As the St. Louis Rams start their season with the opening of training camp in what may be their final season in The Lou, I thought I would reflect on my favorite Rams memories from their tenure in St. Louis. Yours may differ a little but I have to think our list will be very similar.
#8. Rams draft Torry Holt-I can remember the 1999 draft so well. At the time the Rams had zero running game. I so desperately wanted the Rams to draft Edgerrin James out of Miami. While most of the country was in love with Ricky Williams out of Texas I viewed him as just a runner where James could run, catch and run, etc. The draft was loaded. I felt the Rams were in a no lose situation. Picking at 6 we were sure to get Williams, James, Champ Bailey, or even the hulk out of Ohio State named David Boston. Now Looking back obviously the decision to trade for Marshall Faulk rather than draft James benefited both teams. But I will never forget when the Commish announced Torry Holt to the Rams, I flipped! How could we not draft Champ Bailey? I am still not going to concede drafting Holt was better than Champ. After all Bailey is a sure fire Hall of Famer. But drafting Holt certainly helped jump start the offense.
#7. Isaac shows we belong-Who can forget the opening play on offense in the first ever St. Louis Rams playoff game. The Rams were playing at home against the Minnesota Vikings and many people were worried that Minnesota may be able to match the Ram offense with the likes of Robert Smith, Cris Carter, and Randy Moss. I remember the play like it was yesterday. Kurt Warner hits Isaac in stride on a crossing route on our opening offensive play and he was gone. Even John Madden was fired up as he shouted Bob and Weave referring to the catchy touchdown celebration the Rams used. The Rams never looked back as they scored nearly 50 points to hammer the Vikings.
#6. Rams draft the Big O-Leading up to the 1997 draft the Rams had a huge need for offensive line help. Sound familiar? There was no debate leading up to the draft that Orlando Pace was by far the best player in the entire draft. Sure he would look good in a Ram uniform but no way was that going to happen. Or was it? Not too many people follow the draft yearly as much as myself. I guess it is the fact that as a fan growing up of the St. Louis Cardinals and then the Rams and both teams traditionally not being competitive that as a fan you are just looking for a glimmer of hope. When the trade was announced that we were switching draft positions with the Jets there was little doubt who the Rams were taking. To this day it is one of the best moves ever made by the Rams .
#5. Before there was the Tackle there was the Catch-The week after burying the Vikings at home in their first playoff game, the Rams had to take on the physical, tough Tampa Bay Buccaneers led by the three headed monster of Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks, and John Lynch. Both teams had not been very good for long and both were such a contrast in style. The Rams were the Ferrari while the Bucs were the Monster truck. Both defenses played out of their mind with hardly any points being scored when late in the game Kurt Warner found Proehl in the left corner of the end zone. The fact that it was not Faulk, Bruce, Holt, Hakim or even Tony Horne was shocking but it would endear Proehl to the hearts of Rams fans like myself forever by sending Ram Nation to the Superbowl.
#4. One of the best moments was also one of the worst on the same play-During the Rams preseason leading up to the 99 season the Ram offense was showing signs of greatness under hometown kid Trent Green. On a single play that Faulk still blames himself for, Rodney Harrison beat Marshall's block and came in low and shredded Green's knee and ended his season. With that one tragic play one of the greatest stories in NFL history was set into motion. I can still see and hear Dick Vermeil's press conference where he said "We will rally around Kurt Warner and we will play good football". I thought to myself that Coach Vermeil has officially lost his mind. No way were the Rams going to stand pat and start a guy from the Arena league. My next memory goes to the home opener against the Ravens. I am there with my brother and the Rams beat the Ravens and if I am not mistaken Warner had 3 or 4 touchdown passes. So ended my hopes of ever being a NFL General Manager.
