St. Louis Rams Training Camp - July 31st

Today was the first time that all the St. Louis Rams including Sam Bradford were on the practice squad at the St. Louis Rams training camp. The Rams held an open to the public session from 3-4:30PM. The weather was warm but with some cloud cover and a small breeze it was not near as bad as it could be. I would say the crowd was possibly 1000 to 1500.

All players were in shorts and light pads so there was not a lot of contact going on. For most of the practice the Rams had 11 on 11 drills rotating players in and out at a pretty good pace. Sam Bradford, A.J. Feeley, Keith Null, and Thaddeus Lewis all seemed to get about the same amount of work in. The biggest cheer during practice was when Sam Bradford hit Keenan Burton on a semi-deep ball.

It was great to see Sam Bradford and Thaddeus Lewis get in extra work after practice as well as Steven Jackson doing sprints on his own. The St. Louis Rams offensive line signed autographs after practice. In addition Mardy Gilyard went out of his why to sign as did Sam Bradford after a session with reporters. Tomorrow the St. Louis Rams will have two more open sessions for the public starting at 8:15AM and 6:15PM. Click here to see all of my St. Louis Rams training camp photos from today.

By Stlvinnie - http://www.stlouisramfan.com

St. Louis Rams Sign Sam Bradford

The St. Louis Rams have signed quarterback Sam Bradford to a 6-year $78 million contract, with $50 million in guaranteed money. Sam Bradford is the first NFL player to ever get $50+ million in guaranteed money. The St. Louis Rams deal with Sam Bradford could actually max out at $86 million dollars if Sam meets all incentives. Sam Bradford was able to get $6 million more than the deal Matt Stafford received from the Detroit Lions in 2009, and Sam will also receive $8.3 million more in guaranteed money than Matt.

According to reports the St. Louis Rams wanted to sign Sam Bradford in time for the team's first full-squad workout on Saturday. The St. Louis Rams training camp will be open to the public for the 3 - 4:30 p.m. session on Saturday.

So Rams fans Sam Bradford is finally here. The same Sam Bradford that completed 604 passes for 8403 yards and 88 touchdowns while playing with the Oklahoma Sooners. It is time to watch Sam Bradford set St. Louis Rams training camp on fire with his pin point accuracy and leadership. Sam Bradford is now 50 million steps closer to being the St. Louis Rams starting quarterback.

By Stlvinnie - http://www.stlouisramfan.com

Are St. Louis Rams Fans Apathetic

I started to think about this issue this morning as I was listening to sports talk radio. I found it absolutely amazing and sad that shows were talking more about Jake Westbrook a 32 year old pitcher on the Cleveland Indians with 13 wins in the last 4 years and a 69-71 lifetime win/loss record and career ERA of 4.34 than talking about the upcoming signings of Rodger Saffold and Sam Bradford. With Training camp starting tomorrow where was the football talk, the excitement, the anticipation?

Not only are the media outlets not talking about the St. Louis Rams much I can't even get Rams fans to discuss the team. This week alone I informed 100+ known Rams fans about the possible Terrell Owens signing and the signing of Rodger Saffold and I received ZERO responses!

Well as St. Louis Rams training camp approaches tomorrow I am curious as to where St. Louis Rams fans are at. Fans should feel this as the start of something special, a new year, new players, a fresh start, and most of all a level playing field as each team is currently 0-0. I however feel that St. Louis Rams fans are currently apathetic to the point of almost being num and I will explain.

Over the last three seasons the St. Louis Rams have played some very poor football which has resulted in them winning only six of their last forty-eight contest, that's right they have won six total games since 12/31/2006 a span of almost 43 months! That could be considered their top achievement over the last few years but let's look a little deeper at some underlying issues.

Rams fans rarely talk about anyone else other than Sam Bradford and Steven Jackson, this speaks to almost a decade of terrible drafting. While not winning of late the experience at the Edward Jones Dome has come under a lot of criticism. Recently ESPN rated the Rams quality of arena and game-day promotions as well as friendliness of environment 114th out of 122 professional franchises. The atmosphere along with the play of the team lead the Rams to finish 29th in home attendance in 2009 at 84.6% of capacity only ahead of Detroit, Jacksonville and Oakland in percentage.

