Rams' Richie Incognito: "I'm a marked man"
By Bill Coats
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
09/18/2009
As popular as Richie Incognito is in the Rams' locker room, where he's venerated as a staunch defender of his teammates, he's equally ostracized around the NFL, where he's regarded by some of his adversaries as an unscrupulous hothead.
After Incognito was whistled for four penalties, including two personal fouls, in a 2007 game against Arizona, Cardinals defensive tackle Darnell Dockett said the NFL "is going to have to do something about (Incognito), because one day he's going to really injure somebody's career. The guy was trying to hurt some of our guys."
Last year, Seattle linebacker Leroy Hill noted that there are "just a few in the league who take cheap shots, go low at you when they're not supposed to go low, like when you're not looking. … He's one of them."
As a result:
— Opponents do what they can to get under Incognito's skin, trying to elicit a reaction.
"One of the fundamentals of the game is trying to exploit someone else's weaknesses," said CBS analyst Dan Dierdorf, a Hall of Fame offensive lineman with the old St. Louis Cardinals. "You realize where another guy is flawed and how to take advantage of that."
— Officials constantly keep a close eye on Incognito for any indiscretion.
"I know when I'm going out there Sundays I'm being watched," said the 6-foot-3, 324-pound Incognito, the Rams' right guard. "I'm a marked man."
Incognito, 26, said in the spring that he dedicated the offseason to trying to scrape away that reputation. "Just growing, being a more mature football player and eliminating the penalties," he said. "That's really the emphasis for me."
Yet Incognito already has re-ignited the furor by drawing two personal-foul calls in the Rams' 28-0 season-opening loss at Seattle.
Angry fans on sports-talk shows and Internet forums have called for his release, arguing that enough is enough. But first-year head coach Steve Spagnuolo is standing up for his man.
"I trust Richie — I like his passion," Spagnuolo said. "When the passion leads to penalties, that's not a good thing. But I'd rather have that problem than trying to motivate the guys to love the game of football."
'I PLAY WITH PASSION'
No one questions Incognito's love for football. "I care a lot about the game," he said. "I play with passion. I play with fire. And I play to win."
He's been doing so since he was a youngster in Glendale, Ariz. At Mountain Ridge High he developed into one of the nation's most sought-after linemen.
He chose Nebraska and quickly earned a first-team...
-09-18-2009, 12:19 PM
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