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znModeratorRams hire Mike Groh as receivers coach and passing game coordinator
http://www.latimes.com/sports/nfl/la-sp-rams-hire-michael-groh-20160125-story.html
The Rams are going through a major transition in their move from St. Louis to Los Angeles, and the coaching staff is among the many moving parts.
On Monday, the team announced that Coach Jeff Fisher had hired Mike Groh as receivers coach and passing game coordinator. Groh, 44, was the Chicago Bears’ receivers coach the last three seasons.
“He’s a talented, young coach that has proven himself on the college level as well as in the NFL,” Fisher said in a statement on the Rams’ website. “We’re looking forward to what he will bring to our offense.”
The Rams have yet to name a permanent offensive coordinator. Fisher fired Frank Cignetti with four games remaining in the season, and tight ends coach Rob Boras took over on an interim basis as the Rams finished 3-1. But they still finished last in the NFL in total offense and passing offense, and 29th out of 32 in scoring.
After the season, the Rams did not renew the contracts of five assistants, including offensive assistant Jeff Garcia, receivers coach Ray Sherman and running backs coach Ben Sirmans.
Groh coached previously at Alabama, Louisville and Virginia, where he played quarterback. Groh is the son of former New York Jets coach Al Groh.
znModeratorMike Groh’s departure puts Bears on search
http://chicago.suntimes.com/bears-football/7/71/1277364/mike-grohs-departure-puts-bears-back-market
The Bears are in the market for a position coach after all.
Mike Groh was named the Rams’ passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach Monday, two days after the Bears appeared to fill their final major coaching staff vacancy by adding quarterbacks coach Dave Ragone.
Bears coach John Fox should seek Groh’s replacement at wide receivers coach this week at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., a de facto job fair.
Losing Groh is a blow to the Bears. In three seasons — under two different head coaches — Groh coached a unit that was dynamic when healthy. Brandon Marshall surpassed 1,000 yards in 2013, and Alshon Jeffery did in 2013 and 2014.
Jeffery, who can enter free agency this offseason, figures to return for at least one year; the Bears can offer him the franchise tag if they don’t reach a long-term agreement.
“I’m very excited to have coach Groh join our staff,” Rams head coach Jeff Fisher said in a release Monday. “He’s a talented young coach that has proven himself on the college level as well as in the NFL. We’re looking forward to what he will bring to our offense.”
Groh was one of two Bears coaches retained by Fox last year from Marc Trestman’s staff and the only one to stay with the same position group.
The Bears’ offensive staff will look drastically different next year. Former coordinator Adam Gase, now the Dolphins’ head coach, brought offensive assistant Bo Hardegree to Miami as his quarterbacks coach last week. Former Bears assistant strength and conditioning coach Jim Arthur will work for Gase, the Dolphins announced Monday.
The Bears need to hire an assistant special teams coach, too, after Derius Swinton agreed to become the 49ers’ coordinator last week.
znModeratorSteve Hartman @cannonhartman
High ranking Rams official says talks have stalled for a Chargers move to LA in 2016…most likely the Chargers staying in SD in 2016
znModeratorLos Angeles to build world’s most expensive stadium complex
http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/19/architecture/new-nfl-stadium-los-angeles/
(CNN)Los Angeles will welcome the return of NFL football with the construction of a new 80,000-seat stadium complex and “NFL Disney World,” expected to become the world’s most expensive sports arena.
The 300-acre development in Inglewood, a few miles from downtown Los Angeles, will provide a new home for the NFL’s Rams franchise, whose return to their former home city was approved by league officials last Tuesday. The development has an estimated cost of $2.6 billion — more than $1 billion more than New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, currently the league’s most costly venue.
The capacity of the new stadium could exceed 100,000 for special events, say developers. Inglewood Mayor James Butts has already announced ambitions to host the Super Bowl at the arena, which developers say will be the “cornerstone” of a year-round sports, music, and entertainment events district.
An unnamed “owner” is reported in the Los Angeles Times comparing their ambitions for the development to Florida’s Disney World theme park. The development’s footprint is about twice the size of the original Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, and will also host a 6,000-seat performance venue, more than 1.5 million square feet of retail and office space, 2,500 homes, a 300-room hotel, and 25 acres of parks.
The Rams, who played in the Los Angeles area for almost 50 years, will give the city its first NFL team since 1995 — the year the Rams left for St. Louis, and the Raiders departed for Oakland.
Rams owner and property developer Stan Kroenke, who has an estimated personal net worth of $7.4 billion, is credited with spearheading the return of NFL football to the country’s second largest city.
The new stadium is expected to be complete in time for the 2019 NFL season, with the team playing at their former home at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum, until then. The team’s owners have begun courting the San Deigo Chargers and Oakland Raiders to join them at the new venue, on the site of the former Hollywood Park horse racing track.
International architecture giant HKS have been contracted to design the venue and have announced that it will center on a 19-acre transparent canopy, which will cover the entire stadium and parts of the surrounding development.
The canopy will be made from the same transparent ETFE plastic that coats Bayern Munich’s stadium, the Allianz Arena, and the Beijing National Aquatics Center.
Munich’s stadium changes color, from red to white to blue, according to which team — Bayern, second division side TSV 1860 München, or the German national side — is playing at the stadium that day. The architects have not yet said if similar color indication would occur if two or more teams host matches at the new stadium in Inglewood.
The Rams are urging the Chargers, currently based 200 km south of L.A. in San Diego, to join them at the stadium, and fund a portion of the massive costs, with the Oakland Raiders considered a fallback option.
Kroenke has publicly estimated the cost at $1.86 billion, but the Los Angeles Times quotes unnamed “(NFL) officials and owners” who say the true cost could reach $2.66 billion. The New York Times and others have put the value at nearly $3 billion.
The NFL already claims the world’s most expensive stadium. That title belongs to the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, home to New York teams the Giants and Jets, which opened in 2010 at a cost of $1.6 billion. The Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers are also among a minute group of teams worldwide to play in stadiums costing more than $1 billion.
Outside the U.S., stadiums with budgets exceeding $1 billion dollars are rare. London’s home of soccer, Wembley Stadium, crossed the mark in 2007. Tokyo abandoned plans for a $2 billion Zaha Hadid-designed stadium last July amid rising costs, with a cheaper design now underway.
January 25, 2016 at 9:38 pm in reply to: ESPN will televise Reese’s Senior Bowl practices & other S.B. details #38068znModeratorEVERY SENIOR BOWL PLAYER YOU NEED TO KNOW: OFFENSE
By STEVE PALAZZOLO
In what has become the premier event in-between championship weekend and the Super Bowl, Senior Bowl week is upon us and it’s a great look into the future of the NFL. While one week of practice and a few game reps does not make or break a prospect’s future, the opportunity to validate thousands of college snaps with the entire NFL watching closely is invaluable.