This leads us to another issue, St. Louis Rams ownership. Since the death of Georgia Frontiere on 1/18/2008 the Rams primary owners are Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez. From the beginning Chip and Lucia wanted out of that role placing the Rams basically in a lame duck position, seemingly to fans without ownership that cared about the team. To add to this matter the Rams have to be in the upper 25% of stadium revenues after 2014 or they can basically break the lease and leave town for the highest bidder. Currently there is a pending sales of the club to Stan Kroenke but this has been dragging out for a while and I am afraid the fans are tired of hearing about it.

As they say winning cures everything and frankly the St. Louis Rams have not been winners in a while and that has led to this malaise that has come over the city towards them. The product on the field has been bad and even worse than that everything about the team has become boring. The Rams hiring of Scott (Lameahan) Linehan has to be one of their worst decisions. Linehan came across as a talking block of wood during press conferences and seemed simply clueless when making any coaching decisions. The Rams have since moved on to inexperienced Steve Spagnuolo who tries to say the right things but it is still not apparent to Rams fans if we have even started to move in the right direction. Other than Steven Jackson the Rams offense has been awful ranking in the bottom five in scoring three straight years including averaging 10.9 points per game in 2009.

So Rams fans are you still out there?

By Stlvinnie - http://www.stlouisramfan.com/

St. Louis Rams Training Camp Opens

The 2010 St. Louis Rams training camp will open tomorrow Thursday July 29th at the Russell Training Center in Earth City, Missouri. Rookies, quarterbacks and selected veterans will take part in the practices on Thursday and Friday. The entire St. Louis Rams squad will start practicing on Saturday July 31.

Both St. Louis Rams practices tomorrow are open to the public. Times for those practices are 8:15 – 9:30 AM and 2:15 – 3:30 PM. Check our St. Louis Rams training camp page for a full list of all dates open to the public. If you head out to Rams training camp tomorrow be prepared for the heat as it is suppose to be over 90 degrees again with heat index temperatures near 100.

Welcome to the NFL Rookies.

By Stlvinnie - http://www.stlouisramfan.com/

St. Louis Rams Sign OT Rodger Saffold

Wednesday the St. Louis Rams signed Rodger Saffold to a 4-year $6.3 million dollar contract with $3.9 million dollar signing bonus. Hopefully Rodger will be on the field tomorrow for the start of the St. Louis Rams training camp. Rodger Saffold should be the starting right tackle with last years first round draft pick Jason Smith over on the left side. With Smith and Saffold both at 6'5" and over 300 pounds the Rams are getting bigger and younger that is for sure. Sam Bradford now remains as the only St. Louis Rams 2010 draft pick unsigned. Charles Robinson of Yahoo sports has said he believes Sam Bradford will be signed within the next two days.

By Stlvinnie - http://www.stlouisramfan.com/

Cincinnati Bengals Sign Terrell Owens

Just three days after Chris Mortensen expected the St. Louis Rams to make a serious contract offer for Terrell Owens he signed with the Cincinnati Bengals. Profootballtalk.com reported that Terrell Owens signed a contract that will pay him a salary of $2 million dollars in 2010 plus incentives. Their sources say the incentives are tied to performance which could add another $2 million dollars to Terrell Owens bank account. It is quiet interesting that the Cincinnati Bengals would tie anything to on the field production from Owens, you can almost here him begging for the ball already. The Cinncinati Bengals already have a log jam at WR with Chad Ochocinco, Antonio Bryant and Andre Caldwell along with rookies Jordan Shipley & Dezmon Briscoe. I look for Carson Palmer to have a very long year.

By Stlvinnie - http://www.stlouisramfan.com

New Rams Mascot Named Rampage

The Suspense is over, the St. Louis Rams mascot is named Rampage. The top 5 names for the Rams mascot were Archie, Ramsey, Rampage, Rammer, and Rush. The name Archie came in second place. Look for Rampage at community events near you, as well as all St. Louis Rams home games.

By Stlvinnie - http://www.stlouisramfan.com/

Rams Call Timeout on Deal For Terrell Owens

Well any sane person knows to not put too much stock in any Chris Mortensen reports from ESPN. Mortensen who over the weekend said the St. Louis Rams would make a serious offer for Terrell Owens in the next 48-72 hours is apparently wrong. Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported the St. Louis Rams are no longer interested in Terrell Owens. He further stated "The team did in fact discuss Owens on Monday and in recent days, but their interest in Owens was never as great as portrayed in some media reports." Jay Glazer of FOX also reported that the Rams are out.

