With the draft a distant memory and training camp little but a twinkle in the eye of us diehards, it is a slow time for NFL news. When you need to fill content during a slow time, it's amazing to see the amount of echoing that comes from different media sources.
Take, for instance, the case of Dave McGinnis and our very own Ryan Van Bibber. Hit the jump to see more on the echo-chamber!
At roughly 8:30 A.M. on Saturday morning, 6/16, Ryan Van Bibber posted to TurfShowTimes an article titled Dave McGinnis Looms Large For The St Louis Rams. In the first paragraph, the suspension of Gregg Williams comes up. There are quotes from Fisher and McGinnis on how quickly the players have picked up the system and all the credit they deserve.
At roughly 3:15 P.M. on Sunday evening, 6/17, Profootballtalk had an article titled McGinnis could be the key to Rams lack of coordinator. First paragraph has the Williams suspension. Over the course of the article, there are quotes from McGinnis with praise for the players and their handling of a new system. There is also a quote from McGinnis about who will handle playcalling.
At roughly 7 A.M. on Monday Morning, 6/18, RantSports posted an article titled St Louis Rams 2012 Defense Will Be Collaborative Effort. First line of the second paragraph is the Williams suspension. Then plenty of McGinnis quotes, with no mention of praise for the players, with the same playcalling quote from McGinnis.
The most interesting part about all of this is that, despite all three articles being about similar topics, they all three come at it from different positions.
Ryan writes about the players that McGinnis and Fisher will have out on the field for them, particularly middle linebacker James Laurinaitis and second-year defensive end Robert Quinn. This is highlighted in particular by something Ryan included that McGinnis said about JL55:
""He's perfect. The ultimate linebacker for this defense when it started evolving was Mike Singletary. I was with Mike Singletary for seven years. We could not have asked for a more perfect middle linebacker to install this system than James Laurinaitis..."
Profootballtalk seems to focus on McGinnis's intelligence and experience, and why that makes him such a great choice for unofficial coordinator, highlighted by the final line in the article:
"Widely respected throughout the league for his X and O acumen, it’s that kind of understated demeanor that makes McGinnis somewhat rare. He’s smart enough to do coordinator work, without being hung up on the titles."
Finally, RantSports thinks McGinnis is a great choice because of his familiarity with Fisher, the two of them having coached together previously in Tennessee for seven seasons. Their stance, again, is highlighted by a particularly good line:
"The familiarity that he and Fisher share from their days with the Tennessee Titans is undoubtedly an important component to the Rams’ ability to thrive in spite of less than ideal circumstances."
Three different articles in a two day period, all about the same topic, but all of them with a slightly different way of looking at the situation. And so goes the NFL offseason echo-chamber.
Alright, on to the links!
RAMS LINKS
Rams' COO Kevin Demoff gives a shout out to TurfShowTimes - I can't help but feel like it's not a coincidence this happened shortly after I was added to the staff.
New staff loves two players in particular - Unsurprisingly, one of them is James Laurinaitis. In a pleasant surprise, the other is Lance Kendricks. Hopefully, he lives up to this year's preseason love more than he did last year's.
Steven Jackson, citizen of the world - He's already been to Brazil, Argentina, and Peru this offseason, and is planning more. We'll officially know the Rams' luck has not turned around if/when he comes back with malaria.
"His best season came in 2011. (He) finished with a career-high 63 tackles and recorded the first sack, interception, and forced fumble as a pro player" - Direct quote from an AP article about a former Ram signing with another team. Go ahead and guess who that is. I will give you 100 guesses and you still won't get it. Click the link once you've guessed.
The punter who sent one backwards arrived in camp finally - Thanks to some archaic rules involving grading and graduation dates, one of the two punters who will vie for the Rams' starting punter job (for now) has finally arrived. Johnny Hekker is finally in camp. Hopefully, he knows which way to kick it
OTHER NFL LINKS
Plenty of bounty malarkey - The appeals for the bounty suspensions started yesterday. Here is a general recap of what went down on Monday. Here is an article stating that the players say they were in a pay-for-performance pool, which was legal at the time, not a pay-for-injury one. Finally, here is one from NFL.com saying it was clear that the players were paid for on field things, but the league doesn't have a whole lot of evidence showing payments were actually made for injuries actually caused. I'm ready for this to all go away
Are the Patriots the Heat of the NFL? - Interesting read, comparing the two most hated teams in the two most popular sports in America. Also, just a reminder in case you haven't thought of it recently...Spygate...that is all.
Charges dropped against Aqib Talib - After more than a year of messing around, Talib is out from under all of the nonsense involving his most recent legal problems. Considering the charges were in Texas, you can assume they really, really didn't have anything on the guy. Hopefully, this will allow for this talented young corner to continue his career...until week 16 of next season. Then I hope the charges come back...for one week.
Ten fan bases that should FREAK OUT - Ok, not really. After all, it's just minicamp. But BleacherReport has a list of 10 teams that are showing early cracks. And yes, this is a dreaded slideshow article.
OTHER NEWS
You say "copycat", I scream "OUTBREAK" - Another possible zombie attack?! In Miami? A man under arrest tried to bite off a police officers hand, then growled at officers and bashed his head into his cell wall repeatedly after his arrest. I hope everyone is stocking up on ammo and fresh water...
Thanks for the read, as usual, and have a Ramtastic day!