No rest for weary Rams in London
4 hours ago • STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
LONDON — Things are moving quickly for Sam Bradford and the St. Louis Rams as they deal with a change of continents and time zones.
Now their bodies just have to catch up in time for the annual NFL game in London on Sunday against the New England Patriots.
The Rams arrived at Heathrow airport early Tuesday morning, and a few hours later they were on a wet field in Regents Park in central London doing drills with about 500 local school children to show off the American version of football.
"I think everyone was a little bit tired on the bus ride here," Bradford said, "but that's why we got here so early in the week so that we could acclimate ourselves to the jet lag and get accustomed to the time difference. So hopefully by Sunday it'll be a non-factor."
In his live chat that's underway on the STLtoday.com website, Post-Dispatch football writer Jim Thomas was asked about the team's arrival in London. Thomas replied:
"So far so good in London. Very good hospitality. Long flight, not much sleep for the players. They arrived in London about 2:30 a.m. STL time (8:30 a.m London time), took a long bus ride to their hotel to check in, and then after about an hour at the hotel, the players took another long bus ride into London for a Play 60 event where they worked with London youth on some football drills.
"I think it's a good thing that the Rams are spending the entire week out here, to help get the jet lag out of their systems. Interestingly, New England isn't coming out here until Friday morning."
About the Rams' accommodations in London, Thomas said:
"I'm not going to mention the hotel — actually it's more like a country estate about 35 minutes' drive from Heathrow airport. Rolling hills, quaint cottages, cattle grazing, the whole bit. Plus a golf course, on site!
"But at the end of the week, the Rams are switching to a downtown London hotel (again, I'm not going to name it), I guess to have a shorter ride Sunday to Wembley Stadium and a quicker ride to the airport Monday morning. They can't leave until Monday morning because of air traffic regulations at Heathrow."
Sunday's game will kick off at noon St. Louis time (5 p.m. in London; daylight savings time ends there this weekend).
As the home team in the sixth regular-season game played in Britain, Bradford said the Rams are also taking their ambassadorial duties seriously and want to have a visible presence in London to help boost the game's popularity.
"I think it would be really easy for us to come over here and lock ourselves up at the hotel and just go through our normal routines," Bradford said. "But I think this is a great chance for the NFL to expand...
-10-23-2012, 05:25 PM
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