From here on, Jackson's game should do the talking ..

[MauiRam]

From here on, Jackson's game should do the talking
By Bernie Miklasz
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Thursday, Aug. 21 2008

The Rams' best hopes for a successful season revolve around Steven Jackson. He can do it all. Power up inside, yes. But for a big man, No. 39's elusiveness is surprising. And he can catch the football. When Jackson puts it all together, he is a formidable, frightening presence on the football field.

"Steven is the real deal," CBS football analyst Dan Dierdorf said. "He's in the
elite class." And Rams offensive coordinator Al Saunders appears to be just the architect that Jackson has been waiting for. In Kansas City, the careerof Priest Holmes and Larry Johnson took off like Usain Bolt once Saunders maximized their mad skills.

Now that Jackson has ended his misguided holdout, he should prepare to launch. He should strive to do everything he can to become the player he's capable of being all of the time and not just part of the time.
Jackson and the team agreed in principle to a contract extension Wednesday, and when the deal is finalized he'll be set for life financially. This is the NFL system, and Jackson will receive what is coming to him. And there's nothing wrong with that. I'm happy for the guy. NFL careers are short. Make what you can while you can, until your body breaks down and your earning power dissipates.

Now that Jackson has cashed in, what will he provide? Is he going to deliver on the franchise's investment of millions of dollars? Will he grind his way
through the season and the punishment and the pain and line up for all 16
games? Will he use his remarkable combination of size and speed to roll like a
tank through defensive front sevens — or will he just tank it and underachieve on too many Sundays?

Ever since Jackson arrived in 2004 as a No. 1 draft choice, we've heard his
talk, his predictions, his demands for the football, his demands for the money.
We've heard Jackson tell us how great he is, and he has frequently put us on
notice about all of the incredible things he will accomplish in his career.

I think Jackson is a good person, and he is certainly a responsible citizen.
But Jackson has a bit of a split football personality. The other side of
Jackson wants to be Terrell Owens, wants to be Chad Johnson, wants to set
himself apart from the others as a controversial figure who calls out fans and
teammates and says outrageous things to bring attention to himself.

It's fine to be cocky as long as you can back it up by coming through on all of the talk, all of the promises. The Rams are thrilled to have Jackson back. His teammates need him. His embattled head coach, Scott Linehan, really needs him. How good is Jackson? If he gets the necessary blocking, No. 39 has enough all-around game to save Linehan's job. When Jackson was at his best, in 2006, the Rams romped down the stretch and finished at a hopeful 8-8. But it all came apart in 2007. And as for 2008, Jackson already has hurt the team, and the coach, by holding out. He didn't need to make such a hostile move to get this contract. The Rams would have gotten the new deal done for him alot sooner had Jackson honored his old contract and reported on time.As a result of Jackson's selfish actions, he won't sharpen into prime form by the Rams' season-opener Sept. 7 in Philadelphia. It may take two or three weeks (at least) of regular-season practices, meetings and games to get Jackson up to full speed.

So Jackson already owes his coaches and teammates. And he owes some humility to the fans that he has criticized and insulted on more than one occasion. I hope Jackson understands the situation that he created for himself. By holding out, he further alienated a lot of the people who buy the tickets to support a team that hasn't done much winning in recent seasons.

And the customers won't have much tolerance or patience if Jackson fumbles, stumbles, or dances instead of slamming his way to difficult yards. If Jackson fails, the fans will be all over him.

Considering that he's about to enter into a long-term agreement, Jackson has no choice but to run his way back into the public's good graces. He'll have to win them over again. How? By becoming a back who produces greatness instead of proclaiming it ...

[Josh]

I was fixing to Post this hehehe. you beat me to it.

[Mooselini]

Man am I one happy boy. I hope he goes and shows us that what he was getting paid is worth it. As long as that line stays healthy, he'd have a good season. Now with Jackson back in the huddle, the offense should strive a bit better.

[RamWraith]

By Bernie Miklasz
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Thursday, Aug. 21 2008
The Rams' best hopes for a successful season revolve around Steven Jackson. He
can do it all. Power up inside, yes. But for a big man, No. 39's elusiveness is
surprising. And he can catch the football. When Jackson puts it all together,
he is a formidable, frightening presence on the football field.

"Steven is the real deal," CBS football analyst Dan Dierdorf said. "He's in the
elite class."

And Rams offensive coordinator Al Saunders appears to be just the architect
that Jackson has been waiting for. In Kansas City, the careers of Priest Holmes
and Larry Johnson took off like Usain Bolt once Saunders maximized their mad
skills.

