Required Reading & Gridiron Greats

I've started a Required Reading section on the main page to highlight articles
that are worth everyone's time and attention, whether or not they're about
the Rams specifically.

The first entry is Matt Crossman's sobering article in last week's Sporting News
about ex-players who will never fully recover from the effects of concussions
suffered throughout their careers. I hope the article will inspire everyone to
think twice when they see that big hit during a game or hear someone argue
that the officials aren't "letting them play" out there.

The published article also had a subarticle about Gridiron Greats, which has been in the news lately
thanks a lot to Mike Ditka's public efforts and Congressional testimony, along with NFLPA executive
director Gene Upshaw's threat to break some of their necks. Rather than inspiring that sort of
action, I hope reading the Sporting News article will inspire everyone to make a donation, as it
has for me.

Audio enhancements

Audio of some of the biggest plays of the 2006 season is now
in some of the recaps, ripped from the radio broadcast.

Specifically:
Week 6 vs. Seattle, late bomb to Torry Holt for juggling TD catch
Week 15 vs. Washington, Steven Jackson 64-yard TD reception
Week 16 at Minnesota, Steven Jackson 59-yard TD run

And don't miss Jim Hanifan's legendary "I got a cramp!" call.
Week 3 at Arizona, Kurt Warner's fumble.

Torry's TD is >400k, maybe not the best for dialup. The others
are 100-200k.

I'd like to have audio for the big plays on the site going forward,
but don't have much going backward. When I ever get 1999 up,
the playoffs and Super Bowl pages will get some audio for sure.

Where's Tony Horne been?

Reading the PFW CFL preview (see last post) reminded me that I never
did figure out Tony Horne's current whereabouts. I previously found that
he had been in the CFL on Montreal's roster as recently as 2004, but
found nothing on him since then.

Till now. A Google search on "Tony Horne CFL" reveals what appears to
be a February press release by his agent. The link is essentially dead,
but Google still has the cached text. Tony turned 31 in March, or 2.5
years older than Dante Hall.

Excerpts:

West Palm Beach, FL February 8, 2007 --
... NFL free agents Tony Horne (wide receiver/returner, Clemson) and Charles Howard (defensive tackle/Florida State) are currently working out for NFL teams. Both expect to compete this upcoming training camp for roster spots.

Tony Horne (5-10, 175 pounds) played for the St. Louis Rams and Kansas City Chiefs from 1998-2003. Most recently, he played in the CFL. Horne is only 30 years old and through extensive training has regained the speed made him a valuable member of the world champion 1999 St. Louis Rams.

...Horne and Howard are each represented by Rule Management Group, LLC. For more information, please contact:

Lawrence S. Rule, Jr.
Rule Management Group, LLC
NFLPA & CFLPA CONTRACT ADVISOR
222 Lakeview Avenue # 160-304
West Palm Beach, Fla. 33401
Phone: 561-389-5652

"Regained the speed", huh?

Former Rams in CFL

Seen while perusing PFW's CFL preview:

Joffrey Reynolds' CFL career is off to a heck of a good start. He rushed for 1,541 yards
for Calgary last year, gaining nearly 6 yards a carry. He also nearly topped the 2,000-yard
total rushing and receiving (1,942). He's the CFL's Marshall Faulk right now! (He does
get 18 games a season vs. 16, though.) Joffrey's the centerpiece of a potent offense,
but his Stampeders need to improve a lot on their 2-7 road record last year if they're
to challenge the Grey Cup-favorite B.C. Lions.

Fred Russell has signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. With all respect to the
190,000 fine citizens of Regina, Fred must really love football to be playing it in
Saskatchewan. Go Fred.

Last and certainly least, Eric Crouch will be trying to beat out 44-year-old Damon Allen,
Mike McMahon and former K-State star Michael Bishop at QB for the Toronto Argonauts.
Hey, somebody's gotta fill Spurgeon Wynn's shoes! McMahon figures to keep Crouch buried
at third-string like last year, when Eric completed 6-of-13 for 127 yards. Interestingly, one
of those was a 94-yarder that was not a TD. (Love that 110-yard field.) Leave that out
and Crouch was 5-12-33. Plus a pick. I doubt Bishop would do any worse than that, but
the Argos have used him exclusively as a goal-line rushing QB.

Wow, the Rams once used a third-round pick on a guy whose pro football career will top out
at third-string QB for the Toronto Argonauts.

Manu schooling Gates?

So says the June 18 Sporting News...
"Pro Bowl TE Antonio Gates has become a better blocker
by observing [Brandon] Manumaleuna..."

My God, how bad a blocker must Gates be?

Looking to Manu to become a better blocker is a little like
looking to Lindsay Lohan to learn how to get sober.

Charger opponents... blitz at will!

Stop the madness...

...also known as speculating the Rams are interested in trading for Daunte Culpepper.
nfl.com's reporting it; espn.com's reporting it. I don't care if Scott Linehan used to
coach Daunte or not, this is just a stupid idea, and the sporting press is dumb for
thinking it up.

I have seen several columns over the past year ranking all the teams at QB. Not just
the starters, all the QBs on the roster. The Rams, with Pro Bowler Marc Bulger, veteran
and experienced starter Gus Frerotte, and Ryan Fitzpatrick, are consistently ranked near the
top of the league in these columns, because Bulger is a top QB, and Frerotte is a starter-
quality backup capable of taking over the show quickly if needed. Most teams don't have
a QB situation anywhere near this stable or capable. The Rams should be ranked at the top
of the league at QB.

