Turf Show Times

The Career of Ray Sherman

2012-05-17T15:00:41Z

How does one begin to write about the St. Louis Rams new wide receivers coach Ray Sherman? Do you write about his extensive and impressive career?

How do you encapsulate a career like his? Perhaps it would read something like this:

Coach Ray Sherman has joined the staff of new St Louis Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher, who was the defensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams, before joining George Seifert in San Francisco as defensive backs coach, with Coach Seifert having taken over from Bill Walsh after serving under him as defensive coordinator. Coach Sherman arrived in St Louis by way of Mike Sherman in Green Bay, who worked for Mike Holmgren in both Seattle and Green Bay. Mike Holmgren worked for George Seifert as offensive coordinator, before leaving and taking Ray Rhodes, which got Jeff Fisher hired in San Francisco. Coach Sherman also got here by way of Dennis Green, who coached for Bill Walsh, and who had Brian Billick as an offensive coordinator, who went on to coach the Ravens team that dethroned Jeff Fisher and the Titans as AFC champions in 2000. Ta-da!

Unfortunately, that doesn't do justice to this amazing man's life, both in the coaching business, and outside of it. Let's take a closer look at Ray Sherman's NFL journey.

Ray Sherman's resume

Ray Sherman started coaching in 1974 after playing wide receiver and defensive back at Florida State. His resume is as follows:

1974 - San Jose State University - Graduate Assistant

1975 - University of California - Defensive Backs

1976-1977 - Michigan State University - Tight Ends

1978-1980 - Wake Forest University - Running Backs

1981 - University of California - Running Backs

1982-1985 - University of Purdue - Running Backs

1986-1987 - University of Georgia - Wide Receivers

1988 - Houston Oilers - Running Backs

1989 - Houston Oilers - Wide Receivers

1990 - Atlanta Falcons - Assistant Head Coach

1991 - San Francisco 49ers - Running Backs

1992-1993 - San Francisco 49ers - Wide Receivers

1994 - New York Jets - Offensive Coordinator

1995-1997 - Minnesota Vikings - Quarterbacks

1998 - Pittsburgh Steelers - Offensive Coordinator

1999 - Minnesota Vikings - Offensive Coordinator

2000-2004 - Green Bay Packers - Wide Receivers

2005-2006 - Tennessee Titans - Wide Receivers

2007-2010 - Dallas Cowboys - Wide Receivers

2012-? - St Louis Rams - Wide Receivers

That is 20 different jobs in 38 years coaching football at either the college or professional level. His average length in any one particular job is a bit under 2 years. In his 38 year career, the longest he stuck in one spot was 5 seasons as the wide receivers coach in Green Bay.

He has been considered for many head coaching positions over the years, including the Rams head coaching position in 2009, before they ultimately hired Steve Spagnuolo. He has also been interviewed at various times by the Vikings, Raiders, and Cowboys for their vacant head coaching positions.

He was most recently involved in some controversy in Dallas when he interviewed for the Head Coach position. Coach Sherman had been with the team for four seasons when Wade Phillips was fired during the 2010 season. Despite being considered for the top job, when Jason Garrett was selected, he chose not to retain Coach Sherman as his wide receiver coach. Many people speculated he was only given an interview to satisfy the Rooney Rule, which requires teams to interview at least on minority candidate for open coaching positions. Neither Jason Garrett or Jerry Jones have ever given a reason for Sherman's dismissal, other than saying that the Cowboys "just (wanted to) go in different directions".

We'll probably never know why Ray Sherman was dismissed from the Cowboys in such a strange fashion. What we do know is that his dismissal was in spite of the Cowboys having a 1,000 yard wide receiver in each of Sherman's four seasons as the team's wide receiver coach. His reign saw Miles Austin transform from a practice squad player into one of the top receivers anywhere in the NFL. The Cowboys were a top offense for Coach Sherman's entire tenure in Dallas, and much of that was built on the back of the wide receivers. If he can bring that magic to St. Louis, this team will take a giant step forward immediately.

Tragedy Strikes the Sherman Family

The St Louis Rams media guide page about Ray Sherman ends with this line "His first child, Ray II, passed away in 2003". If only it were as simple as that...

