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Corner pocket: Gaines gets call from Rams while shooting pool
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_046c38a4-116d-56f3-a4d5-499a4eb3fe00.html
Count University of Missouri cornerback E.J. Gaines among those who thought he’d get drafted somewhere in the middle rounds. But as Day 2 slipped into Day 3 of the NFL draft, Gaines had yet to get the call.
It reached a point where he just had to get away from the television and out of the house.
“I went to a pool hall and shot pool with my dad, my mom, my sisters, and my best friends,” said Gaines, who’s from Kansas City.
Gaines, the self-proclaimed best shooter in the family, said he was “having a good pool day; not a good draft day” at a Lee’s Summit establishment known as Side Pockets. Gaines had his cell phone at hand all day, even bringing a portable phone charger along just in case.
The phone finally rang, with coach Jeff Fisher on the line. The Rams were taking Gaines with their first of two selections in the sixth round, No. 188 overall. The wait was over.
After Gaines got the call, he asked the proprietors of Side Pockets to turn on the television, so he and the rest of his crew could watch him get drafted on live television a couple of minutes later. The billiard outing turned into a draft party.
“Everyone was crazy,” Gaines said. “I couldn’t go back and concentrate on pool. I actually sat down with my family for dinner. The managers and everybody at Side Pockets knew who I was, so they were all excited for me.”
So that celebration dinner was on the house, compliments of the folks at Side Pockets. Gaines had a grilled chicken sandwich.
Gaines was as surprised as anyone to be drafted by St. Louis. He never talked to them much in the pre-draft process. He did talk to assistant head coach Dave McGinnis after Mizzou’s March 20 pro day in Columbia. But usually a team that has sincere interest in a prospect will send its position coach to the pro day, and the Rams did not sent one of their secondary coaches.
“They didn’t, so that’s why it was a surprise when I got the call from Coach Fisher,” Gaines said. “I didn’t expect to come here. I didn’t expect to get a call from them. But I when I did, I was just as excited as anybody else.”
Gaines, who played at Fort Osage High in Independence, Mo., is close to home. His family will be able to catch all of his home games on the other side of the state. He joins three former Mizzou teammates on the Rams’ offseason roster: center/guard Tim Barnes, wide receiver T.J. Moe and seventh-round pick defensive end Michael Sam.
Moe is just one year removed from Mizzou, and Barnes overlapped with Gaines in college.
“I’m actually good friends with Tim,” Gaines said. “He was there my freshman year, and he comes back to Mizzou since he’s right down the street. So, I’ve talked to him quite a bit since he’s been with the Rams.”
Gaines may not have known it at the time, but the Rams not only knew who he was during the draft process but were interested enough in his services that they considered trading up for him on Day 3 of the draft.
“We had made an attempt earlier, had considered him earlier,” Fisher said. “At one time, we just said: ‘You know what? Let’s sit back and wait.’ That’s when we got E.J., which was nice. Instead of using picks to go get him, we said, ‘Let’s hold pat.’ We did a little research and felt he might fall, and then you’re able to utilize more picks in the seventh.”
As result, the Rams were able to keep their two “trade-able” picks in the seventh round, and used them to take Portland State offensive tackle Mitchell Van Dyk and Ohio State safety Christian Bryant.
(Compensatory picks — and the Rams had two of them later in the seventh — cannot be traded.)
At 5-10, 190 pounds, Gaines is on the small side for an NFL cornerback. At Mizzou’s pro day he ran a decent, but not great, 40 time of 4.51 seconds. But the film showed a tough, productive player for the Tigers.
“I definitely like being physical, and I think that’s something that Coach Fisher likes about me,” Gaines said.
He started his final 37 games at Missouri and was named to the Southeastern Conference first-team by both the coaches and media in 2013, finishing second on the team with 75 tackles, while recording five interceptions and returning a fumble recovery for a touchdown.
“He’s a good zone player, a good effort player, a solid tackler,” Fisher said. “He shows man-to-man skills, and he’s a good athlete. We had some spots available at the position so we feel like he’s got a chance to come in and not only compete, but also do some things on special teams for us.”
In the team’s evaluation system, general manager Les Snead said Gaines was given a green dot for value as a coverage man on special teams.
Gaines, by the way, showed he can play much bigger than his size, limiting 6-5, 231-pound Texas A&M receiver Mike Evans to four catches for eight yards in a 28-21 Mizzou victory last season.
“To see him go in the first round (No. 7 overall to Tampa Bay) and see me go in the sixth is a little crazy to me,” Gaines said. “But like I said, it’s a blessing.”