With PFF working hand-in-hand with the Senior Bowl, it’s also a great chance to get an in-person look at prospects we’ve graded on those thousands of snaps. Our evaluation process is always ongoing (be sure to check out our live blog once practices begin), and while the larger sample size from the film room is most important, Senior Bowl week is just another part of the process.
Quarterbacks
The draft class is not top-heavy at quarterback, but there are a number of mid-round options and many of them will be on display in Mobile. The hype surrounding North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz is real, and he has the physical tools to wow the league this week to solidify his first-round projections. While we don’t have all of his data, a first-look grading of his seven games from this year showed more good than bad, and certainly displayed his great size, arm, and athleticism. The one takeaway from watching is that he has the downfield throwing ability to win a game for his team, but also the questionable decision making to lose one.Beyond Wentz, Arkansas QB Brandon Allen had a strong finish to the season including two monster games against the Mississippi schools (Ole Miss and Mississippi State). He finished at No. 12 overall among quarterbacks and No. 3 since Week 8, so he has a chance to impress with his quick release and accuracy. Two former Florida quarterbacks, Jeff Driskel and Jacoby Brissett, will be on display as Driskel looks to prove that in impressive senior year was a sign of development rather than competition level playing for Louisiana Tech while Brissett has impressed more with his legs than with his arm the last two seasons.
Allen’s competition for top quarterback in the SEC was Mississippi State’s Dak Prescott who made strides as a passer this season, but like Brissett, is trying to prove that he’s more than just a short-yardage run threat. Finally Alabama’s Jake Coker and Stanford’s Kevin Hogan also resemble their peers as they improved in their senior season, especially Hogan. That’s the story of the class as this group of signal callers looks to prove that they can continue their development on the way to the NFL.
Running Backs
It’s difficult for running backs to turn heads during practice, so they have to make the most of their game opportunities. The one running back that looks poised to impress is Louisiana Tech’s Kenneth Dixon, whose receiving ability should even make a mark during practices. He’s electric in space, able to make defenders miss (elusive rating of 99.2 ranks second in draft class) while making plays as a receiver out of the backfield and out of the slot.The rest of the running backs are similar as there’s more scat back than every-down bruiser among this year’s invites.
Wide Receivers
There will be a few wide receivers vying for first-round consideration, namely Rutgers’ Leontee Carroo and Oklahoma’s Sterling Shepard. Carroo was outstanding this season, grading at +17.0 on only 360 snaps after a +20.0 effort last year. His downfield acceleration should get some hype this week and he has only two drops on 157 targets the last two years. Shepard topped our grading this season, doing most of his damage out of the slot with excellent route running. Size may be the knock that keeps Shepard out of the first round, but his shiftiness and downfield tracking ability make him better-rounded than many will admit.The other intriguing early-round types include Michigan State’s Aaron Burbridge who broke out this season to a +22.1 grade and Georgia’s Malcolm Mitchell (+15.7). Burbridge was one of the nation’s most efficient downfield threats, catching 64.0 percent of his targets. Mitchell has flown under the radar, but he was productive despite uneven quarterback play. He reminds of Robert Woods with perhaps a little more speed and downfield ball skills.
Among the other options, Baylor’s Jay Lee and UCLA’s Jordan Payton have a chance to impress, though in different ways. Lee has size and speed, but coming out of Baylor’s high-octane system, he’s run only a handful of routes. Payton may not wow with his athleticism, but he was UCLA’s go-to guy and incredibly productive at +27.3 overall.
Tight Ends
While inline blocking at the tight end position is not flashy, South Carolina’s Jerrell Adams is one of the best in the draft class. He held his own against defensive ends all season, the only question being if it was true development or an anomaly after a nondescript 2014. He wasn’t used often in the passing game, but managed to average 15.0 yards per reception while forcing 10 missed tackles, tied for fifth among the nation’s tight ends. With more volume and a better quarterback situation, Adams may have more hype heading into the week.Tying him with 10 missed tackles forced of his own is Western Kentucky’s Tyler Higbee who is one of the better receiving options in the class. He gives underneath defenders trouble with his speed and he looks like more of a move tight end that can create matchup issues for the defense.
Offensive Tackle
Perhaps the most interesting position at the Senior Bowl, a number of offensive tackles have a chance to make a move up draft boards. Without going into a diatribe about the overvaluing of left tackles once again, the fact is, a smooth kick step and 34.5-inch arm length is more likely to inspire a first-round grade than quality of on-field play. And that’s where we have issue with this class, and last year’s for that matter, as we’ve yet to see dominant offensive tackle play in two years of grading. As for this class, they all come with various strengths and weaknesses.Washington State’s Joe Dahl has already gotten the business about his scrawny arms, but he can mirror pass rushers at left tackle and posted our top pass protection grade each of the last two seasons. Washington State’s scheme certainly helps, he’s quite susceptible to the bull rush, and he’s limited as a run blocker, but that’s a near-identical profile to Green Bay left tackle David Bakhtiari who has done more good than bad as a pass blocker in his three seasons. A move to guard due to arm length issues would exasperate Dahl’s weaknesses and lose his strength which is handling outside speed rushers.
Texas Tech’s Le’Raven Clark may be best-suited to tick the proper boxes to impress scouts, but he’s been a better run blocker than pass blocker the last two years and he struggled mightily against the speed of LSU true freshman, Arden Key, in their bowl game.
The two intriguing names that did show all-around production are Kansas State’s Cody Whitehair and Baylor’s Spencer Drango. They topped our grades this year, though Baylor’s scheme helped Drango a bit. Both players are getting a look at both guard and tackle, with Drango perhaps a better fit for a man blocking/power scheme while Whitehair is a smooth mover likely better fit for a zone scheme. Whitehair, in particular, deserves a chance to hang at tackle where he can mirror, anchor, and quickly climb to the second level, a big reason for his +8.4 pass block grade and +32.9 run block grade this season.
Another name to watch is Indiana’s Jason Spriggs who reportedly will look good during the offseason portion of the draft process and graded well at +17.3 overall this season.
When looking at the offensive tackle class as a whole, few players stand out. The only two that made it into our last first-round mock draft were both juniors in Ole Miss’ Laremy Tunsil and Michigan State’s Jack Conklin. Tunsil still a little more projection than production while Conklin put together two strong years in our system, particularly in the run game. Beyond that, the NFL would like to see some of the Senior Bowlers to elevate themselves into first round picks, but that it may be a stretch to take any of them in the first, though NFL trends will likely move them up boards due to perceived positional value.
