In SI

[RamWraith]

Have you guys seen this is Sports Illustrated???

In this week's issue of SI under Word Association:
SI: Motivation.
Horn: My family and my fools -- the ones who doubt me. Like the Chiefs. If they had hung on to me, they would have had the most dangerous receiving trio in the league --me, Derrick Alexander and Tony Gonzalez.
SI: St. Louis Rams.
Horn: Overrated. Isaac Bruce, Kurt Warner, Torry Holt, Marshall Faulk -- that's it. That's all they have.
SI: Rams--Saints rivalry.
Horn: I don't see it as a rivalry. In a rivalry you go back and forth. I win one, you win one. We've beaten them three of the last four. They've got to do better than that to be our rivals.

IF THIS ISN'T FIGHTING WORDS I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS

:evil: :mad:

[The Limey]

Word Association

Q: Horn
A: Who?

Q: Saints
A: Who?

Q: Superbowl winners 2000
A: St. Louis Rams

Q: Saints' chances of topping NFC West
A: No hope and Bob Hope

And what does he mean, the Rams have only got Warner, Faulk, Bruce and Holt and that's it.
That's four more future Hall of Famers than most teams, including the Saints. (And that's ignoring Williams, Pace, Fletcher et al)
For the record, the Rams-Saints record over the last six games is 3-3 - which fulfills his "you win won, we win won" criteria perfectly.
But for there to be a rivalry, the Rams actually have to give a monkey's.

[RamDez]

It stands at Rams 35 wins Aints 29 wins do date

The Rams OWN the aints

[txramsfan]

How many Super Bowl winning TD passes has Horn caught? Has Brooks thrown? How many Super Bowl saving tackles has the Saints D made?


Just like always: ZERO

[Coach_Largent]

Hall of famers ??

Torry Holt will not make the HOF. When you compare his impact on the team/league vs. guys that do go in at WR spot, I just don't see it.

As it stands , I think Pace will, And Faulk will.

Aeneas Williams has a very outside shot.

Isaac Bruce ? Maybe. He had quite a few drops early - he alligator arms it on occasion , and it is hard to get in as a WR unless you are one of the top 5 for a LONG period. He is going to have a hard time being in the class just behind Cris Carter,Rod Smith, Tim Brown, and Jerry Rice and just before the stats of Terrell Owens, Randy Moss and all the other young jackaxes like that.

Warner is going to be interesting. He will be in a shallow crop of QB's but he got a late start- his numbers are amazing in the time period, but QB's are long haul winners. He will have to show a long durability streak, and he takes an awful lot of hits, and the concussion problems could really hurt his chances ...... if he has 7 more years like these, he'll be in. It is always hard to judge a QB with a relatively small amount of starts - remeber there have been some HUGE fast starts ( Bledsoe, Jay Schroeder etc ...... neither of these guys are HOF'ers.- and Bledsoe has been the closest to Marino's single-season TD mark. )

[The Limey]

I take your point on Warner, but I don't see any signs that he's a flash in the pan.
As for Holt, I don't agree he won't make the HOF.
He's been improving each year, and I think he led the NFC (or was it even the NFL?) in receiving yards last year - averaging nearly 20 yards a catch.
And he's a big game player, too, which always helps.
Either way, he's got a much better chance than Horn. He's got a long playing career ahead of him and could be one of the all-time greats.

[RamDez]

Good postings in here

Pace is a lock unless he gets hit with injuries.

Bruce, I agree that he is doubtfull, there is way to much competition.

Holt, if this guy stays healthy, I would vote for him.

Faulk, yep, he is a lock.

Warner, give him a few more years and he goes in.

And my surprise pick ....... Adam Archuleta (if healthy)

[The Limey]

Didd't understand the Coach Largent stat about Bledsoe being closest to Marino single season touchdown mark.
Bledsoe chucked 28 TD's in 1997 - his best effort - while Warner threw 41 in 1999. Maybe I misunderstood.

[Coach_Largent]

I was referring to

yardage not TD's sorry. He (Bledsoe)got very close to the 5000 yard mark one season as did Warner. Sorry, my bad. Thanks for catching me on that.

LIMEY ? HORN ?? Did I miss something ? I never said he was going to the HOF , unless he has a ticket.

