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March 3, 2016 at 8:44 pm #39920
znModeratorRams will meet Friday in Manhattan Beach to discuss logistics of move
Gary Kleinhttp://www.latimes.com/sports/nfl/la-sp-la-rams-20160304-story.html
Two months after NFL owners signed off on the Rams’ move from St. Louis to Los Angeles, the team’s players will visit Southern California en masse for the first time.
The Rams are scheduled to meet Friday in Manhattan Beach for a question-and-answer session with Coach Jeff Fisher and team executives.
Since it is the off-season, the special meeting was arranged after discussions with the NFL Players Assn. and the NFL’s Management Council.
“They were flexible with us,” Fisher said last month. “They understand the need for it. …They’ll both be present at the meeting.”
Fisher, the Houston Oilers’ coach in the 1990s when the franchise moved to Tennessee, said last month that the Rams’ meeting was set up because “it’s easier to answer one question once than it is 60 times.”
He said the meeting would be for players only, but that players were welcome to bring their families on the trip. Players at the meeting are expected to receive information about traffic patterns and recommendations about housing.
“It’s a weekend for them in L.A.,” he said, adding, “We just want to give them information.”
Players know that the Rams will play home games in the Coliseum for the next three seasons while a new Inglewood stadium is constructed in time for the 2019 season.
But Fisher and others are expected to discuss details of the team’s plans to use multiple locations this season for off-season workouts, training camp and regular-season practices.
In April, May and June, the Rams will hold organized team activities, also known as OTAs, in Oxnard. The team could hold training camp at UC Irvine before moving to another location, possibly in the Thousand Oaks area, once the season begins.
Rams General Manager Les Snead said at the NFL scouting combine last week that Los Angeles would be used as a recruiting tool when attempting to attract free agents.
“If you’re from L.A., you know the weather is really good and it’s a good place to be if you’re young,” Snead said, adding, “No. 1, it will come down to money — are you in the ballpark. No. 2 is going to come down to your head coach and your coaching staff, and they’re going to vet who they’re going to be working with every day.
“And after that, I think the city comes into it. But yes, I think L.A. is a positive thing for young professional athletes.”
Friday’s meeting comes on the eve of what is commonly known as the “legal tampering” period, when representatives of unrestricted free agents can negotiate with other teams but not sign contracts. The two-day window begins Monday in advance of the start of the new league year — and free agency — on Wednesday.
The Rams this week put the franchise tag on cornerback Trumaine Johnson, one of their 12 unrestricted agents. Johnson will earn nearly $14 million next season if he and the Rams do not work out a long-term deal by July 15.
March 4, 2016 at 1:35 pm #39963znModeratorJim Thomas @jthom1 o
Rams players in LA today for orientation meeting. Wonder if all pending free agents will be there?https://twitter.com/jthom1March 4, 2016 at 1:48 pm #39971znModerator#Rams players will meet with the L.A. media for the first time this Friday.
— Ryan Kartje (@Ryan_Kartje) March 2, 2016
March 4, 2016 at 1:49 pm #39972znModeratorLos Angeles Rams players arrive for team meeting. #NFL pic.twitter.com/szO30nesva
— Gary Klein (@LATimesklein) March 4, 2016
March 4, 2016 at 8:19 pm #39992znModeratorRoughly 80 percent of Rams attend first team meeting in Los Angeles
Eric D. Williams
ESPN Staff WriterLOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Rams star Aaron Donald says the possibility of paparazzi staking out his favorite dinner spot for his photo won’t change the way the defensive tackle lives his life.
“It’s a big city,” Donald said. “There’s a lot of big-time people in the city, so you know there’s going to be cameras around a lot. But just be yourself, and like they always say, don’t put yourself in silly situations when you’ve got a camera in your face.
“Image is everything.”
Donald was part of the first team meeting held by the Rams in Los Angeles. About 80 percent of the players currently on the roster attended the session at a hotel in Manhattan Beach. Players watched the same video presentation of the new Inglewood stadium shown during an introductory press conference a month ago, listened to a discussion of the do’s and don’ts by local law enforcement officials and heard an overview from team officials on how the Rams will help players transition from St. Louis to L.A. during the relocation process.
Players were greeted by business cards from real estate agents as they trickled out of the meeting. The franchise’s most recognizable player, running back Todd Gurley, was swarmed by a throng of Rams’ fans as he left the hotel.
“It was great to get players together to show them what the next six months of their life is going to look like,” said Rams executive Kevin Demoff.
Case Keenum, the team’s current starting quarterback, says he still has a lot to prove. Keenum finished the end of the 2015 season 3-2 as a starter, but the Rams are expected to add competition at the quarterback position either through the draft or free agency.
“I put expectations and goals on myself,” Keenum said. “I want to be really good, and I think I can be really good. And I work hard for that. Nothing’s ever been handed to me, and so I don’t expect anything to be handed to me. I’m going to work for it.”
