Jason Smith suffered for the Rams' sins

You know what's hard? Being the second overall pick in the NFL Draft.

The expectations. The pressure. The fact that the team that drafted you is kind of counting on you to do your job.

For former St. Louis Rams tackle Jason Smith, it was just too much to ask. It caused a lot of suffering.

Kind of like Jesus ... except replace that whole vow of poverty thing with $33 million in guaranteed money.

Smith explained to the New Orleans Times-Picayune:

"Upon the moment I received salvation, I understood that my calling is now to suffer, just like Christ did. That's who I am."

Smith was continually crucified by opposing pass rushers, which allowed him to share that suffering with the Rams quarterbacks. All part of the plan.

There's more of a parallel here than you think. Roughly 2013 years ago, a scattered branch of Judaism selected a kid out of Nazareth with the second overall pick. Roman repression had them on the ropes. On the fringes of the empire, Zoroaster was THE GUY, the only legit competition to the Emperor.