Charles Robinson of YahooSports also had some interesting Tweets today:

The interest of the Rams was genuine. But their interest was leaked to push the
fence-sitters (Bengals). Rams aren't playing that game.

T.O. wants a
team with a shot at the Super Bowl. Rams are not that right now & don't want
to just be used as leverage in contract talks.

Just talked to someone
with the Rams. They are indeed out of the Terrell Owens hunt. Not going to
happen.

Overall as a St. Louis Rams fan you can not be too surprised by this news. Why would the St. Louis Rams who have still not been officially sold, and still have not signed their top two draft picks suddenly find interest in the again Owens? Furthermore I can not believe Terrell Owens would ever play for a 1-15 football team even if it was his only offer. Although it does appear the Rams may have briefly entertained the idea it still feels like they may have been trying to pull the wool over our eyes. Was this a cheap way for the Rams front office to spark interest in a team that is frankly not being talked about at all in it's own town? Was the current front office only thinking of signing Terrell Owens to possibly sell jerseys and a few extra tickets? We may never know, but for now it appears that we were just part of another Terrell Owens circus side show.

By Stlvinnie - http://www.stlouisramfan.com

Timeout Are St. Louis Rams After T.O.

Are the St. Louis Rams seriously after Terrell Owens? Chris Mortensen of ESPN and ProFootballTalk separately have confirmed, that the Rams are in "serious pursuit" of Terrell Owens. Word has been the Cincinnati Bengals are the front runner for Owens' services. According to NFL.com a Rams source scoffed at a report that the team was in serious pursuit of Terrell Owens or aggressively courting him, calling it "overzealous."

Owens told NFL Network's Stacey Dales on Friday. "I'm going in on my 15th season, so I want to go to a team that's on the cusp of making it to the playoffs and really having a team really want me and feel that I can come in and be an asset to their ballclub."

So is it possible that the St. Louis Rams are actually after Terrell Owens, and the bigger question would be, would he seriously come to the worst team in the NFL to play. This would be a much more exciting topic than a new Rams mascot that is for sure. While Terrell Owens could provide veteran support at the wide receiver position and mentor players like Donnie Avery and Mardy Gilyard can you imaging him playing on a losing team. While on winning teams in San Francisco and Philadelphia Owens was a constant full time cancer and distraction. To be fair Terrell Owens also helped both teams go deep into the playoffs.

For a St. Louis Rams team that has not taken many risks lately and loves their 4 pillars approach I just don't see them picking up Terrell Owens. Owens would most likely only sign a one-year contract and the Rams are not going to win much in 2010. Can you imagine Sam Bradford having to deal with Terrell Owens let alone if the Rams are 2-8 or something like that. Other than exciting the fan base and improving the roster does this move make sense? Both Steve Spagnuolo and Pat Shurmur have to know what they are getting themselves into if they sign Terrell Owens.

By Stlvinnie - http://www.stlouisramfan.com

St. Louis Rams Tickets

Even though the St. Louis Rams have only won six games in the past three years it is still very exciting the day your season tickets arrive in the mail. Most season ticket holders should have received tickets this week. This years Rams tickets feature photos of the following players: Jason Smith, Sam Bradford, Steven Jackson, Ron Bartell, Chris Long, Donnie Avery, Isaac Bruce, James Hall and James Laurinaitis. The only extras included this year are the season ticket holders rewards card, window sticker and a magnetic schedule.

Thanks to Dan Masonson of NFL.Com for letting me know that the Philadelphia Eagles this year feature photos of 10 die-hard season-ticket holders with inspirational stories featured on Eagles 2010 home tickets. Mark Esposito is pictured on the game ticket for the team’s October 17 home game against the Atlanta Falcons with the words “I may have never seen a game, but I’ll never miss one.” Esposito is blind, but attends each game. This is truly a great idea and I would love to see the St. Louis Rams try something new in the future.

By Stlvinnie - http://www.stlouisramfan.com

Name The St. Louis Rams Mascot

The St. Louis Rams will have a new mascot for the upcoming 2010 NFL season. The Rams are letting the Rams fans decide the name of the mascot by voting on their website. The five finalist are Archie, Rammer, Rampage, Ramsey and Rush. The winning name for the mascot will be announced at the St. Louis Zoo’s South Entrance at 11am on Monday July 26th.

