Rams report, 7/18: some L.A. stories are happier than others

As hard as it is to believe, training camp is nearly here. Rookies report on Tuesday (!), veterans on Thursday. The first practice open to the public is a week away on the 25th. Let's take one last run at reporting some Rams and alumni off-season news...

* Michael Sam received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPYs Wednesday night in Los Angeles. Some other recipients of that award: Muhammad Ali, Pat Tillman, Nelson Mandela. It had been 12 years since the last time a Ram received ESPN's version of the Oscar. Kurt Warner won the Best Breakthrough Player and Best NFL Player awards in 2000; Marshall Faulk won Best NFL Player in 2001 and 2002.

US Presswire

* Several ex-Rams received mentions in Sports Illustrated's July 7-14 Where Are They Now? issue. There was a feature article on Marcus Dupree, who I did not realize had played for the Rams. The article barely mentions Dupree's days in L.A. (1990 thru training camp of 1992), but it's interesting how he got to the Rams. He went from college to the USFL, but blew out a knee in 1985, ending his career there. The Rams got his rights by drafting him in the 12th round of the 1986 draft. He was out of football for five years when Walter Payton encouraged him to try to get back in shape and try out for the NFL. Dupree dropped 100 pounds in just over three months and had a successful tryout with the Rams, made the team and rushed for 251 yards and a TD in two seasons. Dupree ran for over 100 yards in the final preseason game of '92, but was released in the final roster cutdown and decided to retire. I'll add a link to the article in the dreaded RamView.com reading room in the near future.

* Other former Rams mentioned in the issue: former QB coach Steve Fairchild, now OC at Virginia; and Jerome Bettis and Wayne Gandy, who are among many former pro athletes living in an upscale part of Atlanta. Let me guess what traffic is like in that neighborhood. Bettis climbs Gandy's rear bumper all the time and goes nowhere, while Roy Barker flies right by Gandy coming the other way without having to slow down...

Wikipedia

* In 2014, the receiver-desperate Rams have taken a flier on troubled WR Kenny Britt. After a pretty successful minicamp, Britt will be one of the Rams to watch in training camp. But in 2013, the receiver-desperate Rams also took a flier and signed a troubled WR, Titus Young, who the Lions cut after repeated outbursts believed to have been brought on by mental instability. Young's story hasn't worked out anything at all like Britt's. The Rams cut him barely a week after signing him, and his life continued to spiral rapidly downward. He was arrested on 11 criminal charges, including burglary and assault, in May 2013. After Young failed to show in court to answer to those charges,  the case was delayed so Young could seek medical treatment for his mental illness. Young is not currently in a hospital, though; he is in a Los Angeles jail cell for several counts of assaulting people at the hospital (including his attorney). Detroit Free-Press article Young's father blames a concussion for Titus' problems, but couldn't or wouldn't volunteer anything specific about when and where Titus got it. Whether or not football caused Titus' problems, it sure hasn't done a lot to help him get away from them.

Titus Young had been a subject for us to crack wise about, but this is no longer a tsk-tsk, privileged athlete falling from grace story. It's a sad story. Young's future is not bright. He's not in control of his own actions. He appears to be not just mentally ill, but unsafe to treat. Nobody seems able to treat him right now and the best answer the system has is to lock him up.

* In other bad news for Rams alumni, Rokevious Watkins got a four-game suspension from the league for violating the substance abuse policy. Another downward spiral, twisting harder and picking up speed.

Watkins and Young are both people whose problems are not new. Watkins' problems go all the way back to high school, Young's to at least his college days at Boise State. A lot of people ignored or looked past these problems because of both men's athletic prowess. A lot of people looked at them as football players first and foremost and never looked at them as people who need help, though all the signs were there the whole time they've been in the public eye. Ultimately, neither football nor society have done either one of them a favor.

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