On May 18th, 2003, Ray Sherman Jr was at home with his mother, his father, his grandmother, and his two younger sisters. He had spent the morning practicing his drums, and had played in a soccer game. He had spent the afternoon helping him mom with a garage sale. The family was moving out of a rental house, and everyone was chipping in. His dad had promised to take him to see The Matrix Reloaded that evening, and he had even sent an excited email to a friend about the movie.

At 5:40 pm, Ray Sherman Sr went out to the garage, where his son had been organizing some things for the upcoming move, and found his son, on the ground, with a gunshot wound on the right side of his head. The gun lying next to him belonged to his father. The family immediately dialed 911, and when paramedics arrived, they tried to resuscitate the boy, but he was already gone.

The next day, the Brown County medical examiner Al Klimek ruled the young man's death a suicide. The family was stunned at the ruling. Klimek responded to questions about how he came to this ruling by saying, "There were several intentional acts which a reasonable person would realize could cause his death".

The gun had been stored in a duffel bag, and was kept separate from the ammunition. Ray Sherman Jr also had powder burns on his head, indicating a shot at close range. After the boy had found the gun, he had somehow found ammunition to go along with it. Despite the medical examiners ruling, the family never believed that Ray Sherman Jr had killed himself. The lead investigator, who was also the young man's football coach, said after the ruling "It's quite possible we may never know all the answers".

Even the head coach Ray Sherman worked for at the time , Mike Sherman(no relation), publicly doubted the ruling of suicide, saying "This was a 14-year-old boy who loved life, and life loved him. The day of his passing, he played in a soccer game and practiced his drum lessons in the morning, and worked with his mother in a garage sale that afternoon. He even e-mailed a friend about the movie ‘Matrix Reloaded’ he was going to see with his father that night."

Over the 6 months following the death of Ray Sherman Jr, the family continued to fight the ruling of suicide. They hired two independent forensic scientists and a psychiatrist to review the case, and all three returned with the ruling of an accidental death.

On November 9th, 2003, the family filed a petition to have a judge overturn the ruling of suicide and rule Ray Sherman Jr's death a suicide. Yvette Sherman, Ray Sherman Sr's wife, was quoted as saying, "I am a mother trying to find my way to grieve my son, and I find myself in a tremendous fight to clear his name and preserve his legacy".

Finally, on May 20th, 2004, almost exactly one year after the incident and the ruling of suicide, a Brown County judge ruled that the "only reasonable conclusion...is that the death was the result of an accident". Despite the change in the cause of death, the family didn't see this as a victory. "We haven't won, because we lost our son", Coach Sherman said to a reporter over the telephone.

Ray Sherman was an avid gun collector his whole life until that incident. Although he would never tell other people not to own guns, he got rid of all of his own. And to people who still have them, all he has to say is, "I think people have to understand, not only do you have to lock them up, but you better put the key somewhere where kids aren't able to get to them. Kids are intrigued by guns. That's not going to change."

"...We taught our kids about water safety, driving safely. We talked about everything, sex education, don't do drugs. Gun safety was never one I talked to my son about."

The Men Coach Sherman has Influenced

Ray Sherman has coached up quite a few young players into pro bowlers, and even current/future Hall of Famers. Some of those players include:

Ernest Givins

Andre Rison

Jerry Rice

Warren Moon

Randall Cunningham

Cris Carter

Miles Austin

As impressive as that list is, perhaps more impressive is what Coach Sherman has done with some of his less talented players. Bill Schroeder, Drew Bennett, Charles Johnson, Rob Moore, and Robert Ferguson are just a few guys who experienced Pro Bowl or near-Pro Bowl seasons under Ray Sherman, then never came close to that production level again.

With the advent of advanced metrics in football, receiving yards has taken a step back to some other stats. However, it's still very interesting to look at some of the numbers receivers have had when playing for Ray Sherman.

In 1990, Andre Rison had 1,208 yards in his only season playing for Ray Sherman. In the surrounding two years, Andre Rison had 820 yards and 976 yards. 1990 was also the only year Andre Rison was an All-Pro.