A blessing to be in the NFL, since he finally got the call.
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_046c38a4-116d-56f3-a4d5-499a4eb3fe00.html
Count University of Missouri cornerback E.J. Gaines among those who thought he’d get drafted somewhere in the middle rounds. But as Day 2 slipped into Day 3 of the NFL draft, Gaines had yet to get the call.
It reached a point where he just had to get away from the television and out of the house.
“I went to a pool hall and shot pool with my dad, my mom, my sisters, and my best friends,” said Gaines, who’s from Kansas City.
Gaines, the self-proclaimed best shooter in the family, said he was “having a good pool day; not a good draft day” at a Lee’s Summit establishment known as Side Pockets. Gaines had his cell phone at hand all day, even bringing a portable phone charger along just in case.
The phone finally rang, with coach Jeff Fisher on the line. The Rams were taking Gaines with their first of two selections in the sixth round, No. 188 overall. The wait was over.
After Gaines got the call, he asked the proprietors of Side Pockets to turn on the television, so he and the rest of his crew could watch him get drafted on live television a couple of minutes later. The billiard outing turned into a draft party.
“Everyone was crazy,” Gaines said. “I couldn’t go back and concentrate on pool. I actually sat down with my family for dinner. The managers and everybody at Side Pockets knew who I was, so they were all excited for me.”
So that celebration dinner was on the house, compliments of the folks at Side Pockets. Gaines had a grilled chicken sandwich.
Gaines was as surprised as anyone to be drafted by St. Louis. He never talked to them much in the pre-draft process. He did talk to assistant head coach Dave McGinnis after Mizzou’s March 20 pro day in Columbia. But usually a team that has sincere interest in a prospect will send its position coach to the pro day, and the Rams did not sent one of their secondary coaches.
“They didn’t, so that’s why it was a surprise when I got the call from Coach Fisher,” Gaines said. “I didn’t expect to come here. I didn’t expect to get a call from them. But I when I did, I was just as excited as anybody else.”
Gaines, who played at Fort Osage High in Independence, Mo., is close to home. His family will be able to catch all of his home games on the other side of the state. He joins three former Mizzou teammates on the Rams’ offseason roster: center/guard Tim Barnes, wide receiver T.J. Moe and seventh-round pick defensive end Michael Sam.
Moe is just one year removed from Mizzou, and Barnes overlapped with Gaines in college.
“I’m actually good friends with Tim,” Gaines said. “He was there my freshman year, and he comes back to Mizzou since he’s right down the street. So, I’ve talked to him quite a bit since he’s been with the Rams.”
Gaines may not have known it at the time, but the Rams not only knew who he was during the draft process but were interested enough in his services that they considered trading up for him on Day 3 of the draft.
“We had made an attempt earlier, had considered him earlier,” Fisher said. “At one time, we just said: ‘You know what? Let’s sit back and wait.’ That’s when we got E.J., which was nice. Instead of using picks to go get him, we said, ‘Let’s hold pat.’ We did a little research and felt he might fall, and then you’re able to utilize more picks in the seventh.”
As result, the Rams were able to keep their two “trade-able” picks in the seventh round, and used them to take Portland State offensive tackle Mitchell Van Dyk and Ohio State safety Christian Bryant.
(Compensatory picks — and the Rams had two of them later in the seventh — cannot be traded.)
At 5-10, 190 pounds, Gaines is on the small side for an NFL cornerback. At Mizzou’s pro day he ran a decent, but not great, 40 time of 4.51 seconds. But the film showed a tough, productive player for the Tigers.
“I definitely like being physical, and I think that’s something that Coach Fisher likes about me,” Gaines said.
He started his final 37 games at Missouri and was named to the Southeastern Conference first-team by both the coaches and media in 2013, finishing second on the team with 75 tackles, while recording five interceptions and returning a fumble recovery for a touchdown.
“He’s a good zone player, a good effort player, a solid tackler,” Fisher said. “He shows man-to-man skills, and he’s a good athlete. We had some spots available at the position so we feel like he’s got a chance to come in and not only compete, but also do some things on special teams for us.”
In the team’s evaluation system, general manager Les Snead said Gaines was given a green dot for value as a coverage man on special teams.
Gaines, by the way, showed he can play much bigger than his size, limiting 6-5, 231-pound Texas A&M receiver Mike Evans to four catches for eight yards in a 28-21 Mizzou victory last season.
“To see him go in the first round (No. 7 overall to Tampa Bay) and see me go in the sixth is a little crazy to me,” Gaines said. “But like I said, it’s a blessing.”
A blessing to be in the NFL, since he finally got the call.