The Rams will begin offseason training at the Dallas Cowboys’ Oxnard, California practice facility — 65 miles north of Los Angeles — beginning April 18. Players are expected to be housed in a nearby hotel.
“What we’re doing right now is to get them out into the offseason program, because that’s where things start to even out competitively,” Rams head coach Jeff Fisher said. “If we can get into the offseason program in a timely fashion, we’ll be in good shape. And those things are starting to fall into place.”
The team will transition to its own training camp location at the end of July, but have not identified a home for training camp.
Rams officials have not announced where that will be, but Fisher said it’s likely the team will use facilities at UC Irvine in Orange County as temporary home for training camp. Housing for players will be taken care of by the organization during training camp as well.
The Rams are expected to hold regular-season workouts in Thousand Oaks, California, but are still looking for a permanent home. Fisher said the organization is encouraging players to look for housing near the Thousand Oaks area.
Linebacker Alec Ogletree said commute time to work will be a determining factor on where he finds a home.
“My approach to traffic out here is to leave two hours early,” Ogletree said, laughing. “I’ve been out here a few times. So you definitely want to be 15 or 20 minutes away from the facility.”
Fisher said that the plan is for the team’s brain trust to remain in Los Angeles for free agency, showing potential signees around the city.
While players are focused on making the transition from the Midwest to the West Coast with their families over the next, few months, guys like Donald understand that in order to win the hearts of fans in Los Angeles, the Rams need to put together their first winning season since 2003.
“There’s going to be a lot going on,” Donald said. “But at the end of the day, my job is to play football and do what I’ve got to do to get myself prepared and ready for this season. I’ll make sure that’s my first priority, so I can play at a high level and continue to be the player they drafted me to be.”
March 4, 2016 at 8:23 pm #39993znModeratorIan Rapoport @RapSheet
#Rams coach Jeff Fisher said he’s looking at the UC-Irvine facility for training camp.Myles Simmons @MylesASimmons
Fisher says team had about 80 percent of roster here for today’s meeting.Fisher, Aaron Donald, Johnny Hekker at the table for the Rams presser to start. Fisher begins by explaining the process, reasons for meeting
Vincent Bonsignore @DailyNewsVinny
#Rams head coach Jeff Fisher said 80 percent of the #Rams roster was in at attendanceMarc Sessler @MarcSesslerNFL
Fisher: Rams are looking at regular season facilities in, among other places, Thousand Oaks.Hekker: There’s 31 other teams that aren’t going through this, but Rams players and families are excited about move to LA.
Fisher: We’ve had a lot of extra things to do, but we feel prepared for draft and ‘ahead of schedule.’ #Rams
March 4, 2016 at 8:57 pm #39999znModeratorWhat we learned: Rams re-establishing L.A. foothold
Marc Sessler
MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. — It’s starting to sink in now. The Rams have come home.
Around the NFL was on hand Friday as players and coaches gathered at the Manhattan Beach Marriott for a two-hour orientation meeting to unpack the task at hand: Shipping an NFL franchise — and its hundreds of employees — from St. Louis to Los Angeles.
“There’s a lot of people in our organization working very, very hard to make this come true,” coach Jeff Fisher told reporters. “Our focus when the deal was done was to take care of the players. That’s priority No. 1, to make sure they can get set up.”
Fisher said roughly 80 percent of the roster attended Friday’s gathering, which was less about Xs and Os and more about finding living arrangements with a manageable drive to work through L.A.’s infamous auto sprawl.
“One of the things we discussed with the players was the commute,” Fisher said. “Very, very important consideration. We have guys that are going to come to work early, especially once the season starts.”
The team still isn’t certain where they’ll set up shop, but Fisher said the Rams are scouting UC-Irvine for training camp and eyeing the Thousand Oaks area for a temporary in-season facility.
With all of this in mind, it wasn’t surprising to see an additional element on hand as we poured from the news conference into the hotel’s plush lobby: Real estate agents.
It’s going to be a fascinating offseason for Fisher and his gaggle of Rams.
Here’s what else we learned:
1. The Rams are selling their new West Coast faithful on a roster built around a pounding ground game and a smothering defense led by quarterback-nightmare Aaron Donald. His teammate, newly anointed middle linebacker Alec Ogletree, says the Rams have run out of reasons to fall short in the battle-tested NFC West.
“There’s nothing missing,” Ogletree said. “It’s just more that everybody has to have the mind-set to go and do it. We don’t have an excuse to be under .500 any more. We’ve lost enough games and I feel like it’s time for us to step up to the plate here and be a top team in the league … and be a team over .500. Anything less than that is unacceptable.”
2. We remain suspicious of the Rams touting Case Keenum as a clear-cut NFL starter, but the young quarterback exuded confidence during Friday’s meeting with the media. “It’s the first time that I’ve had a coach believe in me through the offseason like this,” Keenum told Around the NFL. “So, I’m excited about the position that I’m in and the position the team is in. I think we’re poised to make that next step and be a playoff contender.”