Interior Offensive Linemen
Looking for power blocking guards? This is the group for you, especially at the top. Stanford’s Joshua Garnett had the third-best run blocking grade in the nation at +32.6 as he was a perfect fit for Stanford’s power blocking scheme. Arkansas guard Sebastian Tretola is similar, though he has two years of strong run blocking efforts in the SEC to back him up (+20.3 in 2014, +20.7 in 2015). Like Garnett, Tretola can move defenders as drive blocker or on the move as a puller, making them both similar fits from a scheme standpoint. Throw in some inconsistency for both players as pass blockers, and their draft prospects will be linked closely throughout the process.Another guard, cut from a different mold, is Arizona State’s Christian Westerman who is better as a pass blocker than he is in the run game and closer to a tackle prospect than either Tretola or Garnett. His +7.9 pass block grade tied for 17th in the nation and he’s a better fit for a zone blocking scheme.
As for the centers, Iowa’s Austin Blythe stands out after posting a +40.0 overall grade to lead the nation. He looks scheme-diverse in the run game though he was just ok in pass protection at +1.7 (16 pressures on the season).[/quote]
znModeratorRams hire Mike Groh as receivers coach, passing game coordinator
Nick Wagoner
EARTH CITY, Mo. — The Los Angeles Rams have one less piece of business to take care of this offseason. On Monday, Rams coach Jeff Fisher hired Mike Groh as his receivers coach and passing game coordinator, the team confirmed.
Groh, the son of former Virginia head coach Al Groh, spent the past three seasons as the receivers coach for the Chicago Bears. He replaces Ray Sherman in his new role with the Rams but with the expanded duties of being in charge of the passing game.
“I’m very excited to have Coach Groh join our staff,” Fisher said in a team release. “He’s a talented, young coach that has proven himself on the college level as well as in the NFL. We’re looking forward to what he will bring to our offense.”
In the passing game coordinator role, it’s expected that Groh will help presumptive offensive coordinator Rob Boras in trying to spark a passing attack that ranked at the bottom of the league in most major categories. Boras has not yet “officially” been hired to that job, but it’s a move that’s been expected since the end of the season and will probably be cemented sooner than later.
Adding Groh is a way for the Rams to complement Boras’ knowledge of the run game. When Fisher hired Frank Cignetti over Boras for the offensive coordinator job last year, he promoted Boras from tight ends coach to a bigger role that focused on the run game. With that still Boras’ primary focus, the Rams have spent time seeking someone who can bolster their ailing passing game.
Over the past few weeks, the Rams have been connected to and/or in contact with the likes of John DeFilippo and Pat Shurmur, but they opted to go to Philadelphia and Minnesota, respectively. Tennessee’s Jason Michael and Miami’s Shawn Jefferson have also been bandied about as possibilities for roles with the Rams but chose other landing spots.
Groh played quarterback at the University of Virginia and has steadily climbed the coaching ladder since. He’s spent time in various capacities with the New York Jets and at Virginia, Louisville and Alabama before spending the past three years with the Bears. In Chicago, Groh worked with the likes of receivers Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery, both of whom posted 1,000-yard receiving seasons with Groh in charge.
Fisher’s staff still has openings for running backs and tight ends coaches
znModeratorGroh is an interesting choice.
IMO.
znModeratorI don’t care about Peyton Manning, and I don’t hate either team, or like anybody on either team.
It’s the 2 defenses.
Each with a completely different task in front of it.
.
January 25, 2016 at 1:13 pm in reply to: ESPN will televise Reese’s Senior Bowl practices & other S.B. details #38043znModeratorCheck your TV guides for times.
You going to watch the practices Ag?
January 25, 2016 at 1:03 pm in reply to: Top 10 Plays of 2015: Offense, Defense, & Special Teams… + Top 10 overall #38039znModeratorznModeratorPeyton’s stats didnt look impressive.
Looks like Defense and a game-managing-QB
can still win.w
vThought of the day.
Manning: 17/32 (53.125%), 145 (4.53 YPA), 2 TDs, 0 Ints, 3 sacks
January 25, 2016 at 10:37 am in reply to: ESPN will televise Reese’s Senior Bowl practices & other S.B. details #38032znModeratorSenior Bowl rosters
NORTH: http://www.seniorbowl.com/rosters-2016.php?squad=North
SOUTH: http://www.seniorbowl.com/rosters-2016.php?squad=South
BORDER STATES:
PRACTIVE SCHEDULE: http://www.seniorbowl.com/fans-practice-schedule.php
znModeratorGurley and young line are building blocks for L.A. Rams
By Gary Klein – Los Angeles Times
http://www.myajc.com/news/sports/gurley-and-young-line-are-building-blocks-l-rams/np9Bd/
LOS ANGELES —
The Rams’ return to Los Angeles has stirred a celebratory atmosphere. Fans cheered during a raucous news conference at the Forum and rushed to make deposits for season tickets.
Will they be as enthusiastic once the team starts playing?
Not if the losing continues.
“We’re close,” owner Stan Kroenke said. “We’ve got some things to do.”
In St. Louis, the Rams won the Super Bowl after the 1999 season, but they have made only five playoff appearances in 21 years, the last in 2004. The Rams have not had a winning record since 2003, and they are coming off a 7-9 season.
Coach Jeff Fisher returns to Southern California, where he grew up and played at USC. He is in the final year of a five-year contract.
The Rams have time to make roster moves before they begin play at the Coliseum, their expected home for the next three seasons before moving into a new Inglewood stadium in 2019. Free agency begins in March, the draft is in Apri l — the Rams have the 15th overall pick — and there is also the option to adjust the roster via trades.
They also are searching for an offensive coordinator. The Rams fired Frank Cignetti in December and promoted assistant head coach and tight ends coach Rob Boras on an interim basis.
Here is a look at the offense, which ranked last in the NFL this season in passing and total offense, as it stands now:
Quarterback
The Rams have been plagued for years by inconsistent play and injuries at the most high-profile position. Six players have started games in the last three seasons.
Last March, the Rams traded the often-injured Sam Bradford, a former No. 1 overall pick, to the Philadelphia Eagles for Nick Foles. Fisher benched Foles after nine games.
Your potential starting quarterback going into the 2016 season: Case Keenum, who will become a restricted free agent in March, meaning if he accepts an offer sheet from another team the Rams would have five days to match it and retain his services. If they lose him, they could be granted one or more compensatory draft picks.
Keenum was a record-breaking passer in college at Houston, but he went undrafted in 2012. He signed with the Houston Texans, was on the practice squad and started eight games in 2013, losing all of them.
