Tweet
He is playing very poorly. "Where's the Sacks????"
-
-
Re: Little noise for Little
How in the hell can you sack anybody when your the only one on DEFENSE with any talent! He got double teamed all night! No help for him at all! That has to be the sorriest front line of the year and maybe the decade!
Don't look to him he had no help!
-
Re: Little noise for Little
He was double teamed plenty last year too. I am not putting it all in him. I just think this team needs someone to fire them up and I look to him. Was Favre even under presure once in that game.Comment
-
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
By Nick Wagoner
Senior Writer
While Leonard Little was leading the Rams’ defense and continuing in his role as the team's top pass rusher last season, it wasn’t easy to see that Little simply wasn’t enjoying himself on the football field as he usually does.
By his own account, Little wasn’t the same player or person last season as he had been in almost every other year. And it wasn’t even close. At 32, having gone through more in a five-year period than many endure in a lifetime, Little had to learn to handle pain in his foot and, more difficult, his heart.
“Last year, my brother passed away and that really stuck with me throughout last season and I didn’t know how to come back,” Little said. “This year, I learned to deal with it and I am just going out trying to have fun. For me, I’m 32 years old and I just try to go out there and seize the moment and have fun while I’m out there playing.”
Not only is Little having fun on the field and seizing the moment, he has done so much that he could finish his career in St. Louis. Little signed a three-year deal with the team this week; a contract he says will likely be his last.
Last season was a difficult one for Little. Plagued by injuries, including an ankle and heel issue that slowed him, and forced to deal with the death of his brother Jermaine, Little struggled to find the bounce in his step that had made him one of the league’s most feared pass rushers.
Little missed a pair of games after finding out about the shooting death of his brother before returning to the field with a heavy heart. With the Rams struggling, particularly on defense, Little couldn’t find a way to play with the passion and enthusiasm that had been motivating factors behind his immense success.
“Last year, it was hard for me to cope with it because he was younger than me and we grew up tight,” Little said. “We were a close knit family. Last year, I was trying to cope with it and now I just deal with it.”
Despite the extraneous factors working against him, he still led the Rams with 9.5 sacks. But, after a hot start, Little hit a lull in the middle of the season and didn’t hit his stride again until the end. His sack total was the second-lowest of his career since a huge 2001 when he had a career-high 14.5 sacks despite missing three games.
In the offseason, Little’s surroundings changed once again. St. Louis hired a new coaching staff and brought in plenty of new pieces to surround the star defensive end. All of that, though was assuming Little could be a centerpiece.
Little had ankle surgery that shaved away some bone chips in the offseason and went through a strenuous rehabilitation and recovery period that had him hobbled as recently as training camp.
In addition, the Rams brought in defensive tackle La’Roi Glover...-11-22-2006, 01:48 PM -
Little not playing because of the tragedy in his family is a debatable point. Little not contacting the team all week regarding his whereabouts, including on game day, is NOT ACCEPTABLE, especially after what the rams team and players have done to stand behind him in times of great struggle.
ramming speed to all
general counsel
ps look at what favre did when his father died and look at littles actions today.
pps could it have anything to do with the fact that we knew before the game and didnt tell him until after?-10-23-2005, 09:48 AM -
Little May Have Other Options
Leonard Little has yet to make his decision about returning or retiring from the NFL.
But if he decides to play another season, he may have more than just the Rams wanting his services.
As the new defensive coordinator in Washington, Jim Haslett has let it be known that he believes Little is still good for 10+ sacks a season--provided he stays healthy and is used appropriately.
The situation is similiar with the Rams--who have made it clear to Little they would like him back if intends to play in 2010.
Little missed three games due to injury last year, but still led the Rams with 6.5 sacks. It's that ability that should keep him effective on pass rush downs.
With 87.5 career sacks, the idea of 100 sacks is an achievable goal--but Little has shared that he wouldn't return to chase after any statistical goals, playing the game was about winning and having fun.
What's not so clear is if Little would have more fun in another city or if the wear and tear of twelve seasons has been enough and he's ready to walk away.
I'd love to have little come back and play with us for another year. I think he still can be productive as long as he stays healthy-02-16-2010, 04:55 PM -
I have talked in the past about how much Little's lack of discipline when rushing the passer has cost him numerous sacks. This year is no different. In fact I believe he is having one of the worst years he has ever had. I decided to spend the season counting the blown opportunities he has had. Thus far Little has 4 1/2 missed sacks because of the fact he is rushing to the quarterback with little regard for the outcome. He has missed, whiffed, arm tackled or simply ran by the passer 4 1/2 times.
As much as I like him and believe he is a true force in the pass rush game. His tactics often gets the best of him. As a rusher you have to be aware of your surroundings all the time. This is the reason he has zero sacks thus far, quarterbacks are aware that all they have to do is step up when he is coming off the edge.-09-30-2007, 06:49 AM -
The Legacy of Leonard Little
Thursday, November 26, 2009
By Nick Wagoner
Senior Writer
Two years into his NFL career, Leonard Little had yet to make much of an impact on the game and found himself wondering when his opportunity would arrive.
Beyond that, Little was still unsure that even if the chance to prove himself came, that he could actually do it.
In his college career at Tennessee, Little had regularly dominated. He was one of the most intimidating forces in the college game and had made a habit of collecting sacks like Jay-Z collects No. 1 albums.
But the NFL was a different world and Little had yet to even show up on the radar.
So it was that then coach Mike Martz made the decision that the best way for Little to unlock his many skills was to get his behind kicked every day in practice.
“If you were going to get better, you were going to have to go against someone great,” Little said. “I was going against the best every single day in training camp. He told me if I was going to be an impact player in this league, I have to practice against the best and Orlando Pace was the best.”
Practice after practice, repetition after repetition, all world left tackle Pace utterly destroyed Little. Every move Little made was turned away, every spin move stonewalled.
Eventually, Little had a breakthrough. After hundreds, perhaps thousands of opportunities, Little finally began to solve Pace or at least battle him to a draw.
“He was the best at the time and when I first went against him it was intimidating because he was a great player,” Little said. “He would get the best of me and I’d keep battling and then beat him sometimes. He would beat me. It went back and forth. But I think that was the first time I realized I could play in this league.”
Twelve years into his career, there’s nobody who can question that Little can indeed play in the NFL as he has become one of the league’s premiere pass rushers and the greatest defensive force in St. Louis Rams history.
THE ORIGINAL ‘TWEENER
When the Rams used the 65th overall choice, in the third round of the 1998 NFL Draft on Little, they knew they were getting an extremely productive college player.
For a player with Little’s resume to last until the third round would normally be a bit of a surprise. But for as impressive as his statistics were, the stat that held Little back the most was the fact that he was a 236-pound defensive end/linebacker.
Before the dawn of the 3-4 defense in which teams can regularly find ways to get pass rush specialists on the field as an outside linebacker, there was Little.
In fact, Little was one of a number of players first associated with the dreaded “’Tweener” label.
The Rams decided to roll the dice...-11-26-2009, 06:16 PM
Comment