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By Nick Wagoner
Senior Writer
When he arrived at the Russell Training Center on Friday of last week, Leonard Little wasn’t feeling well.
After stopping in just long enough for his teammates and coaches to see how sick Little was and how ill he might become, he was sent home in an effort to keep him quarantined from the rest of the team so it wouldn’t get sick as well.
Little spent the majority of the rest of that day in bed, doing whatever possible to cure the strep throat that had hit him suddenly Thursday night.
On Saturday, Little had a bit more time to rest as the Rams traveled to Jacksonville but he didn’t feel a whole lot better.
When he woke up on Sunday morning, Little was still far from healthy. In fact, he was still downright ill.
Despite his ailment, the thought of not playing against the Jaguars never crossed his mind.
“There wasn’t a chance I wasn’t going to go,” Little said. “If I can walk out there, I can play. I just tried to go out and be a good leader for the young guys on this team and try to do the best I can to help us win the game.”
On both counts, Little did exactly that. Fighting off the red, puffy eyes, dehydration and overall fatigue that goes with his ailment, Little’s performance against the Jaguars was nothing short of courageous.
“I think so,” coach Steve Spagnuolo said. “I think he takes a little bit of pride in that. I think that sent a message to the rest of the team. I know they respect him and appreciate what he brought yesterday.”
What Little brought was six tackles, his team leading fourth sack of the season, a pass defended, an interception and one dramatic dive for the end zone that resulted in a touchdown. He nailed the landing, by the way.
After his big and – admittedly long – day, Little trudged around the Rams locker room as though he had just been put through boot camp a few times over. The eyes were still red as Little walked gingerly back to his locker and slowly dressed in his pinstripe suit.
Worn down by his illness and the fatigue of being on the field for many of the 88 plays Jacksonville ran and much of the 42 minutes and 12 seconds the defense was on the field, Little could barely even recall what happened late in the fourth quarter with his team desperately needing a big play.
“I don’t even know what happened,” Little said. “I just know I ended up with the ball in my hands. I just tried to get to the end zone as quick as I could. That’s all I remember about the play. I just thought the only person I had to beat was the quarterback. I knew he had the angle on me so I told myself if I got close to the end zone I would dive for it because I knew he would dive at my legs and try to knock me out of bounds. I just tried to get in there as best I could.”
With 4:46 to go, Jaguars quarterback David Garrard dropped back to pass, dumping a pass in the right flat for fullback Greg Jones. But Jacksonville had run many similar plays and checkdowns during the game and Little read it from the start.
Little stopped his natural instinct toward Garrard and wheeled back in front of Jones, getting in front of the pass where he tipped it to himself.
After hauling in the interception, Little had 36 yards of open field in front of him with only Garrard in his way. Although he had a head start, a tired Little had maybe just enough gas to get there.
Not wanting to be denied his first touchdown since returning a fumble for a score against Arizona on Dec. 19, 2004, Little decided to do his best Superman impression and took off about 6 yards from the goal line.
“I was happy for Leonard,” Spagnuolo said. “He launched that thing from about 6 yards out. I didn’t realize how impressive the end of that was until I watched it on film. The catch itself for a lineman was pretty impressive but then to hump it down there and then outleap a quarterback who is a good athlete at the end was really impressive. It was just will and determination. That tells you a lot about the person. He willed himself into that end zone. It was good to see.”
The touchdown was the third of Little’s career, his second career interception and the first interception return for a touchdown in his 11-plus seasons.
Indeed, Little has long been perhaps the Rams most consistently dominant defender. After dealing with a variety of injuries in the past couple of years, Little is relatively healthy (save the strep throat) this year and it’s apparent in his performance.
Little’s fourth sack of the year in the second quarter of Sunday’s game was No. 85 for his career and No. 84.5 since 2000, fourth most in the league in that time.
On a team in which Little is by far the most tenured member, it was the type of play that can set a tone for his younger teammates. Considering the combination of his illness, general fatigue from the game and his experience in the league, it was a play that stunned even a more veteran player like defensive tackle Clifton Ryan.
“That was a shocker,” Ryan said. “For him to make a huge play like that is a testament to his character. That’s something he has been doing for years, making big plays.”
In his 12th season in the league, many have speculated Little could be in his final go-around. But it’s become apparent that he still has plenty of gas left in the tank, even if he needs an occasional refill when the game is over.
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I didnt know he was that sick. What a top knotch player.
