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Trainer wonders why St. Louis Rams fired him
BY JIM THOMAS
POST-DISPATCH
01/26/2010
Jim Anderson, fired late last week after 26 years as the Rams' head athletic trainer, said he was given no explanation for his dismissal from coach Steve Spagnuolo or general manager Billy Devaney.
"There was no reason given to us as to why, other than Steve felt like a change is what the organization needed," Anderson told the Post-Dispatch.
Anderson said he received a phone call from Spagnuolo on Friday afternoon, asking if he could come upstairs at Rams Park and meet with Spagnuolo and Devaney.
"And that was that," Anderson said.
Assistant trainer Dake Walden, who has worked for the organization for 17 years, also was fired Friday.
Anderson was hoping for some kind of explanation for his dismissal.
"What did I not do that was expected?" Anderson said. "Or what can I do differently if I have a situation in the future where I want to be an athletic trainer? Like I said, (Spagnuolo) didn't feel at the time that he had any response to that. He just felt the organization would be better off with a change."
Although his tenure in St. Louis may be over, Anderson, 53, wants to continue working, be it in the NFL or college.
"I've been doing this all my life," Anderson said. "This is the first time I've been fired, so I don't want to end it on that note. You'd rather go out on your own terms, you know.
"I feel fortunate I have a year left on my contract, so I don't have to make any quick decisions. But I don't think I'm old enough or wealthy enough to retire."
The Rams went through another injury-plagued season in 2009, with 13 players ending up on the injured reserve list. Twenty players who started at least one game, or were scheduled to start, missed one or more games with injuries.
"You do everything that you can to prevent the injuries," Anderson said. "Football is football. Injuries are part of it. And some years you have good years; some years you have bad years."
In announcing Anderson's dismissal Saturday, Spagnuolo insisted that the rash of injuries wasn't a factor in the decision. There was some speculation over the weekend at Rams Park that Anderson (and Walden) were being fired because Devaney and Spagnuolo didn't think the training staff was proactive enough when the swine flu virus hit the team in December. Anderson did not want to comment on that subject.
In any event, longtime employees at Rams Park are on eggshells again, as their numbers continue to dwindle. The massive organizational shakeup means very few employees are left who moved with the team to St. Louis from California in 1995.
BY JIM THOMAS
POST-DISPATCH
01/26/2010
Jim Anderson, fired late last week after 26 years as the Rams' head athletic trainer, said he was given no explanation for his dismissal from coach Steve Spagnuolo or general manager Billy Devaney.
"There was no reason given to us as to why, other than Steve felt like a change is what the organization needed," Anderson told the Post-Dispatch.
Anderson said he received a phone call from Spagnuolo on Friday afternoon, asking if he could come upstairs at Rams Park and meet with Spagnuolo and Devaney.
"And that was that," Anderson said.
Assistant trainer Dake Walden, who has worked for the organization for 17 years, also was fired Friday.
Anderson was hoping for some kind of explanation for his dismissal.
"What did I not do that was expected?" Anderson said. "Or what can I do differently if I have a situation in the future where I want to be an athletic trainer? Like I said, (Spagnuolo) didn't feel at the time that he had any response to that. He just felt the organization would be better off with a change."
Although his tenure in St. Louis may be over, Anderson, 53, wants to continue working, be it in the NFL or college.
"I've been doing this all my life," Anderson said. "This is the first time I've been fired, so I don't want to end it on that note. You'd rather go out on your own terms, you know.
"I feel fortunate I have a year left on my contract, so I don't have to make any quick decisions. But I don't think I'm old enough or wealthy enough to retire."
The Rams went through another injury-plagued season in 2009, with 13 players ending up on the injured reserve list. Twenty players who started at least one game, or were scheduled to start, missed one or more games with injuries.
"You do everything that you can to prevent the injuries," Anderson said. "Football is football. Injuries are part of it. And some years you have good years; some years you have bad years."
In announcing Anderson's dismissal Saturday, Spagnuolo insisted that the rash of injuries wasn't a factor in the decision. There was some speculation over the weekend at Rams Park that Anderson (and Walden) were being fired because Devaney and Spagnuolo didn't think the training staff was proactive enough when the swine flu virus hit the team in December. Anderson did not want to comment on that subject.
In any event, longtime employees at Rams Park are on eggshells again, as their numbers continue to dwindle. The massive organizational shakeup means very few employees are left who moved with the team to St. Louis from California in 1995.
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