The Rams claimed him off waivers before the 2014 season and put him on the practice squad, but the Texans re-signed him and he played in two games. The Rams traded for Keenum before last season, sending the Texans a seventh-round pick in this year’s draft.
Last season, Keenum passed for 828 yards and four touchdowns, with one interception. He was 3-2 as the starter. The Rams lost to Baltimore, 16-13, in his first start. Foles returned for two games and Keenum started the final four, going 3-1.
“Case is a blocked field goal and incomplete pass away from being 5-0 as a starter,” Fisher said.
General Manager Les Snead said that Keenum, at one time during the final stretch of the season, “was playing like a top-10 QB. I’m not saying he is a top-10 QB, but he has the mind and the competitiveness to excel.”
Still, the Rams will continue to seek ways to upgrade at every position, including quarterback.
“We’re looking,” Fisher said, “we’re always looking.”
Said Snead: “You’re always searching.”
Foles, entering his fifth pro season, will try to reclaim the starting job after passing for 2,052 yards and seven touchdowns, with 10 interceptions.
Former Oregon State quarterback Sean Mannion, a third-round pick last year, is third on the depth chart.
Running back
The Rams had the 10th pick in the 2015 draft, and they used it on a running back coming off major knee surgery.
It was the right move.
Todd Gurley sat out the first two games and rushed for only nine yards in six carries in his debut. The former Georgia star went on to rush for 1,106 yards _ third in the NFL _ and 10 touchdowns.
The 6-foot-1, 227-pound Gurley became the first rookie to rush for 125 yards or more in his first four starts. He was the third rookie in Rams history to eclipse 1,000 yards rushing, joining Eric Dickerson and Jerome Bettis.
Tre Mason, who helped lead Auburn to the Bowl Championship Series title game against Florida State during the 2013 season, is second on the depth chart behind Gurley. Mason rushed for 207 yards and a touchdown and also caught 18 passes this season.
Benny Cunningham rushed for 140 yards and caught 26 passes.
Receivers
Tavon Austin and Kenny Britt were the starters for a team that had a league-worst 11 touchdown passes.
Austin caught a team-best 52 passes, five for touchdowns. He also was the second-leading rusher with 434 yards and four touchdowns, and he returned a punt for a touchdown. Britt had 36 catches, three for touchdowns, and averaged 18.9 yards per reception.
Bradley Marquez and veteran Wes Welker, who was signed in November, each caught 13 passes. Brian Quick and Stedman Bailey, who is recovering from injuries suffered in a November shooting incident in Miami, are among other receivers.
“We’ve got to add consistency to that position,” Snead said, noting that receivers had multiple drops in the Rams’ season-ending loss against San Francisco. “I think everybody who dressed at receiver in the game dropped one ball.”
Tight ends Jared Cook and Lance Kendricks had 39 and 25 receptions, respectively, Kendricks converting two into touchdowns.
Cory Harkey, who played at UCLA, caught five passes and was a valuable blocker from the line of scrimmage and from the backfield.
Offensive line
Greg Robinson, the second overall pick in the 2014 draft, is the starting left tackle for a line that helped the Rams rank seventh in rushing. Robinson and center Tim Barnes started every game for a unit that reduced the number of sacks from 47 in 2014 to 18, though the Rams ran the fewest plays in the NFL.
After making Gurley their first draft pick, the Rams focused on offensive linemen. They selected tackle Rob Havenstein in the second round, Jamon Brown in the third, Andrew Donnal in the fourth and Cody Wichmann in the sixth.
All got experience alongside veterans such as Rodger Saffold and Garrett Reynolds.
“A lot of guys got a chance to play, which should make the competition for our starting five better,” Snead said. “They’re young but we’re confident that we’ve got some good, solid players that are going to keep developing.”
Special teams
After two strong seasons, kicker Greg Zuerlein struggled in 2015. He made 20 of 30 field-goal attempts, though he converted one from 61 yards. He was 26 for 28 in 2013 and 24 for 30 in 2014.
Cunningham averaged 28.6 yards per kickoff return. Austin averaged 7.9 yards per punt return and scored a touchdown.[/quote]
znModeratorAnd there was much rejoicing
znModeratorThe Carolina game ain’t goin the way I hoped.
Panthers ran a couple of Rams plays on em. Like on the Ginn TD.
znModeratorThis city is buried.
No plow on my street. People dug out their cars but are going nowhere. Really no where to go with the snow. And to top things off I got my car uncovered–smartly parking where I knew they’d plow. Only it won’t start. Ugh.
Now my cell phone has taken a crap to boot. Add that to the kidney stone incident I had last week, the bronchitis since December–and it’s shaping up to be a GREAT year.
Fortunately I’m a Rams fan. I’m used to crushing disappointment.
Hang in there buddy.
Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?
znModeratorWell I didn’t really see the game (glimpses…left the tv on while doing tasks.)
But, I am not unhappy about the outcome.
EDIT: oops spoke too soon.
…
LAST PLAY: Tom Brady Pass To Julian Edelman For Two-Point Conversion No Good Pass Incomplete
NOW I can be “not unhappy” about the outcome.
znModeratorWell I didn’t really see the game (glimpses…left the tv on while doing tasks.)
But, I am not unhappy about the outcome.
EDIT: oops spoke too soon.
…
znModeratorFormer Rams playing key roles in championship games
Nick Wagoner
EARTH CITY, Mo. — The Los Angeles Rams only played one of the NFL’s final four during the 2015 regular season, splitting a pair of contests against the NFC West division rival Arizona Cardinals.
So while the Rams aren’t terribly familiar with the four teams left in the playoffs, there are former Rams who could play a big part in determining which teams go to the Super Bowl.
Here’s a look at the former Rams dotting the rosters of the Cardinals, New England Patriots, Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos:
— We’d be remiss to start with any team other than the Patriots and running back Steven Jackson. Jackson is the Rams’ all-time leading rusher and was just about all the team had during his nine years with the team. Now, Jackson plays for the Patriots and is finally enjoying a taste of the playoffs. Last week’s win against Kansas City was the first playoff victory for Jackson since after the 2004 season. While he’s past the point of being the bell-cow back he once was for the Rams, he’s still getting some snaps and will get some touches in the AFC Championship Game against the Broncos. For longtime Rams fans looking for sentimental reasons to root for a team, Jackson would be the obvious choice, even if he plays for a Patriots team that Rams fans still dislike from their loss in Super Bowl XXXVI.
