up for the popular HBO Show.

It’s not a surprise at all from the league, as the Rams and the league will both get more publicity with the ability to showcase Los Angeles. This report came out days after the Rams were chosen to be on the show. Head Coach Jeff Fisher quickly saw the ridiculous report and had to get the right answer out to the football world.

Fisher, appearing on the ESPN  “Mike & Mike” radio show, and said the report regarding Sam was “absolutely absurd.”

"“It’s 100% incorrect,” Fisher said. “I was really taken aback by those comments. It’s insulting, from my standpoint, as it relates to Michael."

"“We had three seventh-round picks. We drafted Michael, he was the best player on the board. Who in their right mind would think that you give up a draft choice to avoid doing something like that, something that I think that would benefit the organization?”"

The Rams cut Sam the same year he was drafted but he later signed with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League. He left the team in 2015.

According to Howard Blazer of the “590 The Fan” website in St. Louis, his source is unnamed and the NFL really has not said anything about it either. It’s very weird that Blazer would bring this up right after the annual NFL Meeting, and his unnamed source needs to become a named source if this is truly real. The Rams were already planning to decline any hard knocks show in 2014, and I don’t see them being that desperate to not be on the show than and waste a 7th round pick.

Right now, with “one source” coming out saying this is real, and just the fact it’s from a St. Louis website does not fully mean this report is 100 % correct. Now I could be wrong and Blazer could be right, but as of right now, it’s a false report. If more people especially from the Rams organization who were in the Draft room and heard about this, then the Rams might be in some trouble. But for now, just a little a drama to add onto the Rams off-season.