Players on moving – Farr, Warner, Bruce x2, Slater, Hekker, Holt, Gurley, Proehl

PA Ram wrote:

Jackie Slater on the Rams moving back to Los Angeles:

http://www.am570lasports.com/articles/whats-happening-467696/listen-jackie-slater-i-never-did-14273743/

wv wrote:

thats a must-listen for the guys
that remember the LA days.
Slater is great in that one.

w
v

Slater is great. Has a perspective few others could have, since he played for 20 years, in both LA and St. Louis.

Former “St. Louis” Rams feel the pain of team’s departure

Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/former-st-louis-rams-feel-the-pain-of-team-s/article_a98df965-e399-5ec4-87bc-a0be6f9eee82.html

When the news came down Tuesday night that the Rams were moving back to Los Angeles, Isaac Bruce was bombarded with texts, emails, and tweets from former teammates.

“Just guys expressing what happened when we played there in St. Louis,” Bruce said. “Just some sentiments, just memories — sharing memories.

“It went from being sad to a little humorous, because you’ll start quoting things, and things that happened in the locker rooms. Things that happened during and after games.”

It was almost analogous to a funeral, which may be apropos, because Bruce and his former Rams teammates were talking about what very well may be the death of professional football in St. Louis.

Bruce has a unique perspective because he played 13 years here for the Rams — longer than anyone else. He was the first “St. Louis” Rams star, and also the last “Los Angeles” Ram left on the roster, having played his rookie season for the LA Rams in 1994, the organization’s last in southern California before moving to the Midwest.

“I did enjoy LA when I was there,” Bruce said.

But he made his name in St. Louis, and the city will always hold a special place for him.

“Fan support was just phenomenal, from the very first time I played a football game here,” Bruce said. “We didn’t play a preseason game that whole 1995 (preseason) in the city of St. Louis.”

The Rams played their first regular season game on the road as well, at Green Bay. And then they came home.

“We burst on the scene that second week of the season in 1995,” Bruce said. “And what I saw really made me feel welcomed into the NFL as far as the fan support was concerned. Most of my games prior to that time, we didn’t have much fan support in Los Angeles.”

Although Stan Kroenke’s relocation application criticized a lack of fan support in St. Louis, that wasn’t what Bruce or any of his teammates saw during their time here.

“I don’t know about what numbers Kroenke was using to complain about that,” said former Rams center Andy McCollum. “I have no idea. I know when we were here, especially when we were having so much success, it was as good as anywhere in the country.

“And even lately, when we were not winning as much, I think there’s still a lot of fan support. It’s a shame. I really feel for them.”

Few Rams played as long as McCollum did in St. Louis. For nine seasons, from 1999 through 2007, he called St. Louis home as one of the “Doughnut Bros.” — the nickname given to McCollum and longtime Rams right guard Adam Timmerman. McCollum started 109 games as a Ram over those nine years.

Even before his playing career ended following a one-year stint with Detroit in 2008, McCollum decided to settle down in the Gateway City with his wife and children. The McCollums live in the Eureka area and have three boys and three girls, ages 7 to 17.

McCollum is a financial planner for Resource One Advisors. He helps coach the Eureka High football team and has been involved in coaching the Eureka youth football program for about 10 years.

“We just liked it here,” McCollum said. “My wife and I both grew up in Ohio. It’s a similar feel here. Just a great, great place to raise a family. It’s nothing more complicated than that.”

As such that puts McCollum in a unique group of Rams who not only played in St. Louis but made the area their permanent home. Some of the others include Aeneas Williams, Grant Williams, and Orlando Pace.

As silly as it may sound, since the relocation vote came down McCollum said many of his friends and neighbors have asked him if he’s moving to LA.

“That ain’t gonna happen,” McCollum said. “It’s not my kind of town.”

It’s Kroenke’s kind of town, a place where the Rams owner can add to his already vast fortune and be hailed as the man who returned football to Los Angeles.

