one scouting report on Archuleta

Herniated disk affected performance, psyche

by ArchuletaFan31

Herniated disk affected performance, psyche

Given his longtime nickname, Arch, strong safety Adam Archuleta couldn't have handpicked a more fitting NFL city in which to ply his trade. Just a few blocks from the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, after all, the Gateway Arch rises majestically from the banks of the Mississippi River.

So, the guy named Arch is playing for the Rams, in the city whose most familiar edifice is architect Eero Saarinen's breathtaking, stainless steel curve. The public relations possibilities are seemingly limitless, right? Even a novice marketing maven could pose Arch at the top of the Arch, in a panoramic shot, and turn it into a successful photo op.

Except that in a torturous 2004 season, one in which he could barely bend over to tie his shoes without wincing, Archuleta could hardly, well, arch his back sufficiently to see the observation perch of the 630-foot landmark. The pose most often struck by Archuleta last season, alas, was one in which his hand was reaching for his balky back.

And in which he was left, at times, grabbing at air after whiffing on a tackle attempt.

'How bad was it?' said Archuleta earlier this week from Los Angeles, where he stopped in for the latest session with Dr. Ed Wagner, his noted back specialist. 'Well, cut me in half, honestly, because I was like half a man last year. It's no secret, with the way that I have always trained, that my body is my business. Well, I'll tell you what, my business just about went bust last year. How's that for bad?'

Despite appearing in all 16 games and starting all but two of them, and finishing second on the team with 123 tackles, Archuleta clearly struggled in '04. The 2001 first-round choice, who had established a reputation as one of the NFL's biggest hitters during his first three seasons in the league, was miserable. And, at times, so was his performance, despite his seemingly solid numbers.

What was originally thought to be a bulging disk in his back, a problem that surfaced as early as the first regular-season game, was actually a more serious herniated disk. The injury, from which Archuleta didn't gain even a modicum of relief until two late-season cortisone injections marginally eased his pain, dramatically affected his play � and, almost as critical, his psyche.

Anyone who knows Archuleta � a former walk-on at Arizona State who starred at weakside linebacker and won Pac-10 defensive player of the year honors as a senior in 2000 � can appreciate to some degree the significance of Archuleta's psyche. A self-made player, whose grueling workout regimen was made legendary in part by feature pieces on ESPN and in ESPN The Magazine, the veteran treats his body like a temple.

But with the herniated disk throughout 2004 and a second disk affected to a lesser extent, Archuleta discovered...
- Channel: RAMS NATION TALK
-06-08-2005, 05:22 PM
I really like archuleta, but.....

by general counsel

I have always liked archuleta, hoped he would be our john lynch. Injuries or not, he is not terrible, but recently it appears to me that he has just spent time attending the "Jamie Duncan school of tackling"

He is whiffing at a greater rate than steve balboni in his prime. He still makes plays from time to time and i am not giving up, i would still keep him at the right price, but he would need to be inexpensive. I really think that he is a linebacker in a safetys body, his pass coverage isnt very good and his tackling is suspect.

ramming speed to all

general counsel
- Channel: RAMS NATION TALK
-10-19-2005, 07:57 AM
Fear Adam Archuleta May Not Possess It, But His Opponents Do

by ArchuletaFan31

Fear

Adam Archuleta May Not Possess It, But His Opponents Do

By Nick Wagoner
Staff Writer

Most kids spend their adolescent years learning how to deal with pain. Whether it is the physical kind of pain suffered from falling off a bike or the kind where they must learn about how to deal with the loss of a loved one, important lessons are gleaned from everywhere. Most kids are like that� most.

Adam Archuleta was always the exception. Pain is not a word that is in his vocabulary. He was always �that� kid, the kid who would scrape his knee and laugh about it. He wouldn�t let much of anything bother him.

He didn�t care much for people in charge and he was always looking to do something to challenge the system. It was just his way. More than that, he could easily shake off any kind of physical pain.

Archuleta recalls the time when he was 4 and decided to ride his bike on an icy hill, by no means a safe idea. Of course, Archuleta fell off his bike and by the time he landed, he had his first concussion, the first of many. He wasn�t bothered, though; he simply went to the hospital and got over it. That�s the way he has always been; think outside the box, confront the people with clout and defy common thought.

�I was always getting hurt,� Archuleta said. �I was not really afraid of anything. I used to ride my bike down the tall slides. I�d fall off and get bloodied up. I used to jump off the roof. I used to do whatever; it was just kind of how it was when I was a kid.�

Based on those qualities you might think Archuleta is simply crazy. Make no mistake, he is one of the most interesting and intelligent players in the NFL, but he couldn�t do what he does on a weekly basis without that kind of mentality. He couldn�t do what he did to get where he is either.

Archuleta took his fearless approach to life, applied it to football and became one of the league�s most feared safeties. He will never hesitate to stick his nose in and make contact. In fact, he doesn�t care if he is the one dishing out the pain or receiving it.

�Maybe I was just being bred for contact,� Archuleta said. �It could have been somebody�s way of preparing me for the NFL.�

That preparation for contact and the sheer enjoyment of the game has always been omnipresent in Archuleta. Never the biggest, the fastest or the strongest, he got by on will. It was that will that took him from walk-on at Arizona State to three-year starter for the Sun Devils. It helped him play linebacker though he was undersized at about 200 pounds for the position. It resulted in 330 tackles.

