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Veteran tackle agrees to one-year deal: RAMS
Veteran tackle agrees to one-year deal: RAMS
By Bill Coats
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Thursday, Jun. 08 2006
The Rams, who had been seeking help for the interior of their defensive line
since losing free agents Ryan Pickett and Damione Lewis in March, believe they
have found some in veteran tackle Jason Fisk.
The team agreed to a one-year deal with Fisk on Tuesday. He is expected to sign
a contract when he arrives in St. Louis today and be on the field Friday at
Rams Park for the start of a three-day minicamp.
The Rams also signed kicker Remy Hamilton and agreed to terms with cornerback
Kevin Timothee. Both were free agents. Kicker Josh Cummings, an undrafted
rookie, was released.
The 6-foot-3, 300-pound Fisk said he was ready to begin preparing for his 12th
NFL season. "I've been training pretty good for the last couple of months, just
in case I had an opportunity to do this," he said in a telephone interview from
his home in Davis, Calif. "I think I'm in fairly good shape."
Still, Fisk, 33, said that because of family considerations, this probably
would be his final season. He and wife, Miriam, have two daughters - Julia, 9,
and Carmin, 3 - and a son, Tucker, 7. They will remain on the West Coast during
the season.
Fisk, a Stanford product, was a seventh-round draft pick by Minnesota in 1995.
He played four years with the Vikings, three with Tennessee, three with San
Diego and last season with Cleveland.
Fisk started for the Titans in the Super Bowl in January 2000, won by the Rams
23-16. "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em," he said, laughing.
He saw action in all 16 games with the Browns last season, collecting 39
tackles. When he was released after the season, Fisk thought he might call it a
career. "I was kicking the idea around," he said. "But I couldn't find anything
better to do."
Several teams contacted his agent. He said he picked the Rams mainly because
he's more comfortable in a 4-3 defense, which is expected to be the team's base
alignment. Fisk acknowledged that he had difficulty adapting to 3-4 defenses
with the Browns and Chargers.
"It usually requires a big, 350-pound guy playing nose tackle, and I struggled
a bit doing that," he said. "I'm looking forward to getting back into a 4-3."
Pickett, who signed with Green Bay, and Lewis, who went to Carolina, both were
Rams first-round draft choices in 2001. Their exit left Jimmy Kennedy and
La'Roi Glover as the probable first-team tackles. The only other defensive
tackles on the roster were Brian Howard and Jeremy Calahan, plus rookies Claude
Wroten and Tim Sandidge.
Hamilton, a former University of Michigan standout, was with the Rams last
summer in the preseason as an undrafted rookie. He was released Aug. 30 and
picked up by Detroit. He saw action in one game with the Lions. Timothee, a
5-11, 191-pound Florida International product, was in training camp last year
with the Titans. He played in NFL Europe this past season.
__________________
"I would much rather have a bottle in front of me than a
frontal lobotomy"!!
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