March 24, 2016
Longtime NFL reporter and St. Louis radio host Howard Balzer started a rumor stirring that the St. Louis Rams drafted Sam Michael, the NFL's first openly-gay player, to avoid an appearance at on HBO’s “Hard Knocks” series.
In a radio interview with Rams coach Jeff Fisher, Blazer brought it up, citing multiple unnamed sources.
According to the New York Post's report on the interview, Fisher adamantly denied the claim:
“That in itself is absolutely absurd, it’s 100 percent incorrect. 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. When 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?”
Sam, on the other hand, feels differently, according to his tweet:
I'm not surprised at all https://t.co/wGnyFpuIVP
— Michael Sam (@MichaelSamNFL) March 23, 2016
Read the full New York Post article here.
