At Last Jake Long has come along
Our waiting days are over
And life is like a song

Ohh yeah yeah
At Last the skies above are blue
Our hearts as wrapped up in clovers
The night the Rams signed you

…

Ohh yeah yeah…
You smile, you smile
And then the offer was cast
And here we are in football heaven
For you are the Rams’ At Last

(Adapted from “At Last” by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren.)

I had already scheduled my #Whilewaiting4Jake tweet to go out early Monday morning to give Rams Nation an update. After all who in the world gives free agency updates close to midnight CDT? Apparently the “sources” at the NFL owners meeting in Arizona that’s who. Uh, thanks?

Former Miami Dolphin Offensive Tackle Jake Long. (Courtesy STLouisRams.com)

The first tweet I saw come across my timeline at 11:22 p.m. was “Jake Long a Ram.”

» Continue reading “At Last… Jake Long Is A St. Louis Ram”

Well there you have it. If there was any doubt in your mind the Rams are going in a new and unknown direction heading into the 2013 season you shouldn’t any more.

Within a matter of a few days three of the biggest Rams free agents were signed to three different teams – the two wide receivers Danny Amendola and Brandon Gibson and running back Steven Jackson.

Amendola was snatched away by the New England Patriots, Gibson took his talents and baggage to South Beach to join the Dolphins and Jackson packed up and headed down to Hotlanta.

(There’s a Craig Dahl teaser at the end of the post. Muhahaha.)

Steven Jackson trades in his Rams horns for Dirty Bird wings.

Jackson signed a three year, $12 million contract with $4 million in guaranteed money. His salary, if he had remained at Ram, would have been $7 million for 2013. Obviously, the Rams weren’t about to pay him a “bell cow” type salary for playing in a committee of running backs. But it wasn’t about the money according to Jackson.

Atlanta Falcons RB Steven Jackson (Courtesy AtlantaFalcons.com)

For all the lean years he stuck it out in St. Louis I for one am happy for Jackson. He finally has a chance to win a post season game and possibly even to the big game, a Super Bowl.

It’s going to be über strange seeing him in something other than Rams blue and gold but I wish him nothing but success. May your new wings take to higher ground and loftier places.

Not too many people believed me when I said…

This per Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The Falcons have had their eyes on Jackson for quite some time. In fact, they were at exploring the possibility of trading for him near the NFL trading deadline in October, but nothing materialized. As a result, Jackson finished out his ninth season as a Ram.

My conspiracy theory about Steven Jackson seems a lot more plausible now, doesn’t it?

» Continue reading “Rams Free Agency Fast Five – Part Three”

If day one of Rams free agency was about the big splash (Jared Cook) then day two can be summed up in three words: Long. Physical. Wait.

Rams fans were losing their minds waiting for the white smoke to appear from the top of Rams Park hoping that they would know either way what had happened with Miami Dolphin free agent left tackle Jake Long. Both Long and Detroit Lions safety Louis Delmas were at Rams Park getting poke and prodded to make sure their respective injury prone parts checked out.

Tight end Jared Cook officially signs with the Rams.

Rams Tight End Jared Cook signing his new contract at Rams Park (Courtesy STLouisRams.com)

For all you salary cap buffs out there here are the specifics. As announced Monday morning, Cook received a 5-year, $31.5 million contract with $19 million guaranteed. His contract could go up to $38.5 million with incentives.

Now we need to get him a good nickname. I’ve seen the hashtag #TopChef from @STLouisRams. What do you think?

How many hours does it take for Jake Long to get his physical?

Apparently way too Long. (See what I did there.)

“Long Watch” was just that. It began around 7:00 a.m. St. Louis time with Rams fans hanging on each and every Jim Thomas tweet. Every once and a while we’d see an update from Ian Rapoport of NFL Network saying it’s still going. Meanwhile, all I can think of is, “Are we there yet?”

» Continue reading “Rams Free Agency Fast Five – Day Two”

The highly anticipated free agency period, arguably the craziest week in the NFL, is finally upon us. So get ready to hunker down in front of your computer and make sure your favorite Twitter app up and functioning properly. Once Tuesday, March 12, 3:00 p.m. CDT gets here you’re not going to want to miss a single tweet from ESPN’s Adam Schefter and your favorite NFL team beat writer. (If you’re a Rams fan then you’re just waiting for Jim Thomas’ tweets.)

