The Players You Love To Hate

**RamsFanSam** · #1 (**permalink**) -09-06-2007

The past week has been a busy one at Rams Park. Confetti drifted through the air in places when the announcements of Butler being cut and Kennedy being traded.

But let's think about this for a moment.

Last season, it seems like almost everyone was complaining about how bad these guys were. How JK couldn't tackle, and how Butler was subpar, at best. But, really, how bad were they?
Every year, 32 teams go to New York and choose an average of 7 players each, adding roughly 224 kids to the rosters of the NFL's chosen ones. I don't know the exact figures, but I'd bet that there are at least twice as many UFA's that are picked up in the days following the draft. If I'm right, then this means that the 1696 players on the rosters of all the teams are increased to around 2,368 guys competing for a job. Of course, this is really not an accurate figure, because this would mean that 71% of these guys would get a job in the NFL. Things are not that easy, though. Drew Tate is currently listed as a QB on the Rams roster, along with Fitzpatrick, Ferrotte, and Bulger. For him to wear the Horns and be the starting QB anytime in the next 3 seasons is less of a probability than the chances of me winning the Powerball jackpot.
That doesn't mean he is a bad player - after all, he made it to the NFL, so he has to have the talent and ability to go to the next level after college. The same can be said for every player on our roster - they had the talent and abilities to compete for a starting job. In college, these guys were special - outstanding players in their school, and likely among the best in their conference. But, success in college does not mean success in the NFL. Many things come into play. Physical ability is only one thing. The ability to adapt, to learn new things, to become a part of the whole instead of a standout, the desire to work harder, to become an upstanding person, possessing a good moral compass, the ability to forget all you have learned to learn it anew in a different light - these are things that go into the making of an NFL team member.
Jimmy Kennedy and Jerimetrius Butler both made it into the NFL, and beyond this, they were among the 53 left after all the cuts were made. Although we saw their faults, we should also look at what it took for them to get on the roster. If they did not possess that certain something, those qualities that make a St. Louis Rams player, they wouldn't have had the opportunitiy to wear the Horns.

They weren't lousy players. They were players who squandered their opportunity to be great players.

That's why we love to hate these guys.

*mikhal5569* · #2 (**permalink**) -09-06-2007

Excellent post and very well said. I think that would be a fair argument for most of the young players coming out of college but not a first rounder like Kennedy. As a first rounder you are projected as a player who is supposed to be a proven play maker who can come in and immediately contribute to the team in some form. That was something that Kennedy could never do in four years. The bottom line is that the NFL is a job, a highly over paid and over glorified job. If you come in wanting to be the big hero and the next big star, you have to accept the pitfalls that can come with failure.

*Goldenfleece* · #3 (**permalink**) -09-06-2007

True enough. Just making it on to an NFL roster is so difficult, and for several years there Jerametrius Butler really was the best corner on our roster. He was no Champ Bailey, but he was good enough that he probably would have had at least the number 2 spot on a number of other teams. I guess the thing about Kennedy that really bothered me was that I never saw enough to be convinced he ought to be starting there. Was he on the field because he deserved to be there or because we were paying him too much money to sit him on the bench so we just kept playing him to see if he would get better?

Makes you wonder who folks will be complaining about next. It seems like it's just the nature of the game that people will be calling for someone else's job soon enough.

*TekeRam* · #4 (**permalink**) -10-06-2007

The thing is, most of the players that don't pan out and don't live up to their expectations are those who feel like they're the best coming out of college where the talent pool is very much diluted from that of the NFL. They dominated there so they will dominate in the NFL. Wrong. The truly great players of the NFL are those who never stop trying to improve those who do everything they can to be well coached and will follow their coaches to hell and back.

Look at Manning, he's the best because he is the ultimate coachable player and is all but in name a coach himself, a true field general. He does everything that he can do to improve and to make his team win. On the flip side, Kennedy resisted the change to nose tackle according to the reports from last year. He didn't want to be coached to take down blockers so that the other guys could get the stats. That is why he's a bum, is that he won't sacrifice for the greater good, and that's why I'm glad we have a 6th round pick now.