Holt ........ this guy is a good WR, but it will take 4 superbowl trophies to get guys like him in. Yeah he led the league in YPC, but let me throw a name out, James McKnight. He led the league in YPC. Big deal. Holt doesn't play with the type of poise and consistency to get in the HOF. His route running is average to good but he's no Isaac Bruce in that regard , so what happens if he sustains an injury ? Without his sheer speed does he possess th ework ethic of a Jerry Rice,Rod Smith, Cris Carter or Steve Largent ? The kind of commitment to learn the tough routes, and to run them with percision ?? I don't think so. He had a few issues with work ethic in college, and I do have to admit that he is one hit on himself or Kurt Warner away from becoming another guy that had a lot of talent. He is not in the same class as those other guys, the Bruce's and Carter's of this decade.

Archuletta ?? I do lOVE this kid. I fear thatr his aggressive hitting style, and his small body frame, (i.e. his whoulder width and natural muscle mass) will be the undoing of him. To get in from the Safety position is very hard. You need to amass those 100 tackle 6 INT's AND a prescence in the big game and then STAY at that level for a LONG time. Darren Woodson, Steve Atwater, those kinds of guys You also run the risk of running into the Rod Woodson's of the world. Carnell Lake, guys who can extend their careers by 7-10 years moving from Safety to CB. There are a lot in his generation that will make that move and the stats will be hard for himto overcome. The body frame will also cause him to be injury prone. He has to work very hard to keep that top 12 pounds on his frame. He is a magnificent athelete , and most definitely a great player with the perfect mentality, I just don't see his body being able to recover and keep up. He has to work it pretty hard just to keep the same weight that guys who play less physically can , naturally. I love him, and time will tell. If his body can hold up for 12-14 years ....... without a big drop-off. yeah he could make it.

[RamDez]

I take your point on Jerry Rice and ask this.

When Jerry first came into the NFL, his first 2 years were full of drops and bad attitude. THEN he changed his life around. And this is the Jerry we all Love/Hate

So this is possible with the likes of Holt.

I would say the big problem with most of these players getting into the HOF is (from the Rams stand point) can they continue in their prolific style offence. If Martz can for the next 3 to 5 years and these same players remain, i would find it very strange if they were not locks. (barring injury)

Now the next big debate should be ...... can the Rams continue to pepper the NFL ?

PS, anyone know how long the Chargers managed it before becoming unglued ??

[RamWraith]

OFF

I think you guys are missing the ticket on Holt. You can't judge him even close to a hall fame player based on 3 years. We don't know how this KID is going to hold up or preform when Bruce is gone and he is going to step into a number one role. At this time he a number 2 receiver...HUGE change in roles.

As far as Bruce is concerned. He keeps playing the rest of his career like he has the last few, he is a lock. I will base that on his stat's and ATTITUDE. He is the classest receiver out there at this time and the voters like that.

[Aries51]

I think Holt has a long career ahead of him.In his short stint in the NFL he has showed a lot of durability.If this continues,I could see him having a shot,and I think Bruce may hang around longer than we might think.I just hope he does it as a Ram.


GO RAMS! STAY FOCUSED! WIN!

[Coach_Largent]

Originally posted by RamDez

PS, anyone know how long the Chargers managed it before becoming unglued ??

Around 10 years. That was BEFORE free agency. You are going to be hard preesed to keep the young offensive talent (i.e. Holt etc. and PAY the young D talent as well when the contracts come up. You are goiung to have to hope that someone wants to win more than they want the .5 mil, more a season.

Until Holt changes his attitude and makes the tough catch in traffic and until he runs routes as precisely as Bruce, I will doube his ability to get in. There are a lot of WR's in this league, and alot of what gets a WR in is based oin the things "outside" the stats. I mean Lynn Swaan got in and his stats were very average , at best. He was a great big game WR'sw that didn't contirbute as much to his team as you think, but he did it when the game was on the line and he kept growing with the game learning, changing. I have to doubt Holt's work ethic until proven otherwise, he had wuite a few issues in college(NC-State) with attitude and work ethic and commitment to the game.

I mean this is a kid that got a lot of yards but he has 15 career TD's ....... total . 6 last year. One would think that 20 ypc over 1600 yards etc ... would yeild more than 6 TD's ..... right ?? I see him as John Taylor, getting a lot of yards due to the D playing Bruce. ( i.e. Rice)

I do agree Bruce is a lock. Cris Carter, Jerry Rice. Tim Brown --- see the list grows and Holt is going to have to be one of these guys to get in. I don't see it.