In the end, his desire lifted him from lowly walk-on to the 20th pick in the 2001 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Rams. He switched from linebacker to strong safety because of his size. But standing 5-foot-11 and weighing 209 pounds, Archuleta still has...
- Channel: RAMS NATION TALK
-11-17-2004, 01:50 PM
Doesn't sound like Archuleta liked us :-(

by RamWraith

For Redskins' Archuleta, An Imposing Body of Work

The Washington Post
By Jason La Canfora
June 18, 2006 Adam is a very special individual because he has used all the tools that God gave him The truck rolled down a quiet residential street, while Adam Archuleta clung to a jury-rigged handle affixed to its rear, running for dear life to keep up. Of all the crazy things Archuleta's trainer, Jay Schroeder, had concocted in the name of improving his fitness, this was surely the most bizarre. But Archuleta, then a wide-eyed teenager, went along willingly.

These were the early days of the Archuleta-Schroeder relationship. Archuleta was a junior at Chandler High School in Arizona. That he would soon dominate the Pacific-10 as a linebacker at Arizona State, then get drafted 20th overall by the St. Louis Rams, convert to a defensive back and become the highest-paid safety in NFL history when the Washington Redskins signed him in March was unimaginable at the time.

To Archuleta, Schroeder and his unconventional tactics provided his best -- if not only -- chance of playing pro football, so he turned over his mind, body and soul to the trainer. No task was refused, no command ignored, even when it came to running 100-yard bursts while clenching a moving automobile for up to a half-mile at a time.

"From Day One, Jay has had me do some wild stuff," said Archuleta, who signed a six-year, $30 million contract with Washington. "And from Day One, for whatever reason, I did everything he told me to, when he told me to do it, in the way he told me to do it. There was complete faith and trust in what he was saying, and I don't think there was ever a point where I doubted anything. It was always, 'Okay, cool, whatever I have to do. Sometimes it kind of looks crazy, but let's do it.' "

Twelve years after his relationship with Schroeder began, Archuleta, 28, is the newest cog in Redskins assistant head coach Gregg Williams's defense. He is tough, yet unassuming off the field. He has the skills to attack the football, and with the study habits and smarts to master Williams's playbook.

One of Williams's sons is a devotee of Archuleta's workout video, "Freak of Training," and spoke about the safety's prowess to his father for years. Archuleta, meantime, was tired of playing for St. Louis, a finesse, offense-oriented franchise, a close friend said. He wanted a new team that stressed defense.

"He kind of has a chip on his shoulder coming in here," Williams said. "I love those guys. Those are the kinds of guys that are easy to coach because there's an automatic match for a blend. The mentality that he's been raised on in his offseason program, the toughness of his trainer, and the toughness of paying the price in peace so you don't bleed as much in war, he sees that's already a unified part of our defense, so it was...
- Channel: NFL TALK
-06-19-2006, 04:27 AM
Archuleta Hoping to Get Back to Form

by RamWraith

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

By Nick Wagoner
Staff Writer

Adam Archuleta�s back was in such bad shape last season that he couldn�t do simple, everyday tasks. Simple activities such as touching his toes were every bit as difficult as making an open field tackle on a running back.

Those struggles led to one of the most difficult years of Archuleta�s young career. In spite of the herniated disc in his back, Archuleta still played in all 16 games, finishing with 123 tackles, a pair of sacks and a fumble recovery for a touchdown. Still, it was clear that he wasn�t at his best for most of last year.

�It was pretty much a nightmare during the season,� Archuleta said. �I really probably had no business being out there, but that's in the past. When you play a whole season and you can't bend over and touch your knees, it's a big deal. Definitely, I'm much, much better off. I couldn't even tie my shoes during the season. If I could get through that, I can get through anything.�

The effort to get through the injury has been a difficult process. Archuleta had earned a reputation as a feared hitter with big-play ability during his first three seasons. Whether that reputation was deserved or not, Archuleta was unable to live up to it.

Archuleta returned to St. Louis this week for organized team activities, which moved full speed Tuesday. The offseason has been a difficult one, but not nearly as difficult as last season.

With a strict regiment of working out and seeing a therapist in Los Angeles almost every weekend, Archuleta is already feeling better.

``Let's put it this way: Compared to where I was during the season, I'm about 6,000 percent better,'' Archuleta said. �All I know is I feel good. I am getting better a lot faster than I normally would have.�

Helping Archuleta get better is a team of about four or five people that specialize in something different. Every morning, Archuleta goes and does a workout. After that, the day�s activities depend on which day it is.

Some days, Archuleta sees a soft tissue therapist, other days it is a Pilates instructor and still others find Archuleta spending time with a physical therapist. On the weekends, Archuleta has been shuttling from his home in Arizona to Los Angeles to see the back therapist.

Archuleta estimates that he is slightly ahead of schedule and credits the therapists in California for helping to speed up the process. Even the one-hour flights from Arizona to Los Angeles would seem to be a hindrance to a bad back, but Archuleta said the positives of the therapy outweigh the negatives.

�It�s only an hour flight, it�s like sitting in traffic, so it�s not really a big deal,� Archuleta said.

Whether Archuleta was not at his best last season because of the injury or not, he probably should be commended for attempting to...
- Channel: RAMS NATION TALK
-05-18-2005, 05:13 AM

Announcement

one scouting report on Archuleta

Related Topics