The undrafted Keenum also made it clear he plans to keep the job, saying: “I want to be the leader this team needs me to be and the leader that I know how to be … and I hope the guys look at me like that.”
3. Coolest encounter of the day: Watching Hall of Fame runner Eric Dickerson talk shop with backfield sensation Todd Gurley. Fellow Canton entry and Rams great Jackie Slater was also on hand to counsel the players about life in Los Angeles.
For Slater, watching the Rams return home is special: “It means that the team I played on is going to be playing in Southern California and I’ll get to watch them and pull for them again,” he told us. “I played quite a bit of football wearing those colors and it’s hard not to be loyal and supportive and all of that. Now that they’re back, it’s going to be easier.”
Slater, though, knows that L.A. sports fans can be a fickle beast, saying: “There are going to be a lot of people coming to watch them — expecting a lot out of them. And they’ve got some work to do to get that done. … I just hope and pray that the enthusiasm that we’re experiencing now is still there three years from now when they go into that new stadium.”
4. Fisher also announced that cornerback Trumaine Johnson has signed his franchise tender, sealing up the talented cover man for 2016.
5. Will the Rams — like the Lakers — draw their own pool of celebrity superfans? Too early to tell, but Donald was quick to choose which icon he hoped to see in the stands at September’s home opener: “I would say Kobe (Bryant). Just because he’s one of the best ever to play … and it would be cool to see him at a game.”
March 4, 2016 at 11:35 pm #40003znModeratorRams Excited for Opportunities in L.A.
Myles Simmons
MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. — With relocation to Los Angeles an ongoing process, the Rams met as a team for the first time since the return to Southern California became official on Friday morning. Head coach Jeff Fisher said the time served as a way to get everyone on the same page when it comes to the logistics of getting settled in the area.
“We wanted to wait until we had more information with respect to the offseason program, locations for training camp, and potential locations for the permanent facility, and to get all the players together for one meeting,” Fisher said. “And that’s what took place this morning,”
“We had probably 80 percent of our roster here today,” Fisher added. “When we announced the meeting probably a month or so ago, we had guys call [to say], ‘Well I’m on a cruise,’ or, ‘I’m at a wedding.’ And that’s OK. We’ll get the information to them. It was certainly not a mandatory meeting.”
As things stand in early March, there isn’t necessarily much going on at team headquarters from a player standpoint. And the rules of the collective bargaining agreement preclude teams from meeting until mid-April. But these were special circumstances.
“It wouldn’t have been possible if it weren’t for the effort of the management council and the players’ association because these things are not permissible prior to the offseason program,” Fisher said. “So we had numerous discussions with them, they were both represented in the meeting, and I thought we got a lot accomplished.”
One of the most significant pieces of news the players learned was where the team will hold its offseason program. The Rams will occupy the Cowboys’ facility northwest of L.A. in Oxnard starting in April, but will vacate it after the end of OTAs in June, as Dallas comes in for training camp.
“It’s an ideal situation for us. The Cowboys have been very cooperative. We’re going to upgrade that facility along with them, because they’re coming back for camp,” Fisher said. “We’re looking at the UC Irvine facility for training camp. And that’s looking good, we just haven’t nailed down our temporary facility [for the regular season].”
As for the players themselves, defensive tackle Aaron Donald said the Friday morning meeting was worthwhile for a number of reasons.
“It’s just good to be here and to finally hear from coach on everything so we could all get on the same page as far as knowing what to expect, where we’re going to be, and everything like that,” Donald said. “We’ve got a good idea of where we’re going to be at and things like that because a lot of us have to move our families out here as well.”
Punter Johnny Hekker noted that for family members, the transition can be bittersweet.
“They’re a little bit sad to be leaving what’s familiar. But I think the sunshine and sandy beaches aren’t too bad to have waiting ahead of you. So I think people are excited about that,” Hekker said.
This kind of transition can be difficult for any team to go through, but Fisher said the close-knit nature of the Rams may help the squad rally to success.
“We’re going to spend a lot of time together, you know? We’ve got a lot to get through. But this is a unique team,” Fisher said. “It’s a great locker room. They’re going to pull for each other, they’re going to help each other. And so I think as we move through this process and look to get settled, we can use this to our advantage.”
“it’s definitely going to be a team-building experience,” linebacker Alec Ogletree said. “Everybody is going to have to become closer now because nobody knows what’s going to happen from here to there. Everybody’s going into a new experience.”
And that feeds into the optimism the entire team is feeling when it comes to returning the Rams to Los Angeles.
“This is an incredible opportunity for everyone on the team and our families,” quarterback Case Keenum said. “So I don’t think any of us look at it as problems. Maybe some slight inconveniences with moving and different things. But the team has done a great job of handling a lot of that stuff for us. The league has done a great job and we’re all excited.”
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