In 1999, Cris Carter had 1,241 yards and 13 TDs. He also made his first All Pro team since 1994, and the last one he would ever make. His yards per catch was also a career high for any qualifying season. He would never match those total numbers again after Ray Sherman left.

Before Ray Sherman arrived in Dallas in 2007, Miles Austin was nothing but a practice team player. Even for the first year Coach Sherman was there, he never made the field as a receiver, but strictly as a kick returner. By 2009, in his third year under Coach Sherman, Miles Austin had 1,320 yards, 11 TDs, and over 16 yards per catch. In 2010, his numbers came down to earth with a more modest, but still very impressive, 1,041 yards, 7 TDs, and 15 yards per catch. In 2011, after Coach Sherman was dismissed, he had under 600 yards, and didn't even break 14 yards per catch.

All of these numbers are certainly impressive. And there are a lot more examples that show Sherman's influence over offenses in the NFL, particularly over the wide receiver position. But even more impressive is what these great players had to say about Coach Sherman over the years.

After Sherman's departure from the Cowboys, PFT Live asked Miles Austin about Coach Sherman. "It's going to be tough to see him go. He helps receivers, not only with stuff on the field, but mentoring them off the field, as well."

In 2007, Terrell Owens was having a career year when he was asked about Ray Sherman. "I'm very fortunate for Ray," Owens said. "He's done a great job here, not only with me but the other guys, as well. We joke around and have a lot of fun, but it's business and he treats us like men."

Whatever criteria you may use to judge Ray Sherman, you find a coach that has been very successful. Players improve when they play for him, and tend to regress after he leaves. His players openly talk about the love and respect they have for him. He drives them to career years, by showing them how to play, and by showing them he cares about more than just their on-field performance.

The Men that have Influenced Coach Sherman

Perhaps even more impressive than who Ray Sherman has coached, is the list of men with whom he has coached. This list reads like a who's who of the last 20 years of football. These coaches include:

Jerry Glanville

Mike Holmgren

George Seifert

Pete Carroll

Brian Billick

Dennis Green

Bill Cowher

Mike Sherman

Norm Chow

Jeff FIsher

Looking over his NFL coaching career is like playing "6 Degrees of Separation" with the Bill Walsh coaching tree. The connections are numerous and impressive. Let's see if we can follow along:

In 1991, Coach Sherman was hired by George Seifert as the running backs coach for the San Francisco 49ers. The offensive coordinator for the team was Mike Holmgren. After the season, Mike Holmgren left to become the head coach of the Green Bay Packers, taking defensive backs coach Ray Rhodes with him to be his defensive coordinator in Green Bay. Coach Sherman was promoted to wide receivers coach in San Francisco, while San Francisco hired two new coaches to replace the ones they lost. The new offensive coordinator was a young man named Mike Shanahan, and the new defensive backs coach was none other than Jeff Fisher.

As 1992 and 1993 rolled by, little changed for the coaching staff in San Francisco. After the 1993 season, Coach Sherman moved on from San Francisco, getting picked up as the offensive coordinator by Pete Carroll, the new head coach of the New York Jets. Unfortunately, the Jets went 6-10 in 1994, and Carroll was fired, sending Sherman out the door with him.

With Coach Sherman looking for a job for the 1995 season, he turned back to his Walsh roots, and became quarterbacks coach in Minnesota. At the time Minnesota's head coach was Dennis Green, who was the wide receiver coach for Bill Walsh from 1986 to 1988. The offensive coordinator for that Vikings team? None other than Brian Billick.

Coach Sherman stayed with that team for 3 years, before being offered a second chance at being an offensive coordinator with the Pittsburgh Steelers, coached by Bill Cowher. This was the least successful stint of Coach Sherman's career, and he and the team agreed to part ways after the 1998 season, with him having only been there for 1 year.

Needing a job for the 1999 season, Coach Sherman turned back to his Walsh roots once again, heading back to Minnesota to be offensive coordinator after Brian Billick departed to be the head coach of the Ravens. Coach Sherman unfortunately found himself looking for a job again after the 1999 season.

