With the 14th pick in the 2011 Draft, the Rams select Robert Quinn, DE, UNC

[Systemlangstaff]

Guys, I can't explain how pumped I was when we drafted Quinn. He's a true man, it's always nice to see someone shed some tears (for the good) when you draft them. He's come down a long road and this pick is amazing!!

[harrydog]

Does anyone know for sure whether or not he has had surgery for the tumor? I've heard both yes and no.

[Trevor]

People are concerned with him not playing at all last year. Didn't sam bradford not play the year prior to being drafted?

[tmbkb8]

Dear Matt Hasselbeck, Alex Smith/Troy Smith, and whoever the hell starts for the Cards,

You have been warned.

Sincerely,

Spags and the D-Line

[Nick]

Does anyone know for sure whether or not he has had surgery for the tumor? I've heard both yes and no.

I believe his surgery was to confirm the tumor was benign, not to completely remove it. Could be wrong.

People are concerned with him not playing at all last year. Didn't sam bradford not play the year prior to being drafted?

I get the point you're making, but Sam Bradford has nothing to do with Robert Quinn. Every person is different, and while I'm very excited about this pick, I don't think you can fault people for being nervous about his health or the time he's spent off the field. Those are legitimate concerns. Still, though I share some of that nervousness, I trust the Rams to have done their due diligence to investigate the situation, just as I trusted them to make the best decision when it came to Bradford even though I had personal reservations about his health as well.

[ramsplaya16]

Does anyone know for sure whether or not he has had surgery for the tumor? I've heard both yes and no.

He did have surgery to drain the fluids out from his tumor, but he did not get the tumor removed, it is still there, and never affected him while he was playing at NC.

[laram0]

Great pick!
Excellent depth!

GO RAMS!

[Nick]

Here's an article from March that talks a bit more about Quinn's tumor...

Quinn, despite brain tumor, a terror to quarterbacks
PUBLISHED Sunday, Mar 6, 2011 at 1:50 pm EST
Matt Crossman Sporting News

There is no known precedent for this: When Robert Quinn takes the field for an NFL team this fall, he will do so with a brain tumor still inside his skull.

Sporting News contacted officials at the National Brain Tumor Foundation and the American Brain Tumor Association, a historian at the Pro Football Hall of Fame and a doctor renowned for his knowledge of sports head injuries. None of them ever had heard of a football player—or athlete in any sport, for that matter—competing with such a condition.

Quinn, a 6-4, 265-pound defensive end/outside linebacker, not only will compete but he likely will excel.

He is tautly muscled, never takes a play off and has uncommon flexibility, which he uses to get around offensive tackles when not going through them. He also will be one of the fastest defensive linemen in the league. He beat Bears All-Pro defensive end Julius Peppers' 40-yard dash time at the University of North Carolina, and his dad, James, was an Olympic-caliber hurdler. Quinn could well become a top-five pick April 28.

All that for a guy doctors say should be dead.

Quinn's up-and-down journey began in 2007, his senior year at Fort Dorchester High School in North Charleston, S.C. He suffered fierce headaches, blackouts and fainting spells. After he passed out at home one Sunday morning, his parents rushed him to the hospital.

The diagnosis of a brain tumor came quickly. Roughly the size of a dime, the tumor, found later to be benign, sat at the top of his spinal cavity. Fluid had built up around it, which caused the problems.

Doctors drilled two holes in his head to drain the fluid; there was so much he was told he'd never play sports again and should have been brain dead. But his recovery went far better than doctors expected. The surgery was in late October, and by the end of February, he was wrestling. He went undefeated to win his third consecutive state heavyweight championship, which had never had been done in South Carolina.

He returned to the football field in the fall of 2008 at North Carolina. He won the 2008 Brian Piccolo Award given to the ACC's most courageous football player. In 2009, his sophomore season, Quinn tallied 11 sacks and says he left at least that many unmade.

Here, Quinn's story takes another turn. Last year, after the Tar Heels' spring game, he accepted more than $5,000 in jewelry from a jeweler, in violation of NCAA rules, for which he was ruled permanently ineligible. He had no choice but to enter the 2011 draft.