(This coming, of course, 21 years after he helped move football out of LA to greener financial pastures in St. Louis with then majority owner Georgia Frontiere.)

Bruce and his other former teammates and coaches from the Greatest Show era obviously feel for the fans of St. Louis. And they recognize the work done by the stadium task force.

“They once again showed their fortitude, their courage, putting a plan together in so short a time,” Bruce said. “And letting America know that St. Louis is a place that can cause Fortune 500 companies, businesses, to flourish. And also professional teams.

“It’s just unfortunate that the business side of it kind of fell on our heads like it did 21 years ago to Los Angeles.”

But Bruce is a positive thinker if nothing else. He’s aware of the rich tradition of the Rams in Los Angeles, and realizes that playing in such a large market could be an exciting time for the current players.

He plans to open up a branch office, so to speak, of the Isaac Bruce Foundation in LA, while keeping the foundation active in St. Louis.

And he doesn’t think the legacy of the Greatest Show will be lost or overlooked now that the franchise is once again calling Los Angeles home.

“I see it this way,” Bruce said. “I don’t think Eric Dickerson’s legacy was tainted at all (by the move to St. Louis). Guys like Marshall (Faulk). Guys like Torry (Holt). Like Orlando. These guys are NFL legends. So what they did, and their body of work, is legendary in the NFL in itself.”

One of those Rams legends, Pace, isn’t so sure.

“It’s funny. Me and Torry Holt were just having a conversation about that,” Pace said. “I think one of our concerns is what we did here, the fun we had, that championship that we won here — hopefully it doesn’t get lost in the move to LA. Because we put a lot of smiles on people’s faces, and we enjoyed each other.”

Bruce is doing his best to make sure that legacy lives in St. Louis. Although plans are in its infancy, and there are many details to be ironed out, he hopes to put on a charity game at the Edward Jones Dome involving all former “St. Louis” Rams.

“We want to put together a flag football game, autograph session, for the city of St. Louis — the fans, so they can come out and see the guys up close and personal once again,” Bruce said. “It may be a while before everyone’s together like that again.

“So they can drive to the dome as opposed to flying to another city to see these people.”

Former Rams WR Isaac Bruce chats with Andy Katz and Rick Klein about the Rams’ relocation to Los Angeles including the economic and emotional impact on St. Louis, team employees and former players living in the area. Bruce: The move itself is a good move for the Rams, but you leave heartbroken fans and some former players in St.Louis

Rosey Grier, other ex-players sound off on NFL’s return to LA

http://www.pe.com/articles/rams-792776-return-players.html

The former Los Angeles Rams players in attendance for Sunday’s “Welcome Home Rams” party certainly had a lot to say, both about the Rams return to LA and the other potential for the Chargers and Raiders to join them.

Here is a sampling of what the ex-Rams had to say, both about the current state of the NFL in LA and what the future may hold.

Joe Sweet, WR

Rams 1972-73, Chargers 1975

I just left our church before coming here. Our church is in Inglewood, and we’re all very excited about the possibilities and what we can do.

The city needed a team to come back, and what better team to come back than the Rams. They had so much history here. When I was drafted in 1971 we played in the Coliseum, it already had so much history. This is the Rams city, and I’m glad they’re back.”

Personally, I would like to see the Chargers stay in San Diego and see the Raiders stay in Oakland.

As a former player as I would attend the various events that we’d do and I knew of some (Chargers) fans from the LA area, but I never thought it was enough to make that move. It wasn’t ideal for a new franchise to come here. At least just from my observation, I just don’t think they’d have that many fans even if they’d move up here alone.

Now with the Rams up here, to try and share that market – I think the market is large enough in terms of population – but there certainly would be some lean years for the Chargers before their fan base picks up.

Rosey Grier, DT

Rams 1963-66

I think it’s great in general for the NFL to be back in LA. Just athletes in general, what we have to do is try to encourage younger players to conduct themselves better on the field. I don’t like the things they do to deliberately hurt one another and these are guys that are working for their families. When you’re not playing the game by the rules, then you’re hurting the game, you’re ruining the game. And the young children that watch it, they’re going to do the same thing on the field themselves. So you have to be a role model, and having role models in the local community will help.