— Joining Jackson in New England is wide receiver Danny Amendola, who played a central role in the Patriots’ run to the world championship last year. Amendola wasn’t productive last week against the Chiefs and didn’t play against the Broncos earlier in the year but he has a knack for coming up with big plays at big times and could be important against Denver’s talented secondary. Amendola was once the Rams’ best receiver but departed for New England after the 2012 season.
— As for Denver, the only former Ram on the roster is safety Darian Stewart. Stewart signed with the Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2010 and flashed promise with the team but simply couldn’t stay healthy enough to nail down a permanent job. He went to Baltimore before the 2014 season and then signed with Denver before this year. He went on to post his best season and is Denver’s starter at free safety. He’ll have his hands full Sunday against New England tight end Rob Gronkowski, though he’s sure to be just one piece of the puzzle the Broncos use to try to slow him down.
— In the NFC, the Cardinals actually don’t have a former Ram on their roster but the Panthers have two and both will be in important spots on Sunday. Cornerback Cortland Finnegan and right tackle Mike Remmers had short stints with the Rams, though Remmers’ time with the team was much shorter. Finnegan signed with the Rams as a free agent in 2012 but was released after an injury-plagued 2013 season. He went to Miami and retired after the 2014 season only to sign with Carolina after the Panthers secondary was hit hard by injury late in the season. Finnegan had an interception last week against Seattle, but it’s fair to assume the Cardinals will test him with the likes of John Brown and Larry Fitzgerald in the NFC title game. Remmers will be busy as well with defensive end Calais Campbell on the other side plus Arizona’s group of outside pass-rushers behind him.
— This is only the seventh time that the top two seeds in both conferences have made it to the championship games since the current playoff format began in 1990. It’s also the first time it’s happened since 2004. That should mean some good football on Sunday afternoon. Enjoy the games.
January 24, 2016 at 4:00 pm in reply to: Rams source: “Likely” Rob Boras becomes permanent offensive coordinator #38004znModeratori’m wondering if it’s going to be hard to hire coaches until after they’ve settled into los angeles
Or until Fisher has an extension.
January 24, 2016 at 2:36 pm in reply to: Top 10 Plays of 2015: Offense, Defense, & Special Teams… + Top 10 overall #37999znModeratorTop 10 Plays of 2015: Special Teams
znModeratorUnlike some, I happen to like Arians,
and I also like the idea that the NFC west could be sending teams to the superbowl in 4 consecutive years. I have no feelings about Carolina one way or the other.Do you watch Arians with the sound turned off? His shit talk before and after games is what I don’t like. He’s certainly ran his mouth about the Rams but he outdid himself in the week leading to the Seahawks blasting his team in his stadium in week 17. What do you like about him besides he wins of course!
You care more about what he says than I do. Not judging, I could see why someone would care, I just don’t.
I like the fact that he’s a good old-fashioned Coryell offense type, I like the fact that he’s a no-nonsense non-PC “speaks his mind” non-slick type coach, and I like the fact that he beat the odds in becoming a head coach in spite of being labelled a “career coordinator” type. I don’t mind his manner, but that;s just a matter of taste.
…
znModeratorI got too much to do to watch both games. So, I just figure, Denver doesn’t stand much of a chance, and the living dead version of Manning isn’t Manning. Unlike some, I happen to like Arians,
and I also like the idea that the NFC west could be sending teams to the superbowl in 4 consecutive years. I have no feelings about Carolina one way or the other.znModeratorNFL Update @MySportsUpdate
Vikings have hired Pat Shurmur to their offensive staff. It’s believed he will be their RB coach. Great hire.znModeratorNFLDraftScout.com
2016 NFL Draft: Vernon Adams among Shrine Game prospects boosting stock
Rob Rang
College all-star games are like professional all-star games — they’re designed with fans, not scouts, in mind. Players are rotated liberally and there is little regard for the final score, making the week of practice even more important to many scouts than the game, itself.
NFLDraftScout.com’s Dane Brugler was there, highlighting prospects from the week’s practices.
As Allen Iverson once famously said, we’re talking about practice, though. Scouts want players who perform their best under in games. That’s exactly what Oregon quarterback Vernon Adams and several other intriguing NFL prospects did Saturday.
Here’s who helped their NFL stock the most:
QB Vernon Adams, Oregon (5-11, 195): Frankly, Adams did everything short of growing 6 inches to boost his NFL stock, tossing three touchdowns in the first half to pace the West’s 29-9 win. The Eastern Washington transfer showed the dual-threat capabilities that have earned him frequent Russell Wilson comparisons, eluding defenders with balance and agility and quieting critics with polished throws from the pocket.
His splashiest play was a 93-yard touchdown toss to Purdue wideout Danny Anthrop, who worked himself free and showed surprising speed to score after Adams extended the play in Wilsonlike fashion. Frankly, his “other” touchdowns were more impressive plays, as Adams baited defenders with his eyes and a pump-fake to create throwing lanes, before delivering perfect strikes for scores. It was the kind of performance which could turn some doubters into believers. Count former Atlanta Falcons coach June Jones — who tutored Adams this past week — as one convert. “Vernon, I think, has impressed me more than anyone in the game that we’ve had,” Jones said at halftime. “I was thinking he wasn’t good enough as a passer to play in the NFL but there is no question he has it.”
WR Geronimo Allison, Illinois (6-3, 197): While Adams was the easy MVP, Allison also made some money, hauling in two touchdowns among his four receptions. After leading the Illini in receptions (65) and receiving yards (882) to earn Honorable Mention All-Big Ten honors in 2015, scouts knew he could catch. But Allison’s all-around game during the week earned him high marks from scouts.
For a tall receiver, Allison shows impressive initial burst to get cornerbacks turning, enough agility to make defenders miss on an end-around and strength and competitiveness as a downfield blocker. When an early pass from Western Kentucky’s Brandon Doughty was intercepted by Florida linebacker Anthony Harrell, Allison delivered the hit to stop the defender, nearly forcing a fumble on the tackle.
DE Victor Ochi, Stony Brook (6-1, 244): Ochi was highlighted throughout the week, and the burst and motor which caught Brugler’s eye was obvious Saturday, too. As noted by NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah during the telecast, Ochi was consistently the first lineman off the ball, showing the explosiveness to wreak havoc off the edge. His disproportionately long arms (33 1/2″) and compact frame make Ochi surprisingly stout at the point of attack and he showed terrific effort in pursuit, as well. Ochi’s overaggression got the better of him on a 4th and short when he was drawn off-sides. But even on this mistake, he showed intriguing traits — generating the same burst as a stand-up rusher as he’d shown previously with his hand in the dirt.