What the hell is Daunte Culpepper going to bring them? He'd be the 3rd-best QB here;
think he'd take well to pre-season 4th-quarter cleanup work, Adam Schefter? What, maybe
Gus is too old, Bulger needs a younger backup? OK, but Culpepper would be extremely cost-
inefficient, and his presence unnecessarily creates the franchise-killer of all franchise-killers:
a quarterback controversy. And it would be an awful move with Bulger in the last year of
his contract. How much faith would that show in Marc? None.

I would think Oakland or Cleveland are FAR more logical candidates for Culpepper, who is
likely to be cut this weekend anyway and wouldn't have to be traded for. John Clayton
blogs that it should be Baltimore. Schefter also mentions Jacksonville, Detroit and New England.
I'm not sure I understand any of those ideas, either. Pat Kirwan's on board with Balt or Jax.
Cleveland's supposed to be installing a vertical offense, Frye and Anderson aren't very good
(hence, Brady Quinn); they could use Culpepper's big arm for a couple of years until Quinn is
ready to take over. That's my logic, anyway.

Makes a lot more sense than speculating Daunte will be picked up by the Rams. Speculation won't
be helped by the Rams acquiring a 6th-rounder today for Jimmy Kennedy, which is rumored to be
Miami's asking price for Daunte.

But it's still a stupid idea.

The Jimmy Kennedy era is over

Jimmy Kennedy's spot in Rams' lore as one of the team's biggest draft busts
ever is secure... he was traded to Denver today for a mere 6th-round draft
choice in 2008.

I for one thought the Rams had lucked out when Jimmy fell to them at #12
in the '03 draft. Just about every '03 mock draft considered Kennedy a top-3
or top-5 prospect. He was featured in the Sporting News' pre-draft coverage
with an article that portrayed him as a dominating player, a person who
didn't let success go to his head and would keep working hard to prove himself
in the pros. An elite prospect who kept his head on straight? Sign me up!

Rams Nation wasn't as sold on the pick. With diminished early results from '01 picks
D-Lew and Ryan Pickett, there was a vocal contingent against drafting any DT, top-5
guy or not. Collective hope (mine included) was that DB Marcus Trufant would
be available at #12, but the Seahawks, despite their poor run defense, took Trufant
at 11 and left Kennedy to the Rams. I thought he was a steal and was happy Mike
Martz hadn't blown the pick on QB Kyle Boller, a widely-suspected possibility.

Turns out, the Rams would have been far better off if they had taken the DT who
went at 13, Ty Warren, who I'd thought the Patriots reached pretty hard for. D'oh!
Other players who went that round: Troy Polamalu, Dallas Clark, Nick Barnett,
Nnamdi Asomugha, not to mention Willis McGahee (remember, he was coming off
a blown ACL) and...... Larry Freaking Johnson. (At #27!)

The problem with hindsight is, none of the players listed there would have been
considered good values at #12 at the time. My alternative picks to Kennedy at
#12 would have been Boss Bailey, with the Rams having big problems at LB at
the time, Kwame Harris to try to settle down the Rams' poor RT situtation, or
Polamalu, though I felt at the time that 12 was too high a spot to take him.
Shows what I know/knew. Bailey wasn't even picked until the 2nd round, as
was EJ Henderson, another well-liked LB prospect. The Rams addressed their
LB needs in the 2nd round as well by drafting Pisa Tinoisamoa.

I can't come up with an easy answer to explain why Kennedy was such a
failure here. Some analysis points at him not doing what defensive coaches
were trying to teach him to do technique-wise. Willingness, or non-, to accept
instruction is certainly a big factor in how well a draft pick will pan out, but it
runs contrary to the opinions circulating about Kennedy pre-draft. I can't say
he was lazy, or out of shape, though he did seem happy that Lovie Smith left
for Chicago, because he could play at a heavier weight. Durability wasn't his
strong suit, either, but his injuries didn't seem to be because he was out of
shape. Kennedy wasn't a malcontent, either; he didn't mouth off in the press;
he even had his own radio show here for a while.

Jimmy Kennedy's talent just never translated to on-field success in St. Louis.
I wish him luck in Denver. Maybe he'll find better chemistry with the coaching
staff there. Maybe being traded for basically squat will light a fire in him that
maybe hasn't been burning on the field. He seems like a good guy, but just
someone who didn't pan out here as a player. I wish my lasting memory of
Kennedy was something besides him getting pancaked by 50-pounds-lighter
Kyle Turley last year. Denver revived Gerard Warren; maybe they can make
something happen with Kennedy, especially if he comes to the realization that
it's a two-way street.

Jerametrius Butler released

stltoday.com

It isn't a big surprise that Jerametrius Butler has been cut. He missed the '05
season with a blown knee and basically missed the '06 season in the Haslett/
Linehan doghouse. He hadn't even reported to Rams Park this season; hard
to blame him. He didn't really get a chance to re-prove his worth on the field.

JB was a capable CB prior to his injury, and he didn't seem that far off from
becoming a real shutdown CB. He deserved a fairer shot here, and the Rams
have imo wasted a potential defensive resource.

Although he basically hasn't played in 2 years, I'd think JB will still garner
some interest around the league and get some camp invites at a minimum.
Heck, with former coaches at Chicago and Indy, he could end up on a Super
Bowl team. Detroit is an obvious stop on his itinerary, and don't tell me he
isn't better than Travis Fisher right now. Washington was willing to drop a
big contract on him a few years ago; he'd improve their secondary now at
a much more reasonable price.

Good luck to JB wherever he ends up.