There are precedents for a player getting drafted after not playing the previous season, but not many, and it's unusual for such a prospect to be selected as high as Quinn is expected. The jewelry issue is not expected to hurt Quinn, either. Those who know him say this was an isolated incident and was caused by naïveté, not ill intent. Steve LaPrad, his high school football coach, says he has coached thousands of kids, including some who became lawyers, doctors and judges, and Quinn is in the top five among quality young men, if not No. 1.

“If people talk to him, they will see what kind of a quality person this guy is,” said Gil Brandt, a longtime NFL personnel man who worked the NFL Scouting Combine as a liaison between the league and the draft prospects. “I had a long opportunity to talk to him and felt so good about him that I invited him to come to New York for the draft.”

If the jewelry and missed season issues don't scare away NFL general managers, will the tumor? So far, it appears not. He was cleared to play football by UNC and by the doctor who performed the surgery. Twice a year, he has the tumor checked to make sure fluid hasn't again accumulated.

He had an MRI performed at the Combine, and the results will be available to all NFL teams. “I would imagine they'll expend every ounce of effort to find out what this means,” Brandt said.

Quinn has no qualms about pursuing an NFL career. He views surviving the tumor as an opportunity for a second chance, and he's going to live his life to the fullest. For him, that means chasing down the quarterback. The way he plays, there are plenty of precedents for that.

[AvengerRam]

WTF?!? We use our 1st round pick on a guy with previous medical concerns who didn't play in his final college season?! When has that ever worked for the Rams?!?!

Oh, wait a minute....

Priceless.

[Varg6]

Priceless.

Haha, indeed. Honestly, why would the Rams draft him if they were truly concerned with his previous medical issues? Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are concerns; but I highly doubt if they were thatprominent. I'm thrilled about the pick, he was a potential top 5 pick. NFL Network even said we had one of the better picks in the first round. Woo!

[AvengerRam]

Here are my thoughts...

1. I was luke-warm on Quinn before the draft, mainly because he had no 2010 season to evaluate.
2. That said, his profile (a pure RDE) and best skill (outside pass rush) are precisely what the Rams will need as James Hall winds down his career.
3. The tumor is a non-issue as far as I'm concerned. He played two full seasons since it was diagnosed and treated, and he's had no problems.
4. The suspension is forgiveable. Its easy to say "he should have known better," but I'm not going to condemn a 19-20 year old kid for making a mistake.
5. I was surprised to see him there at #14. When the Rams were on the clock, for me it was a toss-up between Quinn, Liuget, Jordan and Kerrigan. I would have been fine with any of those four.
6. Can you imagine next year when the Rams are defending third and long? I would expect we'll see the following formation:

RDE: Quinn
RDT: Hall
LDT: Robbins
LDE: Long

That's a four man pass rush that really should not need the help of a lot of blitz packages.

[RamOG]

The funny thing about this pick, I knew it might go down. I thought if Detroit skipped on Fairley, we might have picked him up. But after Fairley got picked up, I said we are drafting either Bowers or Quinn.

[Richbert88]

Tumor: Checked and is benign, was blocking spinal fluid which caused blackouts and disorientation and headaches, and that was also eleviated. He's not had any problems, and according to him any headaches since.

Suspension: Yeah, stupid mistake. He was the only player, according to his coach, that called and apologized for his poor decision. Apparently he is remorsefull and thats means a great deal to me as it reflects his character. He also moved on and got down to business.

Year Off: He worked out with the team until is suspension was made final. He then sought out and hired a personal trainer and made the most of his time. This bodes well, for one of the knocks on Quinn was he needed to improve his strength.

I don't know of anyone who thought he'd fall to #14. That he did is "lucky Rams".

[BrokenWing]

I was really happy when they made this pick. I'd forgotten he was still on the board and it made me very happy when we corrected that issue. The guy looked ecstatic.

[sjacksonrules]

I wonder what number he will be.