RB Daniel Lasco, California (6-0, 205): Lasco was often overshadowed at Cal by star quarterback Jared Goff but the zero-to-60 burst he showed will have scouts scouring his tape. Lasco generates instant speed with light feet and strong, decisive steps, helping him record a couple of explosive runs in the first half against the East defense and ultimately leading all participants with an unofficial 52 rushing yards (on just three carries). Lasco has struggled with durability throughout his career and saw his numbers tumble from 1,115 and 12 touchdowns on the ground as a junior to 331 and three in 2015 but he clearly possesses NFL talent. The club that rolls the dice on him in the late rounds could get a steal.
DL David Onyemata, Manitoba (6-4, 300): The East-West Shrine Game has frequently featured top-rated Canadian prospects in the past but few in prior years offer Onyemata’s NFL-caliber blend of size and strength. Despite a build much better suited to playing inside than out, Onyemata did most of his damage at right defensive end Saturday, generating a sack and at least one other pressure with surprising initial quickness and flexibility. He recorded a monster hit on Michigan quarterback Jake Rudock after swimming through Memphis left tackle Fallin Taylor in the fourth quarter, flashing an exciting combination of agility, technique and explosiveness. As noted by Mike Mayock during the telecast, Onyemata hasn’t yet been invited to the 2016 NFL Scouting Combine. Don’t be surprised if the league finds room for him after Saturday’s impressive showing.
znModeratorhttp://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/mock-draft
15. ST. LOUIS RAMS
(7-9) Connor Cook, QB, Michigan State: With rookie Pro Bowler Todd Gurley and the NFL’s most ferocious defensive line, the Rams are only a legitimate quarterback away from contention. Cook is a polarizing prospect in part due to an abrasive personality, but he’s arguably the most pro-ready quarterback in this class.
15. ST. LOUIS RAMS
(7-9) Carson Wentz, QB, North Dakota State: The Rams have a very talented roster, except at the most important position in sports: quarterback. St. Louis needs to address the position this offseason and Wentz has arguably the most upside of any passer in this draft class.
znModeratorZooey
Participant
The good news, though, is that the NFL runs a “keeper” league, so the Rams don’t have to draft Gurley again. They already have him.True
znModeratorThere’s still different versions of this.
===
FROM How St. Louis lost the Rams
David Hunn, Jim Thomas
http://theramshuddle.com/topic/relocationthe-move-121/#post-37928
At the end of 1994, St. Louis had just lost its bid for an expansion franchise. James Orthwein, a Busch heir, had sold the New England Patriots — the region’s backup plan — to business magnate Robert Kraft. And a downtown football stadium was one-third built.
The Rams were months into negotiations with regional leaders hoping to lure the team east.
In November, attorneys for all sides met in secret in La Jolla, Calif., a tony beachside neighborhood north of San Diego.
Rams President Shaw was worried about stadium upkeep. It was a problem in Anaheim, where the team had played since 1980. He knew St. Louis hadn’t funded a new stadium for the football Cardinals, who had fled to Phoenix seven years earlier. He didn’t want such issues to become a problem if the Rams moved to St. Louis.
In Shaw’s mind it wasn’t as much physical obsolescence as economic: A team’s ability to make money was rapidly changing. Club seats, luxury suites and other extras were cutting edge, as were in-house advertising and stadium naming rights.
Shaw told his attorneys before they met in La Jolla to make sure the St. Louis stadium could adapt to changing revenue streams.
Three main parties were negotiating the lease. Greg Smith represented the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission, which would run the dome. Attorney Richard Riezman and his firm, then called Riezman & Blitz, spoke for FANS Inc., the group of civic leaders trying to lure the team. The Rams were represented primarily by L.A. attorneys Milt Hyman and Marty Gelfand, as well as sports consultant Marc Ganis.
It’s unclear who introduced the now-infamous “first-tier” clause, which required the stadium to be among the top eight facilities in the league after each 10-year increment. Shaw and Ganis have both said the Rams brought it up. Most say they now forget. Some think it was actually a St. Louis attorney.
“It might surprise you, but I favored it,” said former convention center director Bruce Sommer. “I had been managing the Kiel and St. Louis arena. I learned that if the public owns it, likely they’ll never put another dime into it. And in a number of years, it won’t be a very good facility.”
But regional leaders refused to guarantee a dollar figure on the upgrades — they didn’t want to commit future tax dollars.
The parties went back and forth on the subject.
At one point in negotiations, Hyman pushed away from the table. “‘Guys, do I need to remind you? There’s only one NFL corporation that wants to move,’” Sommer recalls him saying. Then Hyman pulled his chair back to the table. “‘Now let’s get reasonable.’”
The St. Louisans had little choice, Sommer said. “What are we going to do, sit here with an empty $300 million stadium, and be the laughingstock of the country?”
Neither Hyman nor Gelfand returned calls seeking comment.
In the end, they worked out a deal that allowed the Rams to leave the dome if the parties couldn’t agree on top-tier upgrades and arbitrators ruled in their favor.
“Believe me, I tried to convince the St. Louis parties not to do it even though I was representing the Rams,” Ganis said. “I knew then, and I explained to them then, that this was going to be a major mistake they were making. I told them.”
“We weren’t looking to be pigs,” he continued. “We just wanted the building updated on a regular basis over 30 years. That’s all we were looking for. We knew that St. Louis was a challenging market compared to many of the other markets in the NFL. So we had to have a first-class building.”
Smith, the convention center attorney, chuckled some last week when asked about the clause. It didn’t, then, really seem like something they had to worry about.
“My recollection,” he said, “was we thought we had plenty of time to figure that out.”
znModeratorHow St. Louis lost the Rams
David Hunn, Jim Thomas
ST. LOUIS • There was still hope for St. Louis football on the day the region lost the Rams.
The plan to build a new stadium here had strident support. Michael Bidwill, owner of the Arizona Cardinals, had worked for weeks to round up votes among his National Football League colleagues. Jerry Richardson, owner of the Carolina Panthers, lobbied so ardently he had even flown to visit some owners.
At midday on Jan. 12, the influential NFL Committee on Los Angeles Opportunities recommended 5-1 that the league’s 32 owners approve a stadium project in Carson, Calif. That would move the Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers to Los Angeles. Rams owner Stan Kroenke would be stuck in St. Louis.
But as the hours passed in Houston, optimism disappeared.
The committee’s Carson pick was expected. And most thought it would take several ballots for one side to gather the 24 votes necessary for league approval.
It didn’t. The first vote killed the Carson project. Owners voted 21-11 in favor of Kroenke’s sparkling Inglewood stadium. It was just a matter of time to reach 24.
By day’s end, the vote was 30-2.