The Rams say the mascot will make more than 300 appearances a year, from charity events to parties. Although adding a mascot is additional entertainment added by the Rams I don't expect the mascot to have the same impact as he could at a baseball or hockey game. The Rams who were recently ranked by ESPN 114th out of 122 professional franchises in Stadium Experience (Quality of arena and game-day promotions as well as friendliness of environment) are trying whatever they can to increase the fan experience. Overall the new mascot is a nice touch but ticket prices have forced most from bringing children to the game. I would prefer the Rams to improve the game day experience with improved sound, pre game introductions, fireworks, and by having a better overall product on the field.

By Stlvinnie - http://www.stlouisramfan.com

Dallas Cowboys Sign Dez Bryant

Well with St. Louis Rams Training Camp only one week away many Rams fans are getting very nervous that Sam Bradford and Rodger Saffold are still not sign, sealed, and delivered to Rams Park. On the bright side the first domino fell today as the Dallas Cowboys reportedly inked Dez Bryant the 24th overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft to a 5-year $11.8 million dollar contract with 8.5 guaranteed. Bryant is the first of 32 first round draft picks to sign a deal. This is good news as hopefully this will help the 23rd and 25th overall picks get a deal done, and the dominos will continue to fall from there.

In addition to the news about Dez Bryant, Brian Stull through the Turf Show Times reports that the St. Louis Rams are closing in on a deal with offensive tackle Rodger Saffold. Currently only three of the top 64 picks have signed contracts. It is very important that both Sam Bradford and Rodger Saffold are in camp from the start. Word through the media and from the St. Louis Rams has been positive about the contract negotiations that are going on with both players. I for one hope that the Dez Bryant deal will speed things along as fans all across the country are still waiting for their next bright young superstars to sign on the dotted line.

By Stlvinnie - http://www.stlouisramfan.com

St. Louis Rams Sign Fendi Onobun

The St. Louis Rams signed 6th round draft choice TE Fendi Onobun today. Reports are that the 6'6" 250lb freakish athlete out of the University of Houston received a 4-year deal worth $1.92 million with a $129,000 signing bonus. This seems like insane money for a player that did not play ANY High School football, and after a 4-year basketball career at Arizona then played 1 year of football at Houston. Onobun playing in only two games had 2 catches for 33 yards and a touchdown. Word is that Onobun will mostly play on special teams in 2010. While at Houston Onobun blocked two extra points in a 50-43 win over Southern Mississippi, earning him Conference USA Special Teams Player of the Week honors. I am still skeptical about a player with basically NO experience trying to play in the NFL. Only time will tell if Onobun can make the cut.

By Stlvinnie - http://www.stlouisramfan.com

Rams Start to Negotiate With Sam Bradford

With NFL training camps set to open in less than two weeks there are still no first round draft picks signed to contracts. NFL Network's Jason La Canfora and Michael Lombard confirmed the St. Louis Rams started contract negotiations with Sam Bradford's agent Tom Condon on Friday.

As a Rams fan I am still a little worried that the Rams still have not been sold to Stan Kroenke, and now it looks like the ownership will need to shell out around $50 million dollars in guaranteed money to sign Sam Bradford. This must be a nightmare for current owners Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez. The economy is in terrible shape, the Rams are coming off a 1-15 season and the current draft structure is basically going to force them to pay Sam Bradford more than the $41.7 million that the Detroit Lions gave Matthew Stafford last year. What can they do?

The NFL would like to implement a rookie wage scale as part of the new collective bargaining agreement. This has caused some to, believe it or not say the Rams should play hard ball with Sam Bradford during these negotiations. Some have actually stated that the Rams should just offer Sam Bradford the rookie minimum of slightly over $300,000 and if he doesn't like it he can sit out the season. Well that seems a little absurd for a franchise that has won 6 games in 3 years, is up for sale, and has a stadium lease issue.

Bottom line is the St. Louis Rams need to sign Sam Bradford and Rodger Saffold as soon as possible and get them in here for a full training camp. With Steven Jackson turning 27 and not much else to get excited about the Rams simply can't afford not to draft and sign their franchise quarterback. Also if the Rams were not prepared to pay out a huge sum of money for the number one overall selection in the 2010 NFL Draft they simply would have traded out of the spot. Currently television networks are paying $20.4 billion to televise the NFL, and as long as that money keeps poring in a large portion will continue to go to its marquee players. The Rams absolutely have to sign Sam Bradford prior to the 2010 training camp starting and I believe that is exactly what they will do. The fact that talks have officially begun is very good news. Look for the vault to open soon.