Now that Jackson has ended his misguided holdout, he should prepare to launch.
He should strive to do everything he can to become the player he's capable of
being all of the time and not just part of the time.

Jackson and the team agreed in principle to a contract extension Wednesday, and
when the deal is finalized he'll be set for life financially. This is the NFL
system, and Jackson will receive what is coming to him. And there's nothing
wrong with that. I'm happy for the guy. NFL careers are short. Make what you
can while you can, until your body breaks down and your earning power
dissipates.

Now that Jackson has cashed in, what will he provide? Is he going to deliver on
the franchise's investment of millions of dollars? Will he grind his way
through the season and the punishment and the pain and line up for all 16
games? Will he use his remarkable combination of size and speed to roll like a
tank through defensive front sevens — or will he just tank it and underachieve
on too many Sundays?

Ever since Jackson arrived in 2004 as a No. 1 draft choice, we've heard his
talk, his predictions, his demands for the football, his demands for the money.
We've heard Jackson tell us how great he is, and he has frequently put us on
notice about all of the incredible things he will accomplish in his career.

I think Jackson is a good person, and he is certainly a responsible citizen.
But Jackson has a bit of a split football personality. The other side of
Jackson wants to be Terrell Owens, wants to be Chad Johnson, wants to set
himself apart from the others as a controversial figure who calls out fans and
teammates and says outrageous things to bring attention to himself.

It's fine to be cocky as long as you can back it up by coming through on all of
the talk, all of the promises. The Rams are thrilled to have Jackson back. His
teammates need him. His embattled head coach, Scott Linehan, really needs him.

How good is Jackson? If he gets the necessary blocking, No. 39 has enough
all-around game to save Linehan's job. When Jackson was at his best, in 2006,
the Rams romped down the stretch and finished at a hopeful 8-8.

But it all came apart in 2007. And as for 2008, Jackson already has hurt the
team, and the coach, by holding out. He didn't need to make such a hostile move
to get this contract. The Rams would have gotten the new deal done for him a
lot sooner had Jackson honored his old contract and reported on time.

As a result of Jackson's selfish actions, he won't sharpen into prime form by
the Rams' season-opener Sept. 7 in Philadelphia. It may take two or three weeks
(at least) of regular-season practices, meetings and games to get Jackson up to
full speed.

So Jackson already owes his coaches and teammates. And he owes some humility to
the fans that he has criticized and insulted on more than one occasion.

I hope Jackson understands the situation that he created for himself. By
holding out, he further alienated a lot of the people who buy the tickets to
support a team that hasn't done much winning in recent seasons.

And the customers won't have much tolerance or patience if Jackson fumbles,
stumbles, or dances instead of slamming his way to difficult yards. If Jackson
fails, the fans will be all over him.

Considering that he's about to enter into a long-term agreement, Jackson has no
choice but to run his way back into the public's good graces. He'll have to win
them over again. How? By becoming a back who produces greatness instead of
proclaiming it.

[laram0]

Good article.

I agree, Jackson is going to have to do a lot of runnin", bumblin" and avoid the stumblin" to win fans back.

Jackson went all in.....now it's time to see what he's got.

[majorram]

a great read, it will be interesting to see how Jackson deals with this!!!...

steve

[AvengerRam]

Since when is Steven Jackson trying to be Chad Johnson or T.O.?

[MauiRam]

I was fixing to Post this hehehe. you beat me to it.

Not to worry .. you still beat out the highly acclaimed RamWraith which isn't easy .. He has some secret device hooked up to his computer that sets off alarm sirens whenever there is any new Ram news .. We're lucky to have him here when you think about it ..

[SotaRam]

I agree with the article, Jackson has a lot of ground to gain. If he wants to win back the fans, he better produce this year or he'll be on the block next year! Anybody hear what the $ figure was?

[KoaKoi]

attn admin:

this is a duplicate thread. this article was posted previously by MauiRam

[Ramer]

I feel Jackson is going to prove to us all that he is worth the money!
GO 08 RAMS!

[r8rh8rmike]

Since when is Steven Jackson trying to be Chad Johnson or T.O.?

I was thinking the same thing. Bernie took a lot of liberties in this piece. I've yet to hear Jackson say "I am great".

[makersncoke]

I agree with the article, Jackson has a lot of ground to gain. If he wants to win back the fans, he better produce this year or he'll be on the block next year! Anybody hear what the $ figure was?

It was 5 years 49 million with 21 mil up front, but the contract will likely be voided after 3 years making it a 3 yr 29.3 million dollar contract