St. Louis stadium officials were left wondering what went wrong.
“I thought we had a good shot,” Dave Peacock, co-chairman of Gov. Jay Nixon’s stadium task force, said late that night. “Obviously, tonight, we learned otherwise.”
No one moment killed the effort to keep the Rams in St. Louis. But task force members, league and team executives — past and present — as well as multiple owners agreed that three factors, above all others, sunk the St. Louis effort:
• A secret ballot.
• A resistance to a vote of residents or state legislators.
• And one clause in the Rams’ 21-year-old lease.
A tipping point might have come the week before the Houston meeting. Rams Chief Operating Officer Kevin Demoff presented Kroenke’s stadium plan — round after round of dazzling full-color renderings — to 17 owners on three committees in New York City. Owners say now that the display went exceedingly well.
“We’re sitting there in New York, and I’m watching this presentation on Inglewood, and I’m thinking to myself, ‘Holy (expletive),’” said one owner, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “I said, ‘There is no way that the owners in that room are not going to approve this project. This is pretty spectacular.’”
Even committed Carson-backers left New York City worried.
THE FINAL HOURS:
THREE SECRET BALLOTSWalking into the Houston meetings, Chargers owner Dean Spanos and his supporters thought they had lined up about 20 votes. Spanos was well-liked by owners, who also sympathized with his long fight for a new stadium in San Diego. Richardson had been “aggressively” lobbying for Carson, one owner said — so aggressively, in fact, that league executives got calls from owners who said they felt “bullied.”
Several asked Commissioner Roger Goodell about a secret ballot. Goodell put the issue on the day’s agenda. The owners took it up and voted. It passed 19-13.
In the NFL, secret ballots occur about as often as Rams playoff berths.
In this case, it opened the door for Kroenke.
“In the almost 30 years I was behind those doors at those meetings, the only instances in which I recall the use of the secret ballot were the selection of the commissioner and the selection of Super Bowl sites,” said former Raiders CEO Amy Trask, now a CBS Sports analyst.
“It was tremendously significant,” she said. “And also somewhat surprising.”
It’s one thing to tell an owner he’s got your vote. It’s another to look him in the eye and say he doesn’t. Former Rams President John Shaw has said on more than one occasion that when he walked into owners meetings in 1995 in Phoenix, he felt he had 18 votes in favor of moving the Rams to St. Louis. Turned out he had three.
In Houston, the impact of the secret ballot was immediate. Owners voted 21-11 in favor of Inglewood. Someone flipped for Carson in the next vote, and it went 20-12.
Just like that, eight or nine Spanos votes had disappeared. Owners took a break. It was time to broker a deal. By day’s end, Kroenke’s Inglewood palace won, 30-2. The league gave Spanos a one-year option to move in with Kroenke; Raiders owner Mark Davis could move if Spanos didn’t.
The secret ballot didn’t carry the day alone. Some owners and executives now say Demoff’s New York presentation got even better in Houston. Some say the rare appearance of Seattle Seahawks owner and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen — who urged owners to pick the best stadium project — swayed the room.
“Paul was vocal,” one owner said. “And more so than I’ve ever seen him at a league meeting.”
Over six hours, the league had done something it almost never does: Overruled a committee vote.
“Again, in all my years in that meeting room,” said Trask, the former Raiders executive, “I can count on one hand, with fingers to spare, the numbers of times the membership as a whole did not endorse the recommendation of a committee.”
“It is extraordinarily rare.”
THE LAST MONTHS: A CASCADE OF FAILED PLANSTwo years ago, Goodell and NFL Executive Vice President Eric Grubman urged Nixon to go public with his support for a new stadium.
But Nixon waited at least 10 months to announce his task force, until the day after the November 2014 election. The day before, a new county executive was elected.
The county would prove to be more opponent than ally.
In January 2015, Nixon’s task force revealed plans for a $1 billion riverfront stadium. A key tenet: no new tax dollars. St. Louis, St. Louis County and the state could all instead extend annual payments — $24 million in total — that cover debt and upkeep on the Edward Jones Dome, where the Rams played.
Nixon was worried that there wasn’t time for a public vote, especially since the NFL decision was proving to be a moving target — once projected for the fall, then December, then January. In addition, leaders weren’t sure a vote would pass. Polling in the city showed roughly a 50-50 split among voters. If Kroenke funded opposition, results could be worse.
So Nixon — who was already ignoring calls for a vote of the state Legislature — sought to sidestep St. Louis and St. Louis County laws requiring elections.
That March, Nixon met with County Executive Steve Stenger to talk about his role. Stenger told Nixon that the county charter would, in his eyes, require a public vote for any direct support of a new stadium.
Nixon’s team shifted gears, Stenger said. Could the county instead cover Jones Dome upkeep, or the remaining $115 million in debt?
The county’s role, however, “was never formalized,” Stenger said Friday. The task force suggested the county could support the stadium “in some other way, other than through public financing,” he said.
At the end of March, Nixon cut the county out of the stadium financing plan.
Nixon and Peacock shrugged off the loss. But the county represented one-fourth of the stadium’s anticipated public financing. It was money the task force would never recoup.
With every revision, every plan released publicly, the NFL protested.
The task force secured $158 million in stadium naming rights, and proposed using that to fund construction. The NFL argued naming rights were club dollars.
The task force suggested using game-day tax revenue — on tickets, parking, hot dogs, etc. The NFL cried foul again: The city had waived ticket taxes for the Cardinals and the Blues. Why not the Rams, too?
Finally, the day before a key vote by the city’s Board of Aldermen, the plan changed one more time. The task force proposed sending ticket taxes, too, back to the NFL, in exchange for higher stadium rent and $100 million more from the league.
Two days later, Goodell wrote to Peacock saying the $100 million was “fundamentally inconsistent with the NFL’s program of stadium financing.” The league had no plans to pay it, he said.
But the letter was misleading to the general public. League owners and executives had multiple conversations with the task force about such an offer, both sides acknowledged. And the league did have plans to pay that money — a fact which became clear after the owners vote in Houston. There, the league offered Spanos and Davis $100 million extra toward new stadiums in their hometowns.
Kroenke would have gotten the same deal, executives said after the Houston meeting, had he lost the vote and stayed in St. Louis.
Another blow came just days before the Houston meeting.
In a report sent to owners Jan. 9, Goodell said there are “significant concerns about the certainty and long-term viability of the Task Force’s stadium proposal to retain the Rams,” according to an excerpt obtained by the Post-Dispatch. Moreover, he said, the Rams have the right to relocate.
Nixon told the Post-Dispatch that, in the end, few of those criticisms mattered.