For the 2000-2004 seasons, Coach Ray Sherman served under head coach Mike Sherman as the wide receivers coach in Green Bay. Mike Sherman had been the offensive coordinator for Mike Holmgren in Seattle for the 1999 season, before getting Holmgren's old job as head coach of the Packers.

After the 2004 season, Ray Sherman left the Packers to be closer to his family, who lived in Florida, and joined Coach Fisher in Tennessee, taking the same position he head in Green Bay as wide receiver coach. The Titans and Coach Fisher got more production from the wide receiver position than they ever had in the past, but after the 2006 season, Coach Sherman moved south yet again.

For the first time in a decade, he left the Walsh tree and joined the Cowboys as their wide receiver coach. He was there for four seasons, but was then let go.

He took the 2011 season off, and is now with the St Louis Rams.

Needless to say, the connections to the Walsh coaching tree are everywhere in Ray Shermans past. Since joining the 49ers coaching staff in 1991, he has been coaching for someone along the Walsh tree for 15 out of the 20 seasons.

So what does all of this mean about Coach Sherman? It's hard to say exactly what it means. What it does say for certain is that he has the connections and pedigree to match just about anyone in the NFL. It also says that people have always had good things to say about him, because if he had been poison to any of these teams, they would have told the other members of the coaching tree.

In the end, who you know only matters so much in football. You still have to show results. And in Coach Sherman's 23 seasons as a coach in the NFL, his teams have had a record of 8-8 or better in 18 of those seasons. The man knows how to coach offense, wide receivers in particular, and his teams always show positive results.

Thoughts From People that Know Ray Sherman Best

In the end, none of those ways are the real way to write about Ray Sherman. His successes are extensive, as are his connections in the league. He has had personal tragedy in his life, but he hasn't let it destroy him.

The real way to write about Ray Sherman is by simply copying what other people have said already. The real Ray Sherman is the man that his players and head coaches absolutely love, who always describe him not just in terms of a coach, but by what kind of a man he is.

Donald Driver was asked about Coach Sherman in 2004. He had this to say to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "We love him. He's like a dad to us. Without him, we would be nothing."

Upon learning that Ray Sherman would be leaving to join the Titans, Packers head coach Mike Sherman said, "He will be extremely missed by his players and by me."

Brett Favre had the following to say about Ray Sherman in the Journal Sentinel, "Great guy, very bright, very knowledgeable. He's bounced around a lot of teams, but everywhere he goes he has success. Guys just kind of cling to him. He has that personality about him. You want to be in his meetings, you want to succeed for him."

Ex-Cowboy Patrick Crayton, perhaps, summed him up best in an interview with KESN-FM, "He was a hell of a coach, hell of a guy, and I really appreciate what he did to my career -- both on and off the field. ... He's one of those guys where, throughout the season, his wife and family would have the wideouts at their house, just like we were their kids. We adopted their daughters as our little sisters. So when you have a type of coach like that you play much harder, because you don't want to disappoint and let him down."

When asked by the USA Today about the Sherman family, shortly after the tragedy with Ray Jr, Donald Driver said, "Ray is like a father to me. Little Ray was like a brother. Erica and Alana, those are my sisters. They need a big brother. That's what Little Ray was to them. Now I'm here to be their older brother."

Above all else that comes out about Ray Sherman, the love for his players, and by his players, is paramount. To have more than one of his players talk about him in terms of being family says all you need to know about Ray Sherman. But in the end, the final words should go to the man himself.

When asked about his players being upset about him leaving Green Bay, Coach Ray Sherman had this to say to the Journal Sentinel, "I love them, too. It was special, very special. Our (relationship) probably was good as any coach could have with a group of guys. It was like you raised them."

Random Ramsdom, 5/17: Will Girls In Lingerie Replace The St. Louis Rams?

2012-05-17T12:50:51Z

The St. Louis Rams are taking a break from minicamp on Thursday after two days of excited learning, dead pet stories and practice field super stars. It's spring time in the NFL when everyone has a chance to be great. Enjoy it now.

And what better way to help you enjoy a spring day than a smattering of hot links for your clicking pleasure! We've assembled some choice morsels in Thursday's Random Ramsdom post. Go on, click it. You know you want to.

