Rams News Recap: August 2

Morning Ram-blings: Honoring Aeneas
By Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/10141/morning-ram-blings-honoring-aeneas

EARTH CITY, Mo. — Aeneas Williams spent the majority of his Hall of Fame career in relative anonymity at cornerback for the Arizona Cardinals.

But Williams’ impact on the St. Louis Rams at the end of his career left a lasting impression on the team and its fans. It’s an impact that is still felt in the St. Louis community where Williams makes his home today and serves as a pastor at a local church.

So while Cardinals fans had every reason to bask in the glow and celebrate Williams’ induction into the Hall of Fame on Saturday night, there was another fan base in St. Louis also cheering Williams.

With that in mind, I wanted to begin today’s Ram-blings with links to some stories and words about Williams.

First, I only had the privilege to cover Williams for one season, an injury plagued eason that would be his last in the NFL. But I will echo the sentiments of anyone who ever had the privilege to cover him: Williams is the class act of all class acts. It’s almost cliche to say someone is a better man than he was a player, but if cliches exist because they are true, Williams is the very definition of why that particular cliche exists. Every plaudit, every kind word you have read about Williams before and today is 100 percent genuine. Congratulations, Aeneas.

On to the links:

Cardinals reporter Josh Weinfuss offers this profile of Williams as he heads to Canton.

Weinfuss discusses Williams becoming the first Cardinal who played the bulk of his career in Arizona to go into the Hall of Fame.

Stltoday.com’s Bernie Miklasz offers his memories of Williams.

Jim Thomas explores Williams’ impact on the Rams defenses of the early 2000s.

And another from baseball writer Derrick Goold on Williams’ impact on his hometown of New Orleans.

FoxSportsMidwest.com writes that Williams is the epitome of a Hall of Famer.

The Times-Picayune, Williams’ hometown paper, takes us through Williams’ spiritual journey to the Hall of Fame.

There are many more great Williams tributes to be read out there, too many to list here. But just know that you won’t find a bad word about him. And though it might be hard to believe, just know that there aren’t because there simply aren’t any that would be true.

I.C.Y.M.I.

A roundup of Saturday’s Rams stories appearing on ESPN.com. … In the Ram-blings, we began the day with a look at fivethirtyeight.com’s study on the correlation between youth and success in the NFL. … Next, we previewed Saturday’s practice and scrimmage at the Rams’ annual fanfest. … Finally, we closed the day with a full report from the scrimmage with notes on players working back from injury and players dealing with new ailments of their own.

Elsewhere:

Also at stltoday.com, rookie linebacker Aaron Hill provides his weekly update on his progress as he tries to make the roster.

Joe Lyons provides his report on Saturday’s scrimmage.

At 101sports.com, coach Rick Venturi explains why the Rams’ defense could be tough to stop in 2014.

Scout.com’s Nate Latsch discusses the progress of receiver Brian Quick a week into camp.