“Even if we stopped and did those things, we’d still be here, and the team in LA,” Nixon said on Friday. “I do not believe a few million dollars on either side would have changed the outcome.”
Still, an airtight stadium plan was the last hope for the task force. It had to be perfect in the league’s eyes.
And it wasn’t.
20 YEARS AGO:
A DESPERATE CITYNone of this would have mattered were it not for a few paragraphs among hundreds of pages in the Rams lease.
At the end of 1994, St. Louis had just lost its bid for an expansion franchise. James Orthwein, a Busch heir, had sold the New England Patriots — the region’s backup plan — to business magnate Robert Kraft. And a downtown football stadium was one-third built.
The Rams were months into negotiations with regional leaders hoping to lure the team east.
In November, attorneys for all sides met in secret in La Jolla, Calif., a tony beachside neighborhood north of San Diego.
Rams President Shaw was worried about stadium upkeep. It was a problem in Anaheim, where the team had played since 1980. He knew St. Louis hadn’t funded a new stadium for the football Cardinals, who had fled to Phoenix seven years earlier. He didn’t want such issues to become a problem if the Rams moved to St. Louis.
In Shaw’s mind it wasn’t as much physical obsolescence as economic: A team’s ability to make money was rapidly changing. Club seats, luxury suites and other extras were cutting edge, as were in-house advertising and stadium naming rights.
Shaw told his attorneys before they met in La Jolla to make sure the St. Louis stadium could adapt to changing revenue streams.
Three main parties were negotiating the lease. Greg Smith represented the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission, which would run the dome. Attorney Richard Riezman and his firm, then called Riezman & Blitz, spoke for FANS Inc., the group of civic leaders trying to lure the team. The Rams were represented primarily by L.A. attorneys Milt Hyman and Marty Gelfand, as well as sports consultant Marc Ganis.
It’s unclear who introduced the now-infamous “first-tier” clause, which required the stadium to be among the top eight facilities in the league after each 10-year increment. Shaw and Ganis have both said the Rams brought it up. Most say they now forget. Some think it was actually a St. Louis attorney.
“It might surprise you, but I favored it,” said former convention center director Bruce Sommer. “I had been managing the Kiel and St. Louis arena. I learned that if the public owns it, likely they’ll never put another dime into it. And in a number of years, it won’t be a very good facility.”
But regional leaders refused to guarantee a dollar figure on the upgrades — they didn’t want to commit future tax dollars.
The parties went back and forth on the subject.
At one point in negotiations, Hyman pushed away from the table. “‘Guys, do I need to remind you? There’s only one NFL corporation that wants to move,’” Sommer recalls him saying. Then Hyman pulled his chair back to the table. “‘Now let’s get reasonable.’”
The St. Louisans had little choice, Sommer said. “What are we going to do, sit here with an empty $300 million stadium, and be the laughingstock of the country?”
Neither Hyman nor Gelfand returned calls seeking comment.
In the end, they worked out a deal that allowed the Rams to leave the dome if the parties couldn’t agree on top-tier upgrades and arbitrators ruled in their favor.
“Believe me, I tried to convince the St. Louis parties not to do it even though I was representing the Rams,” Ganis said. “I knew then, and I explained to them then, that this was going to be a major mistake they were making. I told them.”
“We weren’t looking to be pigs,” he continued. “We just wanted the building updated on a regular basis over 30 years. That’s all we were looking for. We knew that St. Louis was a challenging market compared to many of the other markets in the NFL. So we had to have a first-class building.”
Smith, the convention center attorney, chuckled some last week when asked about the clause. It didn’t, then, really seem like something they had to worry about.
“My recollection,” he said, “was we thought we had plenty of time to figure that out.”
KEY MOMENTS FOR ST. LOUIS RAMSFeb. 1, 2013 • Arbitrators rule in favor of Rams’ $700 million proposal to reach first-tier status at Edward Jones Dome.
July, 2013 • Regional leaders reject Rams’ $700 million plan. “We simply don’t have the money to do it,” convention and sports complex authority head Jim Shrewsbury says.
January, 2014 • Rams owner Stan Kroenke buys 60 acres in Inglewood, Calif. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell tells St. Louis not to overreact: “There are no plans to my knowledge of a stadium development.”
Nov. 6, 2014 • Gov. Jay Nixon announces formation of task force headed by former Anheuser-Busch executive Dave Peacock and attorney Bob Blitz to keep NFL football in St. Louis.
Jan. 5., 2015 • Kroenke’s plans are made public to build an 80,000-seat stadium in Inglewood, partnering with Stockbridge Capital Group on a multi-faceted 300-acre project.
Jan. 9, 2015 • Stadium task force reveals plans for an open-air riverfront stadium on the north edge of downtown St. Louis.
Jan. 26, 2015 • Rams convert Edward Jones dome lease to year-to-year status.
March 2015 • St. Louis County taxpayers are removed from stadium financing, stripping plan of $6 million a year and raising questions about viability of the project.
Oct. 6, 2015 • Proposed St. Louis stadium gets a $158 million name: National Car Rental Field.
Dec. 6, 2015 • Task force cuts deal to fill financing hole, giving stadium naming rights money to NFL. but keeping anticipated tax revenue.
Dec. 9, 2015 • NFL executive Eric Grubman says on a local radio show: “St. Louis will surely fall short of having a compelling proposal that would attract the Rams.”
Dec. 10, 2015 • Aldermanic committee votes 7-2 to send stadium financing bill to full Board of Aldermen.
Dec. 16, 2015 • Houston Texans owner Robert McNair tells Houston Chronicle: St. Louis is “getting pretty close, in my opinion, to being an attractive proposal. And if they do come up with an attractive proposal … I don’t think the Rams will receive the approval to relocate.”
Dec. 17, 2015 • Goodell warns Nixon and his task force that the NFL has no plans to contribute $300 million toward construction of a St. Louis stadium.
Dec. 18, 2015 • Aldermen approve funding plan for stadium construction, 17-10.
Jan. 5, 2016 • Rams file for relocation, blasting the St. Louis market and stating that any NFL club agreeing to stadium proposal “would be well on the road to financial ruin.”
Jan. 9. 2016 • In a report sent to NFL team owners, Goodell calls the St. Louis stadium plan inadequate, suggests that Rams have met relocation guidelines.
Jan. 12, 2016 • League owners meet in Houston, approve Rams’ move to Los Angeles, 30-2.[/quote]
January 23, 2016 at 1:18 pm in reply to: Top 10 Plays of 2015: Offense, Defense, & Special Teams… + Top 10 overall #37927znModeratorTop 10 Plays of 2015: Defense
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