Senior Writer
When he arrived at the Russell Training Center on Friday of last week, Leonard Little wasn’t feeling well.
After stopping in just long enough for his teammates and coaches to see how sick Little was and how ill he might become, he was sent home in an effort to keep him quarantined from the rest of the team so it wouldn’t get sick as well.
Little spent the majority of the rest of that day in bed, doing whatever possible to cure the strep throat that had hit him suddenly Thursday night.
On Saturday, Little had a bit more time to rest as the Rams traveled to Jacksonville but he didn’t feel a whole lot better.
When he woke up on Sunday morning, Little was still far from healthy. In fact, he was still downright ill.
Despite his ailment, the thought of not playing against the Jaguars never crossed his mind.
“There wasn’t a chance I wasn’t going to go,” Little said. “If I can walk out there, I can play. I just tried to go out and be a good leader for the young guys on this team and try to do the best I can to help us win the game.”
On both counts, Little did exactly that. Fighting off the red, puffy eyes, dehydration and overall fatigue that goes with his ailment, Little’s performance against the Jaguars was nothing short of courageous.
“I think so,” coach Steve Spagnuolo said. “I think he takes a little bit of pride in that. I think that sent a message to the rest of the team. I know they respect him and appreciate what he brought yesterday.”
What Little brought was six tackles, his team leading fourth sack of the season, a pass defended, an interception and one dramatic dive for the end zone that resulted in a touchdown. He nailed the landing, by the way.
After his big and – admittedly long – day, Little trudged around the Rams locker room as though he had just been put through boot camp a few times over. The eyes were still red as Little walked gingerly back to his locker and slowly dressed in his pinstripe suit.
Worn down by his illness and the fatigue of being on the field for many of the 88 plays Jacksonville ran and much of the 42 minutes and 12 seconds the defense was on the field, Little could barely even recall what happened late in the fourth quarter with his team desperately needing a big play.
“I don’t even know what happened,” Little said. “I just know I ended up with the ball in my hands. I just tried to get to the end zone as quick as I could. That’s all I remember about the play. I just thought the only person I had to beat was the quarterback. I knew he had the angle on me so I told myself if I got close to the end zone I would dive for it because I knew he would dive at my legs and try to knock me out of bounds. I just tried to get in there as best I could.”
With 4:46 to go, Jaguars quarterback David Garrard dropped back to pass, dumping a pass in the right flat for fullback Greg Jones. But Jacksonville had run many similar plays and checkdowns during the game and Little read it from the start.
Little stopped his natural instinct toward Garrard and wheeled back in front of Jones, getting in front of the pass where he tipped it to himself.
After hauling in the interception, Little had 36 yards of open field in front of him with only Garrard in his way. Although he had a head start, a tired Little had maybe just enough gas to get there.
Not wanting to be denied his first touchdown since returning a fumble for a score against Arizona on Dec. 19, 2004, Little decided to do his best Superman impression and took off about 6 yards from the goal line.
“I was happy for Leonard,” Spagnuolo said. “He launched that thing from about 6 yards out. I didn’t realize how impressive the end of that was until I watched it on film. The catch itself for a lineman was pretty impressive but then to hump it down there and then outleap a quarterback who is a good athlete at the end was really impressive. It was just will and determination. That tells you a lot about the person. He willed himself into that end zone. It was good to see.”
The touchdown was the third of Little’s career, his second career interception and the first interception return for a touchdown in his 11-plus seasons.
Indeed, Little has long been perhaps the Rams most consistently dominant defender. After dealing with a variety of injuries in the past couple of years, Little is relatively healthy (save the strep throat) this year and it’s apparent in his performance.
Little’s fourth sack of the year in the second quarter of Sunday’s game was No. 85 for his career and No. 84.5 since 2000, fourth most in the league in that time.
On a team in which Little is by far the most tenured member, it was the type of play that can set a tone for his younger teammates. Considering the combination of his illness, general fatigue from the game and his experience in the league, it was a play that stunned even a more veteran player like defensive tackle Clifton Ryan.
“That was a shocker,” Ryan said. “For him to make a huge play like that is a testament to his character. That’s something he has been doing for years, making big plays.”
In his 12th season in the league, many have speculated Little could be in his final go-around. But it’s become apparent that he still has plenty of gas left in the tank, even if he needs an occasional refill when the game is over.
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I didnt know he was that sick. What a top knotch player.
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