I think this new “legal tampering” window that the NFL instituted at midnight Saturday is laughable at best. Under the new guidelines teams are given permission to converse with certified agents of opposing teams free agents with the league’s blessings. BUT…

It is impermissible for a club to enter into an agreement of any kind, express or implied, oral or written, or promises, undertakings, representations, commitments, inducements, assurances of intent or understandings of any kind concerning the terms or conditions of employment offered to, or to be offered to, any prospective Unrestricted Free Agent for inclusion in a Player Contract after the start of the new League Year.

I know the league isn’t so naive to think that discussions aren’t already going on behind closed doors and over the airwaves. Inquiries and dialogue, albeit informal, have been taking places for weeks. The NFL underwear Olympics (scouting combine) isn’t the only thing that takes place in Indianapolis in late February.

» Continue reading “Things I Think: St. Louis Rams Pre-Free Agency Edition”

There’s no doubt of my affections for the Rich Eisen Podcast (REP). I listen to it every week and over the years it’s easily become my favorite NFL related iPod listens. It’s the perfect combination of everything NFL and pop culture so if that’s right up your alley then this is the podcast for you.

So it was a very pleasant surprise when I saw that this week’s episode had NFL Network’s Rich Eisen’s sit down with St. Louis Rams head coach and NFL Competition Committee member Jeff Fisher for the REP’s Combine Special.

They chat about Coach Fisher’s first year in St. Louis, the NFL scouting combine, and a few other important Rams topics.

St. Louis Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher on The Rich Eisen Podcast.

Rich Eisen: How do you rank your first year in St. Louis?

» Continue reading “St. Louis Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher On The Rich Eisen Podcast”

Offseason? What NFL offseason?

We had a two week down-ish window between the Super Bowl and the combine (or as NFL Network’s draft guru extraordinaire Mike Mayock calls it the “Underwear Olympics.”) But don’t be mistaken, something is always going on in the NFL and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

1) I think WR Titus Young Sr. must be quite the basket case.

Now you see him then now you don’t. The Rams were the only NFL team to put a claim on Young Sr. after the Detroit Lions said enough was enough. This wasn’t a complete head scratching move on the Rams part because the situation at wide receiver is still very much in flux in St. Louis. So why not take a low risk gamble on a very troubled yet talented player.

Yet Rams head coach Jeff Fisher and company decided Young Sr. wasn’t worth the headache after nine days.

We just felt like he was not the best option for us at that position. We went into detail. We felt like we’ve got a good young group, and we feel like perhaps Titus is better suited for another organization.

And this coming from a coach that took chances on some non-Four Pillar-esque players such as Janoris Jenkins, Chris Givens and Trumaine Johnson.

If Fisher didn’t give you a chance you might be done playing in this league, Mr. Young.

» Continue reading “Five Things I Think – St. Louis Rams Early Offseason Edition”

So much for the Frank Cusumano-Jim Ryan interview write up. I’ll just toss it out now with my newly made “The Big Rob-owski” signage.

The Rams official Twitter account tweeted this:

@STLouisRams Rob Ryan Tweet

And now we know why the Rams hadn’t made an official announcement regarding the hire over the weekend despite Rob Ryan being seen at the Scott Trade Center trying to blend in.

ESPN’s Chris Mortenson said on 101 ESPN that “Jeff (Fisher) has always been a very deliberate guy. … He’s always been deliberate when it comes to staff hires.” I guess we will have to wait just a bit longer to see who they install to run the defense. They’ve waited over a year so what’s a few more weeks.

As for Rob Ryan, his five minutes of unemployment has just been recorded as the longest 300 seconds in history.

» Continue reading “Rams And Rob Ryan Call The Whole Thing Off”

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Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher with then Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan. 8/25/12 (Courtesy STLouisRams.com)

With all the talk about the Harbaugh brothers, John and Jim, coaching next week in Super Bowl XLVII and the first family of the NFL in the Mannings, most fans often lose sight of the yet another family strong with the NFL force.

The Ryan Family.

The patriarch of the Clan Ryan is none other than Buddy Ryan of the famed 1985 Chicago Bears 46 defense. We know the younger Ryans well. Rex Ryan is the current head coach of the New York Jets and Rob Ryan was just recently let go from his defensive coordinator position with the Dallas Cowboys. But less known to most is Buddy Ryan’s oldest son, Jim Ryan.