News faces in new places, Rams roster turns over from last year - The PD has its report from yesterday's minicamp. This Rams roster has plenty of new names on it from last season.

Haggan looks for new start with Rams - Veteran linebacker Mario Haggan could have stayed in Denver this year. Instead, he opted to come to St. Louis where he saw a better chance for more playing time and a starting job.

St. Louis awarded Lingerie Football League team - If St. Louis does lose the Rams, the city will not be without football entirely. The Lingerie Football League is expanding! A yet-to-be named team will play in the St. Charles Family Arena in 2013.

A look at 2nd-round picks in the NFC West - How have players drafted in the 2nd round by NFC West teams fared amid the division's recent struggles? Mike Sando takes a look at all four teams' recent picks, noting Calais Campbell's elite status among the group.

Fantasy Football 2012 Rankings: Running Back Part I - We're off and running for fantasy football. It'll be August before you know it. Fake Teams is rolling out position rankings, and here's their list of running backs. Steven Jackson is on the list, but he's slipped since the Rams plan to cut his carries a bit this season with Isaiah Pead.

Jeff Fisher Pleased With The St. Louis Rams' OTA Work

2012-05-16T21:44:17Z

Head coach Jeff Fisher was pleased with what he saw after the second day of the St. Louis Rams' OTAs on Wednesday. With four months to go until the start of the regular season, this week's team activities are a long way from the real thing, as Fisher made clear. We should caution readers that inspired practice field play does not always translate when the shooting starts.

Spring work is all about getting the playbooks installed and teaching the players how the new coaching staff wants them to practice.

"Yesterday was an exciting day for us because it was the first time that the rookies got to meet the vets, and the vets got to meet the rookies and so we had a little main introduction in the main auditorium and from then on it went very smooth," Fisher said. "Really pleased with what we got done yesterday. We added a bunch of things today. We got a lot of base in, we got third down, we got in the redzone today. Friday we'll probably do some two-minute. So we're throwing a lot at them, but they have responded very well and they're practicing well together."

Among the players who earned some notice on the field was second-year wide receiver Greg Salas. A 4th-round pick in last year's draft, Salas is only four months removed from a broken fibula. According to the team's web site, he looked like a new man on the field this week. He caught the ball well in red zone drills and beat Bradley Fletcher with some precision route running.

Josh Gordy was working across from Cortland Finnegan as the team's second starting cornerback. He had some pass breakups and challenged receivers. Janoris Jenkins is likely to be in that spot by the time the season starts.

That the team had Gordy in as a starting corner with Fletcher available is probably a good sign that Fisher's coaches view Fletcher as depth. If he's playing behind Josh Gordy, he's definitely down the depth chart. Fletcher was practicing, but he may still not be in game shape after a tearing his ACL for the second time last season.

With no pads on, offensive and defensive line is tough to judge. Brian Mattison, an offseason addition after being released by the Ravens, worked as the team's starting left guard on Wednesday. Fisher spoke highly of Mattison's work, but also said not to write off rookie 5th-round draft pick Rokevious Watkins, aka "Rock."

"Yeah, like I said, there's ability there," Fisher said of Mattison. "We've got flexibility. And I wouldn't rule out ‘Rock' (Rokevious Watkins) either because Rock's showed in just a couple days that he's heavy-handed, he's smart and he can move people and that's what we're looking for."

Projected starting left tackle Rodger Saffold participated in some of the work, but has not received complete medical clearance. He is close, according to Fisher.

Fisher also discussed the team's two newest additions, linebacker Mario Haggan and tackle Barry Richardson.

"Barry just gives us an opportunity to line up a big man at the right tackle spot and gives us some depth there," Fisher said. "Mario's played very well in that system. We worked him out last week and he brings a veteran presence to our defense. He's a strong outside linebacker and in addition to that, he's a very talented special teamer. A great guy for the locker room and gives us some experience at that position."

Six rookies were not on hand for Wednesday's sesssion. Brian Quick, Chris Givens and Isaiah Pead were in, or on their way to, California for the NFLPA's rookie event. TE Cory Harkey, P Johnny Hekker and RB Nick Schweiger were out because the NFL continues to maintain its arcane rule prohibiting rookies whose schools have yet to hold final exams from participating.

As for the intensity levels of the pad-less practices, Fisher noted a difference of intent between these sessions and full-contact work the team will start in training camp.

"Well, it's the enthusiasm and it's the communication and the discussion and the movement skills that we're looking at," Fisher said. "When you say intensity, there's a fine line between practicing with and without pads. What we wanted to accomplish over the next couple days is relearn how to practice at a great tempo without pads and protect each because we're going to have a handful of non-padded practices as we continue to move through the offseason and in the beginning of training camp and through camp. They understand that and they protect each other and that's important."

Danario Alexander Misses Rams' OTAs With Hamstring Issue

2012-05-16T20:43:09Z

If you're St. Louis Rams wide receiver Danario Alexander, the last thing you want to do is watch your teammates practice spring OTAs while you sit on the sideline with a hamstring injury. That's exactly what happened at Wednesday's session, according to Jim Thomas of the Post-Dispatch.

Alexander has been fighting injuries for a long time. A talented prospect out of Missouri, he went undrafted because of four knee surgeries. The Rams took a chance on him in 2010 as an undrafted rookie, but he's had a fifth knee surgery since then. He was limited to eight games as a rookie, and played in just 10 last season. Hamstring issues kept him sidelined some in 2011.

Reports earlier this week said that only three receivers are locks to make the final cut, Brain Quick, Chris Givens and Danny Amendola. That puts Alexander in stiff competition for one of three remaining receiver spots, assuming the Rams keep the standard six. A new coaching staff isn't likely to give a player who can't be counted on for a full season of work the benefit of the doubt when it comes to making roster decisions.

St. Louis Rams 2012 Draft: Dissenting Opinion On The Team's Strategy

2012-05-16T20:26:09Z

The St. Louis Rams' 2012 draft class received mixed reviews from various places. Any analysis of draft picks after a handful of practices without pads leaves a little to be desired, but it is a fair subject for discussion. This week, Cold Hard Football Facts rolls out with one of the more negative criticisms of the Rams' draft class I've seen, calling it "drifting and directionless."

They give the collection of 10 picks a 'D' grade. Why? Their take is the exact opposite of what Rams GM Les Snead said about the team's draft strategy recently.

CHFF's Kerry J. Byrne took issue with the decision to draft players at areas where the team was already fairly strong, namely defensive line and cornerback.

From Byrne's post:

For example, the Rams' first pick was a defensive tackle and its third pick was a cornerback - despite the fact that defensive front and pass defense were the team's two greatest strengths in 2011. St. Louis was No. 20 on the Defensive Hog Index and No. 16 in Defensive Real Passing YPA. Strength is a relative term, of course, and those were the only two areas in which the Rams approached competency last year. They were 31st overall in our Quality Stats Power Rankings.

The Rams did pick up several offensive lineman in free agency. But they otherwise largely failed to address the league's 31st-ranked Offensive Hogs in the draft, picking six different players before finally landing an O-Hog in the fifth round.

St. Louis's effort to solve its statistical problems in the draft wasn't as ugly as Seattle's F- performance. But it was pretty close. Hell, and people wonder why the NFC West sucks so bad.

Everybody has their own version of what a team should do in the draft. The overwhelming tendency among some has always been to try and use each pick to fill a position of need. We've seen that effort fail before in St. Louis. Part of the problem is that it leaves a team without much depth and depending on rookies.

Snead and Fisher made no secret of their deliberate strategy in the draft, as discussed in this post from Tuesday.

The Rams felt like defensive tackle was a priority this offseason. They feel like a starting tandem of Michael Brockers and Kendall Langford was a great way to beef up the run defense and give them some push in the middle of the line to pressure opposing quarterbacks.

Here's Snead's quote again on the thinking behind beefing up the defensive line and the secondary:

"Realize we're young so there's going to be (growing pains), but when you get units strong -- not just spreading out individual talent over the 11 -- units become, 'Wow.' The quarterback's got to get the ball off faster and then our DBs are good. We may steal some wins that we might not have done."

