MIAMI GARDENS, FL – AUGUST 28: Defensive end Michael Sam #96 of the St. Louis Rams stands between plays in the second quarter of play against Miami Dolphins at Sun Life Stadium on August 28, 2014 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Marc Serota/Getty Images)

This could almost be a punchline. How badly did the St. Louis Rams not want to be on HBO’s Hard Knocks?

If reports are accurate, the Rams were willing to draft a player solely to avoid being on the show. Or at least the team was willing to do a favor for the NFL. By doing so, the league avoided a potential public relations debacle that would have resulted from an openly gay player not be one of the 256 amateurs selected in the NFL Draft.

According to veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer, St. Louis agreed to draft Missouri defensive end Michael Sam and in return would not have to be the team featured on HBO’s miniseries following a NFL training camp.

The NFL has the option of picking a team for Hard Knocks if it hasn’t been on the show for 10 years, isn’t working with a new head coach or hasn’t made the playoffs during the past two seasons. The Rams checked off all those criteria.

In an article he wrote for St. Louis’ 590 The Fan, Balzer added that the NFL saw the Rams as an ideal destination for Sam because of their proximity to the University of Missouri campus, 90 miles away. Additionally, coach Jeff Fisher was viewed as an experienced head coach who could deal with whatever distractions might ensure from Sam’s presence at training camp.

Furthermore, Balzer speculates that the league might have stepped in to prevent teams from drafting a defensive end the Rams targeted for the seventh-round selection that was used on Sam. Ethan Westbrooks went undrafted and St. Louis was able to sign him as a free agent.

Sam himself chimed in on Twitter after Balzer’s report.

It’s a bit unclear as to what Sam actually means. Is he not surprised that the NFL asked the Rams to select him (and maybe his experience with the team confirms that), and that he was something of a PR tool? Or is he not surprised that Balzer would report news like this?

Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio takes Balzer’s speculation even further, wondering if Hard Knocks became a step for the Rams to return a favor to the NFL. Doing the show this season after the team moved back to Los Angeles may have been part of the deal in the Rams getting approval from the league for relocation. Perhaps the Rams playing a 2018 regular season game in China was also something the team agreed to in return for smoothing the move to Los Angeles. That is some juicy conspiracy theorizing.

For what it’s worth, Paul Pabst, executive producer of The Dan Patrick Show tweeted a link to Fisher’s 2014 appearance on the program, during which he denied that the NFL had made any suggestions that the team draft Sam. Here’s that full interview:

UPDATE: Sam clarified his remark to The Dan Patrick Show on Thursday with the following, as tweeted by executive producer Paul Pabst:

“Not surprised that the NFL had a deal with the Rams. Makes sense to me why they cut me and not Ethan Westbrooks even though I out preformed him in our production. Makes sense why Coach Fisher was very vague the day he cut me from the team.”

Additionally, Fisher called into Thursday’s show to dispute Balzer’s report.

[Larry Brown Sports]

About Ian Casselberry

Ian is a writer, editor, and podcaster. You can find his work at Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He's written for Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation.