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i personally like the new guy on D...i saw a clip on his workout habits, if he makes the conversion to S, he'll definitely be awesome.
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IF he makes the conversion and that's what worries me.
There is a big difference between college LB and pro Safety.
While there's every chance he can make the change I think it's unlikely he'll contribute much this season , which is probably why the Rams are happy to have re signed Bush. I reckon he will start the season with Herring at safety.
Arch may become a pro bowler at safety..... but not this year.
Dod
:helmet:
GO CLAYMORES : DEAD BUT NOT FORGOTTEN -
i agree...he'll get his fair share of PT, but herring will be the main man, as he should be. AA is a good acquisition and after learning the D he should do awesome, but like you said, not this year, but soon.Comment
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Archuleta
This guy is going to be a good one. I think that not only for his playing skills but also for his work ethic. It could rub off on some of the others.
Every since we lost Toby Wright the hitting machine, we've lost some of the aggresiveness and hard hitting in the D backfield. It will be nice to get that back.Comment
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I hope he just does not end up bitter like Toby.
I heard he was one of the trouble makers before the first clear out :mad:Comment
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Sam
I'd be careful about believing all that's read in press releases. Management have to justify why they are cutting players and labelling them as malcontents is a very handy way of getting rid.
I don't know whether Toby was or wasn't causing trouble at the end but I seem to remember he was unhappy about how his rehab on his knees was handled and I guess if your knees are shot and you can't play like you used too then you can get grumpy :mad: :helmet:
GO CLAYMORES : DEAD BUT NOT FORGOTTENComment
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Interesting DodRam, BUT
What about MR FARR, there is a gentlman. He knows how to act :cool:Comment
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Hitter in the Secondary
Hey did anyone notice Toby Wright on the roster of the San Francisco Demons in the XFL? I think you guys are right on about Archuleta. I want him to develop into a real physical prescence back there but I dont think we can expect too much too soon. Our defense may not be the 85 Bears but I think a couple of things we can expect is a faster, more aggressive D instead of that uninspired disappointment we were subjected to last year. They were nice guys, but being nice doesn't get you that ring. I am VERY optimistic about 2001 and I welcome any input you guys would like to throw my way. Oh yeah, I have decided to finally buy a new jersey and hang up the old Bettis 36 and Dennard 88...I want an Archuleta..Is he #31? Any chance he'll switch to 40 before the season starts? Take care guys.Comment
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So far this guy is doing a great job. By the end of the season he should be making a big impact or at least big impacts on the other teams.Comment
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Fear
Adam Archuleta May Not Possess It, But His Opponents Do
By Nick Wagoner
Staff Writer
Most kids spend their adolescent years learning how to deal with pain. Whether it is the physical kind of pain suffered from falling off a bike or the kind where they must learn about how to deal with the loss of a loved one, important lessons are gleaned from everywhere. Most kids are like that… most.
Adam Archuleta was always the exception. Pain is not a word that is in his vocabulary. He was always “that” kid, the kid who would scrape his knee and laugh about it. He wouldn’t let much of anything bother him.
He didn’t care much for people in charge and he was always looking to do something to challenge the system. It was just his way. More than that, he could easily shake off any kind of physical pain.
Archuleta recalls the time when he was 4 and decided to ride his bike on an icy hill, by no means a safe idea. Of course, Archuleta fell off his bike and by the time he landed, he had his first concussion, the first of many. He wasn’t bothered, though; he simply went to the hospital and got over it. That’s the way he has always been; think outside the box, confront the people with clout and defy common thought.
“I was always getting hurt,” Archuleta said. “I was not really afraid of anything. I used to ride my bike down the tall slides. I’d fall off and get bloodied up. I used to jump off the roof. I used to do whatever; it was just kind of how it was when I was a kid.”
Based on those qualities you might think Archuleta is simply crazy. Make no mistake, he is one of the most interesting and intelligent players in the NFL, but he couldn’t do what he does on a weekly basis without that kind of mentality. He couldn’t do what he did to get where he is either.
Archuleta took his fearless approach to life, applied it to football and became one of the league’s most feared safeties. He will never hesitate to stick his nose in and make contact. In fact, he doesn’t care if he is the one dishing out the pain or receiving it.
“Maybe I was just being bred for contact,” Archuleta said. “It could have been somebody’s way of preparing me for the NFL.”
That preparation for contact and the sheer enjoyment of the game has always been omnipresent in Archuleta. Never the biggest, the fastest or the strongest, he got by on will. It was that will that took him from walk-on at Arizona State to three-year starter for the Sun Devils. It helped him play linebacker though he was undersized at about 200 pounds for the position. It resulted in 330 tackles.
In the end, his desire lifted him from lowly walk-on to the 20th pick in the 2001 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Rams. He switched from linebacker to strong safety because of his size. But standing 5-foot-11 and weighing 209 pounds, Archuleta still has...-11-17-2004, 01:50 PM -
By Jim Thomas
Of the Post-Dispatch
Friday, Feb. 18 2005
Adam Archuleta got some jarring news when he visited a back specialist in San
Francisco in late January. Namely, that he had played at least part of the 2004
season with a herniated disc in his back.
At least that was the diagnosis of Jeff Saal, a nationally recognized expert in
non-surgical treatment for back injuries.
Archuleta's reaction was part disappointment.
"I'm dealing with kind of a career (threatening) deal," Archuleta said. "A
back, if not taken care of, can cause serious problems. I'm kind of scared. But
at the same time, I'm kind of amazed that I was actually able to play strong
safety with this type of deal going on."
For that reason, Archuleta's reaction was also part relief.
"I (thought), 'Well at least I'm not crazy,'" Archuleta said. "I know it wasn't
just a figment of my imagination all season. In a way, it made me feel better
about what I was going through."
Initial test results, done early in the 2004 season, showed that Archuleta had
a bulging disc in the back. While nothing to laugh at, a bulging disc isn't as
serious as a herniated disc.
"At the time, I was told that it was not a big deal," Archuleta said. "That it
was a typical football player's back. That I had the same thing that Marshall
(Faulk) had. The same thing that Torry (Holt) had. The same thing that Rich
(Coady) had. So I asked those guys how they were feeling. And they were like,
fine."
Because they still were playing, Archuleta figured he should do the same.
"I was still able to go out there and play, albeit not at the level that I or
anybody else expected me to play at," Archuleta said.
As a result, Archuleta probably hurt his reputation as a player. He was limited
to nickel and dime back duty in October games in San Francisco and Seattle, but
otherwise kept playing.
"It was a weird and bad situation to be in," Archuleta said. "You feel like you
have an obligation to your team, and your teammates. And at what point, when
you're not 100 percent, do you say, 'I can't play?' I've never been faced with
that in my career."
It is now clear, according to Saal's evaluation, that Archuleta's back
deteriorated as the season progressed. Archuleta has been undergoing treatment
from Saal, who is based at Stanford University Hospital, since shortly after
the Rams' playoff loss to Atlanta.
Archuleta received an epidural shot of medication on Feb. 2, and received
another epidural on Wednesday.
"Adam's made tremendous strides over the last couple weeks," said...-02-19-2005, 05:34 AM -
Herniated disk affected performance, psyche
Given his longtime nickname, Arch, strong safety Adam Archuleta couldn't have handpicked a more fitting NFL city in which to ply his trade. Just a few blocks from the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, after all, the Gateway Arch rises majestically from the banks of the Mississippi River.
So, the guy named Arch is playing for the Rams, in the city whose most familiar edifice is architect Eero Saarinen's breathtaking, stainless steel curve. The public relations possibilities are seemingly limitless, right? Even a novice marketing maven could pose Arch at the top of the Arch, in a panoramic shot, and turn it into a successful photo op.
Except that in a torturous 2004 season, one in which he could barely bend over to tie his shoes without wincing, Archuleta could hardly, well, arch his back sufficiently to see the observation perch of the 630-foot landmark. The pose most often struck by Archuleta last season, alas, was one in which his hand was reaching for his balky back.
And in which he was left, at times, grabbing at air after whiffing on a tackle attempt.
'How bad was it?' said Archuleta earlier this week from Los Angeles, where he stopped in for the latest session with Dr. Ed Wagner, his noted back specialist. 'Well, cut me in half, honestly, because I was like half a man last year. It's no secret, with the way that I have always trained, that my body is my business. Well, I'll tell you what, my business just about went bust last year. How's that for bad?'
Despite appearing in all 16 games and starting all but two of them, and finishing second on the team with 123 tackles, Archuleta clearly struggled in '04. The 2001 first-round choice, who had established a reputation as one of the NFL's biggest hitters during his first three seasons in the league, was miserable. And, at times, so was his performance, despite his seemingly solid numbers.
What was originally thought to be a bulging disk in his back, a problem that surfaced as early as the first regular-season game, was actually a more serious herniated disk. The injury, from which Archuleta didn't gain even a modicum of relief until two late-season cortisone injections marginally eased his pain, dramatically affected his play – and, almost as critical, his psyche.
Anyone who knows Archuleta – a former walk-on at Arizona State who starred at weakside linebacker and won Pac-10 defensive player of the year honors as a senior in 2000 – can appreciate to some degree the significance of Archuleta's psyche. A self-made player, whose grueling workout regimen was made legendary in part by feature pieces on ESPN and in ESPN The Magazine, the veteran treats his body like a temple.