Like everything this time of year, it's ephemeral, still just a strategy, until we see how it plays out once the games start to matter.

St. Louis Rams Stadium Talk Gets Ugly Fast

2012-05-16T18:32:15Z

We knew all along, after watching the most recent stadium issue get ugly in Minnesota, that public discourse over the St. Louis Rams' plans for the Edward Jones Dome would eventually go south. If you had odds on things getting ugly after three days, pat your cynical self on the back because you won.

I'm not talking about the media stirring the pot. Stadium politics gives local talk radio something feed the mouth breathers and help to fill the late Spring sports void. Midwestern lifestyle guide St. Louis Magazine added to its collection of pet guides and party pics with this jeremiad claiming bad faith on the part of owner Stan Kroenke, while conveniently glossing over the issues surrounding the dueling LA stadium proposals.

But the first shot from a representative actually involved in the stadium dealings came from Mayor Francis Slay's chief of staff, Jeff Rainford.

He was dispatched to urged the CVC to reject the proposal on Monday afternoon, and went one step further the next day by urging Bryan Burwell of the Post-Dispatch, and the media, to let the experts handle the matter.

Burwell wrote about the exchange in Wednesday's Post-Dispatch.

In short, the mayor's aide urged Burwell and the media to stick to sports, claiming that the conventions business was best left to the experts.

Rainford says that the CVC and the city lack the budget to bring in the kind of conventions and events where cities are essentially expected to provide their facilities rent-free. That was in response to Burwell's assertion that a renovated Dome could bring in more convention and event business.

The mayor's spokesperson also added that what was needed is a bill to create a $5 surcharge on sporting event tickets in St. Louis that would help fund events like the NCAA Tournament in the city. Burwell goes on to note that teh CVC did not support as recently as 2010.

Interestingly enough, the city of St. Louis gave the Cardinals a break toward their new stadium by waiving the five percent admissions tax on tickets to those games. That perk is estimated to cost St. Louis $350 million over the life of the deal. Makes you wonder if that money could help the city bring in more conventions and events. Better leave that to the experts to speculate.

Burwell doesn't even mention Rainford's boogeyman of three years of no conventions at the Dome which he says could cost $500 million. Other reports have suggested that the Dome would only be closed for one year, similar to the Vikings' stadium plans, under the specifications of the Rams' counter proposal.

The best advice I can offer is to view this whole process with a healthy does of skepticism on all sides. I don't view the Rams' proposal as a middle finger to the city and the first step toward a return to L.A. I'm also not sure about the relative benefits of spending a hefty among of taxpayer dollars on a Dome that probably isn't the most effective form of economic stimulus for a city getting rapidly outpaced by the Midwest's other metropolitan areas.

If we're talking about motivations in this issue, it's worth pointing out that Mayor Slay is up for election, for his fourth term in office, next year. Having a pricey Dome stadium for a team with a dwindling area fan base makes for an easy straw man, something that might help voters overlook the city's crime problem and a weak economy.

This is going to be a long drawn out process. I would bet now that it will not be resolved by the end of the year when the arbitration process concludes, because there is no precedent anywhere in the country for stadium/arena developments to be a quick and painless process.

Why Can't Minor League Football Succeed?

2012-05-16T15:52:56Z

Up at the mothership, some of SBN's brightest have been discussing the idea of relegation and how it might apply to college football.

If you're not familiar with the idea, go ahead and read that first link. If you're too lazy, here's the gist: the worst teams in a league are "relegated" to the next highest league, while the best teams from that next highest league are promoted to the top league. Obviously, it had me thinking about how it would hypothetically apply in the NFL.

But I ended up going on a tangent: minor league football.

See, relegation is awesome. It gives you this, and this, and that's cool. It also makes the games for the worst teams in the top league very, very important at the end of the season. But as I was thinking about the application of relegation to the NFL, I ended up thinking more about something else: why doesn't the NFL maintain a minor league system?

The history of professional outdoor football leagues not named the NFL is spotty at best.

For an entire decade in the 1960s, the NFL had an actual competitor. The American Football League (which was actually the fourth league to bear the name, but unlike it's predecessors survived more than a year) was successful on many, many fronts, and led to an eventual merger. It is far and away the best non-NFL pro league ever, but was certainly not a minor league.

Similarly, the USFL competed with the NFL for three seasons in the early eighties. The league signed three consecutive Heisman winners (Herschel Walker, Doug Flutie and Mike Rozier), and produced numerous NFL greats. It too had a strong impact on the NFL as a business, but the instability of its individual franchises was too much for the league to maintain.

There have been other short-lived experiments. The World Football League (which is not the same as the World League of American Football/World League/NFL Europe/NFL Europa which operated for more than a decade) ran for two years. The XFL was a thing that actually happened.

And it's worth noting the long-tenured successes of two other leagues, despite their dissimilar rulebook: the Canadian Football League and the Arena Football League.

But more interesting to me is the UFL, set to enter its fourth season this year. Which is a relatively big deal.

The UFL itself said:

The United Football League recently made history by simply finishing its third season.

Is there a reason why the NFL doesn't have a developmental league? It's obvious that from a player progression standpoint, it's useful, but it would likely be more useful if the teams were tethered to an NFL franchise to use for it's own internal player development. I can't think it wouldn't be able to make money. And obviously, it would make sense economically for cities like Sacramento, Hartford and Omaha (all who have UFL franchises but no major college program). Baseball does it. But that's really the question, isn't it?

Why can Major League Baseball run their minor league system and the NBA run the NBADL successfully with a full-fledged college system but the NFL can't?

I don't know the answer. And perhaps in the next decade, we'll see the NFL open a minor league system in the U.S. instead of the failed NFL Europa model. But for now, it's the NFL and college.

Y'all know I love them both. Hell, I miss going to high school games in Texas. There's got to be a market for minor league NFL football though. Right?

Right?

Random Ramsdom May 16th: New Season Has Begun

2012-05-16T14:14:02Z

Hey everybody! Minicamp started for the Rams yesterday. It was the first time the whole team has been together under the watch of new head coach Jeff Fisher and his staff. The new season has now started and as Jeff Fisher said on a radio interview during a St. Louis Cardinals' game, "We are now undefeated and are tied for first place in the NFC West. How does that sound?"

That sounds very good Jeff. Very good. On to the links!

Rams sign two veterans (Post-Dispatch)

Yesterday the Rams announced through Twitter that they signed free agents Mario Haggan (OLB) and Barry Richardson (OT). Haggan is now the favorite to be the strong-side LB on opening day, but Richardson seems to be the third OT.

Seahawks sign Alex Barron (ESPN)

The ex-Ram OT signed a deal to play for Seattle. Maybe now the Rams can find a return on their investment in Barron when they play the Seahawks with all the false starts he'll have!

Rams, St. Louis far apart on dome negotiations (USA Today)

By now you have had to see the Rams latest dome proposal. It basically calls for a brand new stadium. The east side of the dome would be torn out and the roof would be redone. Broadway would have to be re-routed. This Dome would definitely be a "first-tier" facility, and would be capable of hosting a Super Bowl. The problem is the CVC says that this plan would be over $700 million in cost, while their original plan called for $124 million in renovations. This will sure go to arbitration and will likely go right down to the deadline in 2015.

Fisher not concerned with Bradford's poor second year (CBSSports)

When Jeff Fisher was analyzing Sam Bradford on whether he would be the QB of the future, he did not account in his poor play last season. There were many problems that were out of Sam's control for last season to say much about Bradford was Fisher's though process.

"Well, it was his ability -- what he was able to do in college, but also his rookie year. We discounted last year. I didn't pay much attention to that. There were a lot of difficult things to overcome and a lot of issues, and it made no sense dwelling on it," Fisher said via SportsRadioInterviews.com. "I think what Sam was able to do here his rookie year in that type of offense is an indication of the potential that he has."

Michael Brockers Minicamp Reaction (Stlouisrams.com)

Want to know how rookie mini-camp was like for the Rams this year? Watch this video and the Rams first round pick will tell you all about it.

That's all for today. Have a good one and GO RAMS!