Tuesday, May 25, 2010
By Nick Wagoner
Senior Writer
For a 10-year NFL veteran, the idea of putting on the pads and trudging through another long practice in the burgeoning summer heat might be less favorable than a visit to the dentist.
For newly added offensive lineman Hank Fraley, there’s nowhere he’d rather be.
“It’s a dream come true for me every year,” Fraley said. “So each year I treat it like it’s my first and it could be my last. I just love football and being around the guys and playing so I just try to bring that energy and if I am down, I hope there are guys I can lean on to get me up. But I try to be positive every day. It’s a job but it’s fun.”
Fraley says he has been playing football since he was 6 and now, at 32, he still plays with the same childlike enthusiasm that has carried him through an accomplished NFL career.
When the Rams went searching for some depth on the interior of their offensive line during the free agent signing period, they had hoped to find someone with the versatility to play all three interior spots.
It was considered a bonus if they could find someone who combined that versatility with the experience and leadership skills to help out their many young linemen.
Enter Fraley, who fit the bill and then some. On March 12, the Rams signed Fraley to a three-year contract after he spent the previous four seasons with Cleveland. The idea was to bring in someone capable of backing up Jason Brown at center and compete for a possible starting job at guard.
In just a couple of months and four organized team activities, Fraley has already done much more than that, according to coach Steve Spagnuolo.
“Here he is a veteran guy and he’s working with the second and third (team) once in a while and doesn’t complain one bit,” Spagnuolo said. “I will watch him rallying those young guys together like in the two minute drill, pumping guys up. We need that.”
Not that Spagnuolo or offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur is even remotely surprised by what Fraley brings to the table.
In fact, it was the presence of Spagnuolo and Shurmur in St. Louis that helped sway Fraley from some other potential landing spots when he embarked on free agency.
Fraley spent the first six years of his career in Philadelphia where Spagnuolo was coaching defensive backs and linebackers and Shurmur was tutoring quarterbacks.
Although neither Spagnuolo nor Shurmur coached Fraley’s position, they both formed a relationship with the young lineman.
“I had a good relationship with those guys even though they didn’t coach my position,” Fraley said. “I liked their attitude and I always felt they were great and would go somewhere and do bigger things and that’s what they are doing here. When I got here it was just like seeing those guys again was like...
-05-26-2010, 08:15 PM
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