KSDK’s Frank Cusumano sat down in an exclusive interview with the eldest brother who also happens to be a St. Louis area resident.

Here are some notes from that interview.

» Continue reading “The Big Rob-owski, A Fantastic Fit For The Rams”

The bad news: The Rams didn’t make the playoffs this year. The good news: In all honesty I didn’t see them winning more than 6 games. So for them to be sitting at 7-7-1 is a pleasant surprise.

Can you believe how the past 16 weeks have just flown by? Fifteen games so far leaving Rams fans with some head scratching losses (Detroit, Miami, and New York Jets) and heart attack inducing close games (San Francisco). Say what you will but it’s been an exciting year of Rams football.

Obviously the Rams have areas that need to be addressed this off season (offensive line being the biggest in my book.) But overall the future of the franchise is bright as Jeff Fisher finishes up a full season as the head stache around Rams Park.

The Rams still have one final game on the docket though – a very challenging game against the Seahawks.

St. Louis played the Seattle back in week 4, beating them 13-19 in the Edward Jones Dome. But the two teams facing off at Century Link Field on Sunday are not the same teams. Both young teams have come a long way since that September 30 game. Both quarterbacks have matured and the Rams receiving group have made big strides since their first meeting.

1) Contain the athletic gear brand name QB.

The biggest change coming from perhaps the lesser talked about rookie quarterback in the NFL, Seattle’s Russell Wilson. Yeah, so he’s short for a NFL quarterback (He’s listed at 5′ 11″) but what he lacks in height he makes up with his football smarts and his feet.

What Rams assistant head coach Dave McGinnis thinks of Wilson:

*Note: The graphic above should read Week 16.

I’ve been illin’ (and not the good kind) most of the week so this will be a very abbreviated version of my usual game previews. Apologies… 

A random thought came into my head as I was coughing up a lobe from my right lung Friday night.

“I wonder which Rams team will show up in Tampa Bay on Sunday.”

Even while I’m under the weather I’m thinking about the Rams. Or maybe it’s due to the fact that I get sick to my stomach thinking about the three games the Rams should have won: Week 1 at Detroit (23-27), Week 6 at Miami (14-17), and Week 10 at San Francisco (24-24 tie). The Rams should be 9-5 right now fighting for a wild card.

Then you have the Rams that tied and beat the almighty (?) 10-3 49ers. Yes, St. Louis seems to have San Francisco’s number. Not to mention the Rams (with one last game remaining in Seattle) are one of five teams (Green Bay, New England, Houston, and Denver) that are undefeated in their division. The irony though is that those four teams are their respective division leaders and in the playoffs. Dagger!

Reality hits though as the Rams are set to face a slumping (four straight losses coming into this week) but still dangerous team in the Buccaneers. Quarterback Josh Freeman has had his ups and downs this season which doesn’t bode well for his big time, big size receivers Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams. I should know, V. Jackson is on my fantasy team. The other big Bucs threat, the player formerly known as The Muscle Hamster, running back Doug Martin. He’s on both my fantasy teams and he’s also had a seat on the roller coaster that’s the Tampa Bay offense.

Rams running back Steven Jackson needs 91 yards to reach the 1,000 yards rushing for the eighth consecutive season. The longest active streak in the NFL. I say he gets it done today despite the Bucs ranking number one against the run (83.3 yards per game) coming into Sunday. Jackson has seen tough rush defenses this season and has risen to the occasion, especially against the 49ers (101 and 48 yards).

The Bottom line (Nothing really new here, folks.)

The Rams need to tune out all the noise and concentrate on their game. The rest will fall into place.

Run the ball via Steven Jackson.

Protect quarterback Sam Bradford giving him time to find one of his young receivers. This might prove to be harder than expected with their staple offensive lineman Harvey Dahl being placed on IR after a biceps tear. Chris Williams is slated to take Dahl’s place and will be challenged by the Bucs defense.

Don’t commit idiotic self-inflicted penalties. Seriously, this has to stop.

Win the field position battle. i.e. the Rams rookie punter Johnny Hekker needs to be more consistent. Kicker Greg Zuerlein will be the difference in the game.

Rams squeak out a close one winning by a field goal, 23-20 and get back to .500 with one last game to go.

7-7-1.