#3.The Catch Part 2-In what has to gown in history as a top 5 Superbowl, the Rams beat the Titans in Superbowl 34. What a phenomenal game. The Rams dominated the Titans all first half but just couldn't keep putting the ball in the end zone. Late in the game St. Louis and Tennessee were tied at 16 when Kurt Warner stayed tough in the pocket while Jevon "The Freak" Kearse was bearing down on him. Warner threw a deep pass that Bruce adjusted his route on and caught what would be the game winning touchdown. My brother, his wife, and grandson were at my house and I wanted to yell and scream but the baby had just went to sleep. I still regret not yelling, naps come and go but superbowl victories are few and far between. Obviously
#2. Welcome to St. Louis Marshall, Marshall, Marshall-As I mentioned earlier, leading into the 99 season the Rams were desperate for help at running back. They had sent Jerome Bettis to Pittsburgh. I don't care what anyone says, Bettis still owes St. Louis a ton. When the Rams arrived in St. Louis Jerome was not motivated for whatever reason. He was a shell of the player he had been early in his career. Had he not been traded to the Steelers where Bill Cowher could get him jump started he would have never turned out to be the Hall of Fame player he is. So in the single greatest transaction in Ram history, St. Louis sent a second and fifth round pick to Indy for what may be the best player in St. Louis football history. There were many players acquired that transformed the Rams into the Greatest Show on Turf. From signing free agent Adam Timmerman, drafting the Big O, drafting Holt, signing Kurt Warner, etc. But no move did more to change the Rams offense more than getting Marshall. From day one he was a leader and had a competitive spirit that had been greatly missing in the Ram huddle. Thank god for #28.
#1. The Tackle-Any Ram fan can remember the change of momentum in the second half of Superbowl 34. The game had been dominated by St. Louis but in the second half the late Steve McNair and Eddie George took over. They were on a mission. McNair was scrambling and George was running over tacklers like Earl Campbell had years before. The Titans had rallied and tied the game, the Rams answered with the Isaac Bruce catch, and now just needed to keep Tennessee out of the end zone one last time. The Ram D-Line was gassed and not getting much pressure on McNair. On what is one of the most famous plays in Superbowl history, former Mizzou running back turned NFL linebacker Mike Jones tackled Kevin Dyson a yard short of the Titan end zone ensuring the first and what may be the only NFL championship in St. Louis football history.
Let's hope that the Rams are able to stay in St. Louis and add a few more moments to this list.
#8. Rams draft Torry Holt-I can remember the 1999 draft so well. At the time the Rams had zero running game. I so desperately wanted the Rams to draft Edgerrin James out of Miami. While most of the country was in love with Ricky Williams out of Texas I viewed him as just a runner where James could run, catch and run, etc. The draft was loaded. I felt the Rams were in a no lose situation. Picking at 6 we were sure to get Williams, James, Champ Bailey, or even the hulk out of Ohio State named David Boston. Now Looking back obviously the decision to trade for Marshall Faulk rather than draft James benefited both teams. But I will never forget when the Commish announced Torry Holt to the Rams, I flipped! How could we not draft Champ Bailey? I am still not going to concede drafting Holt was better than Champ. After all Bailey is a sure fire Hall of Famer. But drafting Holt certainly helped jump start the offense.
#7. Isaac shows we belong-Who can forget the opening play on offense in the first ever St. Louis Rams playoff game. The Rams were playing at home against the Minnesota Vikings and many people were worried that Minnesota may be able to match the Ram offense with the likes of Robert Smith, Cris Carter, and Randy Moss. I remember the play like it was yesterday. Kurt Warner hits Isaac in stride on a crossing route on our opening offensive play and he was gone. Even John Madden was fired up as he shouted Bob and Weave referring to the catchy touchdown celebration the Rams used. The Rams never looked back as they scored nearly 50 points to hammer the Vikings.
#6. Rams draft the Big O-Leading up to the 1997 draft the Rams had a huge need for offensive line help. Sound familiar? There was no debate leading up to the draft that Orlando Pace was by far the best player in the entire draft. Sure he would look good in a Ram uniform but no way was that going to happen. Or was it? Not too many people follow the draft yearly as much as myself. I guess it is the fact that as a fan growing up of the St. Louis Cardinals and then the Rams and both teams traditionally not being competitive that as a fan you are just looking for a glimmer of hope. When the trade was announced that we were switching draft positions with the Jets there was little doubt who the Rams were taking. To this day it is one of the best moves ever made by the Rams .
