Another day, another game of musical lockers at Rams Park

[RamWraith]

BY JEFF GORDON
Post-Dispatch Online Sports Columnist
Wednesday, Sep. 08 2004

During the noon hour in the Rams locker room Wednesday, an offensive lineman
named Blaine Saipaia shook hands and introduced himself to his new teammates.

There has been a lot of that during the last few days at Rams Park. After all
that offseason work -- including those 17-hour days in Macomb, Ill., the
skirmishing with the Bears, the four preseason games -- the football staff
still wasn't comfortable with the results.

So the game of musical chairs -- er, lockers -- continues. Every few minutes,
it seems, another roster change was made.

The fun started during preseason, when veterans Chris Dishman and Tom Nutten
were lured out of retirement to shore up the offensive line.

Here are some of the more recent highlights:


* Running back Lamar Gordon, just back from successful ankle surgery, was sent
to the Dolphins for a draft pick. That moves Arlen Harris into the No. 3 role
behind Marshall Faulk and rookie Steven Jackson.

Your cyber-correspondent didn't object to this move, but wiser men in the press
room remind us that Gordon provided cheap insurance against further Faulk
injuries.

Was the risk really worth it?


* Safety Jason Sehorn tried to come out of retirement Wednesday, but he failed
to pass his physical exam. His surgically repaired foot failed to pass muster,
so he won't be moving into Gordon's old locker after all.

And all those Angie Harmon fans in Rams Nation wept.


* Safety Zack Bronson, out of work for three months after the ***** released
him, came to the Rams over the weekend. When healthy, he has been a pretty
solid NFL defender.

Back in 2001, he picked off seven passes for the *****.


* Guard Darnell Alford arrived on waivers from the Chiefs. Kansas City coach
Dick Vermeil hoped to keep Alford on his practice squad, but the Rams wanted
him on their active roster.

"It feels familiar," Alford said. "Same offense and stuff like that. It should
come pretty quick. We'll see today when I get out there."

He has been a Chief, a Cowboy and a Jet. The Packers had him on their practice
squad. The dude has been around.

Alford's arrival doomed Andy King, who was the team's starting left guard when
the preseason started.


* Linebacker Dedrick Roper arrived on waivers from the Steelers, replacing
Tony Newson – who started earlier in the preseason. Newson will hang around on
the practice squad, unless another team claims him and makes him an active
player.


* Saipaia, a tackle at Colorado State, has been kicking around the league
since 2000. His resume' includes brief regular-season stints with the Raiders
and Chargers and time on the Saints practice squad.


So there you go. We still don't have an updated Rams roster and we haven't seen
news releases confirming some of these moves, but the wheels are turning.

We haven't checked the employee parking lot in the past 15 minutes, so we're
not sure if the Rams have made any more changes today. Nothing would surprise
us at this point.

Maybe Orlando Pace had the right idea by skipping all that grueling preseason
work. What was the point of it all, anyway

[RealRam]

Arlen Harris gives me a good feeling as a Rams RB -- he had some very encouraging spurts of success last season (at Steelers, etc.). Should do as well or better this year.

Sehorn, the bones in that foot were a bad omen since last year. I was quite surprised the Rams considered bringing him back, even near DB desperation.

Darnell Alford: I don't know much about him other than he has good OL experience and some attitude. Excellent. Let's get down to business and get to work!

Zack Bronson: welcome to the Rams -- please pay close attention to Aeneas Williams.


:angryram:

[adarian_too]

Maybe Orlando Pace had the right idea by skipping all that grueling preseason work. What was the point of it all, anyway

Isn't there truth to that. Injuries are one thing but when you take this long to replace people like King and Newsom, one has to wonder what is going on in the minds of the Rams coaching staff. Too bad NFL Access didn't run a Pre-season Training Camp view of the Rams instead of the Jaguars.

[HUbison]

Darnell Alford: I don't know much about him other than he has good OL experience and some attitude. Excellent. Let's get down to business and get to work!

From what I've read, physically this guy has the whole package. His problem is between his ears. You never know with that type. He might be worthless or the right voice might get in his head and he'll be a beast. You just never know.