But with the herniated disk throughout 2004 and a second disk affected to a lesser extent, Archuleta discovered...-06-08-2005, 05:22 PM -
Rehabbing safety says back feels '6,000 percent better'
By R.B. FALLSTROM, AP Sports Writer
May 17, 2005
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Adam Archuleta knew something was terribly wrong with his back last season when he couldn't tie his own shoelaces.
``It was pretty much a nightmare,'' the St. Louis Rams safety said Tuesday. ``I really probably had no business being out there. When you play a whole season and you can't bend over and touch your knees, it's a big deal.''
After four months of rehab, Archuleta was back on the field for voluntary organized team activities. And feeling like he belongs on the field again.
``Let's put it this way: Compared to where I was during the season, I'm about 6,000 percent better,'' Archuleta said. ``From what I hear and what people tell me, all the experts, they say I'm ahead of schedule.''
Archuleta played with a herniated disc in his back all last season after getting hurt in training camp, and was nowhere near the impact player he had been in his first three seasons with the Rams. Although he finished second on the team with 123 tackles, he had only two sacks, no interceptions and no quarterback pressures.
Archuleta, a former first-round pick in 2001, said with about two weeks of rest, he would have been fine. But he didn't want to come off the field. Fellow safety Aeneas Williams missed most of the second half of the season with an arthritic condition in his neck, a career-ending injury given that the team has already reassigned his number.
``I just had an obligation to my teammates to play,'' Archuleta said. ``In my eyes, I could go out there and play. Now, was it at a high level? Was it at the level I'm used to playing? No.
``But I was able to go out and perform, so it's hard for me to say no, I can't go out there.''
Archuleta decided to rehabilitate the back instead of undergo surgery. He's satisfied with the results, achieved after perhaps a longer period of time but without the risks associated with an operation.
A battery of personal trainers at his home in Tempe, Ariz., helps keep him on task.
``On certain days I go see the soft tissue guy, on certain days I go see my Pilates person, on certain days I go see my physical therapy people,'' Archuleta said. ``Then on weekends I go to Los Angeles and work with my rehab people.''
Archuleta always has been undersized at his position at 6 feet, 220 pounds, and he doesn't plan on adding any weight to help him make it through next season.
``All I probably needed last year was a few weeks' rest and I would have been fine,'' Archuleta said. ``The fact that I played on it and it got worse and worse is really why I'm in this situation right now.''-05-17-2005, 02:20 PM -
By Jim Thomas
Of the Post-Dispatch
08/24/2005
Sure, Adam Archuleta was surprised that his "career" at free safety lasted all of one exhibition game. But you always can expect the unexpected at Rams Park, particularly in August.
"We're trying to sort through some things and sort through some personnel," Archuleta said. "So it's better now than in the middle of the season."
Coach Mike Martz announced Monday that Archuleta was moving back to strong safety, the position he has played in the NFL since being selected by the Rams in the first round of the 2001 draft.
"It's going to be a good thing for us, and I think it's going to help our defense," Archuleta said. "I play strong safety. That's what I am. I love playing that position."
He loves being closer to the line of scrimmage, more involved in run defense and more involved in blitzing.
"I've always enjoyed being the guy to be able to mix it up," Archuleta said. "To be able to run around and just cause havoc, that's kind of my game. Being a free safety gave me an opportunity to be in on different types of plays. But now, I just like being able to fly around and just have fun. ... That's when I'm at the top of my game."
One reason for the switch to free safety was concern about his back. He played in pain most of 2004 with an injury that eventually was diagnosed as a herniated disc. The free-safety position involves more coverage and less banging than strong safety, so in theory, the switch would be easier on his back.
Archuleta said his back came out of Sunday's San Diego game in good shape.
"Sure, you get sore," he said. "It's the first time I've had a contact since January. Especially full-speed contact. But I was fine working out hard the next day. It felt pretty good."
Nonetheless, Archuleta felt some anxiety entering the San Diego game, not sure how his back would respond to full contact.
"Am I going to be able to move around?" he wondered. "I started the game out pretty stiff, but as the game went along, I loosened up, and everything started working better, and I was flying around better. So it was definitely a step in the right direction."
Unfortunately for Archuleta and the Rams, running back LaDainian Tomlinson came streaking into the secondary on San Diego's fifth offensive play, long before Archuleta got loosened up.
Tomlinson easily eluded Archuleta with an open-field fake and raced to the end zone for a 55-yard touchdown. Given the amount of space Tomlinson had to work with, could anyone have brought him down in the open field?
"It depends on who you ask," Archuleta said.
In comments after the game, Martz said he thought Archuleta should...-08-25-2005, 04:57 AM
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