#5. Before there was the Tackle there was the Catch-The week after burying the Vikings at home in their first playoff game, the Rams had to take on the physical, tough Tampa Bay Buccaneers led by the three headed monster of Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks, and John Lynch. Both teams had not been very good for long and both were such a contrast in style. The Rams were the Ferrari while the Bucs were the Monster truck. Both defenses played out of their mind with hardly any points being scored when late in the game Kurt Warner found Proehl in the left corner of the end zone. The fact that it was not Faulk, Bruce, Holt, Hakim or even Tony Horne was shocking but it would endear Proehl to the hearts of Rams fans like myself forever by sending Ram Nation to the Superbowl.
#4. One of the best moments was also one of the worst on the same play-During the Rams preseason leading up to the 99 season the Ram offense was showing signs of greatness under hometown kid Trent Green. On a single play that Faulk still blames himself for, Rodney Harrison beat Marshall's block and came in low and shredded Green's knee and ended his season. With that one tragic play one of the greatest stories in NFL history was set into motion. I can still see and hear Dick Vermeil's press conference where he said "We will rally around Kurt Warner and we will play good football". I thought to myself that Coach Vermeil has officially lost his mind. No way were the Rams going to stand pat and start a guy from the Arena league. My next memory goes to the home opener against the Ravens. I am there with my brother and the Rams beat the Ravens and if I am not mistaken Warner had 3 or 4 touchdown passes. So ended my hopes of ever being a NFL General Manager.
#3.The Catch Part 2-In what has to gown in history as a top 5 Superbowl, the Rams beat the Titans in Superbowl 34. What a phenomenal game. The Rams dominated the Titans all first half but just couldn't keep putting the ball in the end zone. Late in the game St. Louis and Tennessee were tied at 16 when Kurt Warner stayed tough in the pocket while Jevon "The Freak" Kearse was bearing down on him. Warner threw a deep pass that Bruce adjusted his route on and caught what would be the game winning touchdown. My brother, his wife, and grandson were at my house and I wanted to yell and scream but the baby had just went to sleep. I still regret not yelling, naps come and go but superbowl victories are few and far between. Obviously
#2. Welcome to St. Louis Marshall, Marshall, Marshall-As I mentioned earlier, leading into the 99 season the Rams were desperate for help at running back. They had sent Jerome Bettis to Pittsburgh. I don't care what anyone says, Bettis still owes St. Louis a ton. When the Rams arrived in St. Louis Jerome was not motivated for whatever reason. He was a shell of the player he had been early in his career. Had he not been traded to the Steelers where Bill Cowher could get him jump started he would have never turned out to be the Hall of Fame player he is. So in the single greatest transaction in Ram history, St. Louis sent a second and fifth round pick to Indy for what may be the best player in St. Louis football history. There were many players acquired that transformed the Rams into the Greatest Show on Turf. From signing free agent Adam Timmerman, drafting the Big O, drafting Holt, signing Kurt Warner, etc. But no move did more to change the Rams offense more than getting Marshall. From day one he was a leader and had a competitive spirit that had been greatly missing in the Ram huddle. Thank god for #28.
#1. The Tackle-Any Ram fan can remember the change of momentum in the second half of Superbowl 34. The game had been dominated by St. Louis but in the second half the late Steve McNair and Eddie George took over. They were on a mission. McNair was scrambling and George was running over tacklers like Earl Campbell had years before. The Titans had rallied and tied the game, the Rams answered with the Isaac Bruce catch, and now just needed to keep Tennessee out of the end zone one last time. The Ram D-Line was gassed and not getting much pressure on McNair. On what is one of the most famous plays in Superbowl history, former Mizzou running back turned NFL linebacker Mike Jones tackled Kevin Dyson a yard short of the Titan end zone ensuring the first and what may be the only NFL championship in St. Louis football history.
Let's hope that the Rams are able to stay in St. Louis and add a few more moments to this list.