Children will listen to what an athlete says, but you’ve got to know who that athlete is. They’ve got to be aware of the character of the athlete themselves. They are people that are looked up to. Each one has a responsibility. As a minister and former actor and athlete, I would expect this is a great thing for LA.

I also like the fact they’re giving 30 percent of the jobs to the community. That makes the community really appreciate it, because the community needs that support.

Reggie Doss, DE

Rams 1978-87

It’s exciting the Rams are coming back. It’s going to add I think a total new excitement to the southern California area. We’re seeing a lot of people around letting us know how excited they are.

I kind of knew about the Rams being the team that would come back, just with the background of owner. I thought he was going to be the guy who would really nail it down. The fans have been dying to get a team back here for so many years, and I’m glad he did.

I think it does help the community more than just the fact of having games being played here. So much positive things happen through the NFL as far as the players are concerned, alongside some of the negative things too, but I think the positives outweigh the negatives. I think it will be a great opportunity for a lot of the players to be impactful in the community, which is needed.

My 10 years playing here it was pretty incredible. Just the atmosphere and the fans and the fanbase that we have. From my first two years when we played in the Coliseum and played in the Super Bowl and then moved to Anaheim, you got to see the entire spectrum of the fans. You saw a ton of fans in Los Angeles and all around. I think that part of it makes it exciting for some of the older guys and what will be exciting for the younger guys.

Greg Bell, RB

Rams 1988-89, Raiders 1990

That’s a given how much the news has energized everybody. Look at all the Rams jerseys and Rams paraphernalia around. This is without a doubt en exciting time, for southern California as a whole.

The fact that we’ve got the home-based team coming home, and so many of us still live here. It’s going to be a fun time.

I went to a Rams reunion that Georgia (Frontiere) put on for us in the Coliseum about 15 years ago and it was something so special about that I can’t tell you. I was sitting at a table with five guys who played for the Cleveland Rams, and they all lived in Gardena and all lived on one street. That history, that’s something that’s going to make this special for the new guys who come in and see the following they have here. It’s probably three times what they had in St. Louis. To see when that stadium is filled, to see when the Coliseum is filled, that’s something special.

As a Rams player the only time I got to play in the Coliseum was against the Raiders, and of course I had a great game, but you felt from that stadium what the LA Rams are really about, because that was our home. I think they’re going to enjoy it for a couple of years until they go to Inglewood.

I think Inglewood is going to turn into the old “City of Champions” that it was. If there is one thing I really don’t enjoy, I don’t enjoy going to Staples Center. Back when Dr. Buss had the Forum and it was the Fabulous Forum, I remember sitting with him and him telling me his desire to be the Rams owner. It’s something about being the city of champions, something about being in Los Angeles, that the Rams are just going to love.

I tell you what, I spend time up in Oakland with Mark Davis, and the Raiders history is there. The Oakland Raiders rolls smoothly off the tongue. The Los Angeles Raiders never rolled smooth. It’s just something about the mystique of playing the Raiders. Oakland is really the home of the Raiders, just like San Diego is really the home of the Chargers

I think part of Los Angeles’ lore, like any city, is you want to have one team that is yours, and the Rams have always belonged to Los Angeles.

LeRoy Irvin, CB

Rams 1980-89

You can see the fans are more excited. I’ve been working with the Rams booster club for years, and now they’re more energized. You see all the people who were Rams fans who became fans of other teams are starting to jump back on the bandwagon. It’s good for us as players because we’re starting to do things in the community and it also gives us a boost.

It’s just amazing the Rams are here. I’m ecstatic about it. It’s good for us as older players. It’s good for the community because we’ve been in the community for so long without the support of the Rams, and now as they move back and it’s even better for the community.

For 10, 20, years we’ve been doing things in the community without the support of the Rams once they left. Now they’re back, it makes what we’re doing a lot better.