By Stlvinnie - http://www.stlouisramfan.com

Chicago Bears Pick Up Harvey Unga

The 2010 NFL Supplemental Draft ended today with only Harvey Unga selected by the Chicago Bears, and defensive tackle Josh Price-Brent by the Dallas Cowboys. It was said that the St. Louis Rams were interested in Unga. Last week in a workout for pro scouts Unga ran a 4.63 handheld 40-yard dash on artificial turf. He lifted 225 pounds 19 times, had a standing vertical jump of 35 inches and a 9-foot-6 inch standing broad jump. His vertical and broad jump were personal bests, according to his personal trainer, Dave Stroshine. His 19 reps also equaled a personal best.

The Chicago Bears will forfeit their seventh-round pick in the 2011 NFL draft for Unga. Many fans wanted the Rams to pick up Unga as a backup for Steven Jackson. The Rams recently traded their 2011 7th round draft pick to the Chicago Bears for Safety Kevin Payne. The Rams would have needed to use their 6th round 2011 draft pick to acquire Unga and they must have thought the price was too high or were not that interested in him after all.

Harvey Unga is a 6' 240 pound Junior running back out of BYU. Unga had 1087 yards rushing on 208 attempts in 2009 and had 3455 yards on 696 attempts during his career at BYU. Unga's career at BYU was cut short for a violation of BYU's honor code, now widely accepted to be sexual relations outside of marriage, which is forbidden for BYU students.

The bottom line is did the St. Louis Rams make the right decision? My opinion is yes they did. While it is true that the Rams need an adequate backup for over-worked Steven Jackson, Unga was most likely not the answer. At 240+ pounds Unga could actually be just a fullback in the NFL. In addition grades on Unga were never that great. WalterFootball.com had Unga ranked 12th in their 2011 NFL Draft running back ratings. The other reality is Steven Jackson just does not come out of the game much. Kenneth Darby led all Rams backup running backs in 2009 with only 27 carries for 152 yards. Only time will tell if the Rams missed out on a steal or a bust.

By Stlvinnie - http://www.stlouisramfan.com

St. Louis Rams 2010 Win Total

Bodog has released their current team win total odds for 2010. Looks like things are looking up for the Rams as Bodog has the line set at 5 wins for the St. Louis Rams. With Arizona at 7.5, Seattle at 7.5 and San Francisco at 8.5 are the Rams close to competing for the NFC West Division Title? No I don't think so either but 3 games back is not bad for a team that has only won 6 games in three years.

St. Louis Rams - Total wins in the 2010 NFL Regular Season

Over 5 (Even)
Under 5 (-125)

Madden 11 GameStop “Madden Mondays”

With Madden 11 available at GameStop stores August 11th GameStop has started a "Madden Mondays" and the Gridiron Game Changers Sweepstakes.

GameStop “Madden Mondays” will feature enough advice to help any Madden NFL fanatic play smarter and stronger.

In addition to “Madden Mondays,” Madden NFL fans can participate in the text-to-win sweepstakes: Gridiron Game Changers. Through August 16th fans can text a weekly keyword from the “Madden Mondays” website to 65579 to be entered to win a VIP trip for two to the marquee EA SPORTS Madden NFL 11 launch event or the GameStop Madden NFL 11 tournament finals event.

Pre-order Madden NFL 11 and receive an exclusive, one-time use code to download the GameStop Boost Pack: 20,000 Madden NFL Coins. The in-game Madden NFL bonus loot can be spent on online scouting, player boosts or even building your Madden Ultimate Team. Available online and in-stores while supplies last.

So check out “Madden Mondays” on www.gamestop.com.

St. Louis Rams Franchise Ranks 114

ESPN released their yearly Franchise Rankings and the St. Louis Rams come in at number 114 out of 122 professional sports teams. After being ranked 112 and 111 the previous two years the Rams fall further to 114. The Oakland Raiders are the only NFL franchise ranked below the Rams at 115. Only the Toronto Maple Leafs were ranked below the Rams in Bang for the Buck (wins during the past three years).

Each franchise was ranked in eight categories:

Bang For The Buck
Fan Relations
Ownership
Affordability
Stadium Experience
Players
Coaching
Title Track