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Fisher: 'Highly unlikely' Rams will be on 'Hard Knocks'
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_c7e51ec5-8852-5b2e-8f7f-b94ebdccccff.html
With the NFL getting closer to its “Hard Knocks” decision for 2014 training camp, don’t hold your breath waiting for the Rams to get chosen.
“I think it’s unlikely,” Jeff Fisher told the Post-Dispatch on Monday. “We are eligible, but I think it’s highly unlikely they’d ask us to do it. I think this organization has a right to go through training camp with some normalcy.”
Fisher probably isn’t speaking in a vacuum. As a longtime member of the NFL’s competition committee, Fisher is highly respected in league circles. The extra attention the Rams will get in training camp with the league’s first openly gay player (Michael Sam) figures to be enough of a distraction without adding the behind-the-scene cameras of the Hard Knocks crew. Even the NFL probably figures that would be piling on.
At NFL owners meetings last fall, the league passed a measure mandating that one team per year would be “appointed” — i.e., compelled — to appear on Hard Knocks if no team volunteered.
Teams would not be eligible if they had:
• A first-year coach.
• Had made the playoffs at least once in the past two seasons.
• Had participated in the show in the previous 10 seasons.
Those criteria left the Rams as one of eight eligible teams for the 2014 edition of Hard Knocks, along with Arizona, Buffalo, Chicago, Jacksonville, the New York Giants, Oakland and Pittsburgh.
Speaking of Sam, Fisher said: “That thing settled down last week. We had a very productive meeting with the network. They understand our position; we understand theirs. We felt, and they collectively felt, the best thing to do was just to postpone it.”
Fisher was referring to the Oprah Winfrey Network, which put its plans for a Sam “docu-series” on ice after meeting last Friday with Fisher, general manager Les Snead, and executive vice president Kevin Demoff.
One of Sam’s agents, Cameron Weiss, attended the meeting, among others.
“The best thing that’s come out of this is that we all see eye to eye, we’re in really good communication, and we’ve established the best path possible for Mike to focus on football and for the Rams to be able to limit distractions,” Weiss said.
The Rams were not aware of the “docu-series” plans when they drafted Sam in the seventh round May 10. Despite the many instances where Fisher thinks out of the box, he’s old school in the sense that he doesn’t like distractions.
So while recognizing the historical significance of Sam’s arrival in the NFL, suffice it to say Fisher was not a fan of cameras following Sam around while he was trying to make the club.
“The most important thing is the conversations we ended up having,” Weiss said. “And if we could do it differently, we would probably push those up and have them happen earlier.”
Last week, the NFL claimed it did not know about plans for the show before the draft, even though Weiss said otherwise on radio and television appearances.
“We’re gonna decline comment on that,” Weiss said Monday when asked about that difference of opinion. “If that’s the league’s position, then so be it.”
As to when the project might resume, Weiss said: “It’s sitting there ready for when we want it be. And obviously, the Rams are our partner now in creating a path to when this is feasible and it works for us and it works for the team.”
Here’s Fisher on several other Rams-related topics from a Monday interview:
• Stedman Bailey’s suspension: “We’ve known for some time. We’ve spoken to Sted since we found out. We’re disappointed, as he is. As far as playing him, we’ll back off, and it’ll be a tough four weeks. In Sted’s case, you’re responsible for what you put in your body.”
• Kenny Britt’s pornographic posting on Instagram: “That was addressed and discussed in-house. It’s behind us now. This case, I’m not going to go into details except to say it was complicated, but it’s resolved.
“It’s an issue where you make sure (players) understand how sensitive things are, or how you need to be mindful and you need to make sure that your privacy’s not violated.”
• Releasing RB Daryl Richardson and DT Jermelle Cudjo: “We really appreciate their effort and their contribution. Knowing this was probably a likely decision at the end of camp, we wanted to give them both an opportunity to get jobs.
“Daryl just battled through (turf toe last season). He had the hamstring at the end of the year, and then he was just a little inconsistent during the offseason program.”
• Not having a rookie minicamp: “We called it an orientation. We spent Monday evening, Tuesday, Wednesday, and half of Thursday really before they did anything of a physical nature on the field. Only because there’s a lot of things that they needed to learn.
“I’m not going to rush them on the field. They’re a couple weeks behind from a calendar standpoint, but they’re also several weeks behind from a conditioning standpoint. So out of fairness to them we’re easing into things as opposed to putting them on the field, get them to full speed, and watch their hamstrings pull.”
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_c7e51ec5-8852-5b2e-8f7f-b94ebdccccff.html
With the NFL getting closer to its “Hard Knocks” decision for 2014 training camp, don’t hold your breath waiting for the Rams to get chosen.
“I think it’s unlikely,” Jeff Fisher told the Post-Dispatch on Monday. “We are eligible, but I think it’s highly unlikely they’d ask us to do it. I think this organization has a right to go through training camp with some normalcy.”
Fisher probably isn’t speaking in a vacuum. As a longtime member of the NFL’s competition committee, Fisher is highly respected in league circles. The extra attention the Rams will get in training camp with the league’s first openly gay player (Michael Sam) figures to be enough of a distraction without adding the behind-the-scene cameras of the Hard Knocks crew. Even the NFL probably figures that would be piling on.
At NFL owners meetings last fall, the league passed a measure mandating that one team per year would be “appointed” — i.e., compelled — to appear on Hard Knocks if no team volunteered.
Teams would not be eligible if they had:
• A first-year coach.
• Had made the playoffs at least once in the past two seasons.
• Had participated in the show in the previous 10 seasons.
Those criteria left the Rams as one of eight eligible teams for the 2014 edition of Hard Knocks, along with Arizona, Buffalo, Chicago, Jacksonville, the New York Giants, Oakland and Pittsburgh.
Speaking of Sam, Fisher said: “That thing settled down last week. We had a very productive meeting with the network. They understand our position; we understand theirs. We felt, and they collectively felt, the best thing to do was just to postpone it.”
Fisher was referring to the Oprah Winfrey Network, which put its plans for a Sam “docu-series” on ice after meeting last Friday with Fisher, general manager Les Snead, and executive vice president Kevin Demoff.
One of Sam’s agents, Cameron Weiss, attended the meeting, among others.
“The best thing that’s come out of this is that we all see eye to eye, we’re in really good communication, and we’ve established the best path possible for Mike to focus on football and for the Rams to be able to limit distractions,” Weiss said.
The Rams were not aware of the “docu-series” plans when they drafted Sam in the seventh round May 10. Despite the many instances where Fisher thinks out of the box, he’s old school in the sense that he doesn’t like distractions.
So while recognizing the historical significance of Sam’s arrival in the NFL, suffice it to say Fisher was not a fan of cameras following Sam around while he was trying to make the club.
“The most important thing is the conversations we ended up having,” Weiss said. “And if we could do it differently, we would probably push those up and have them happen earlier.”
Last week, the NFL claimed it did not know about plans for the show before the draft, even though Weiss said otherwise on radio and television appearances.
“We’re gonna decline comment on that,” Weiss said Monday when asked about that difference of opinion. “If that’s the league’s position, then so be it.”
As to when the project might resume, Weiss said: “It’s sitting there ready for when we want it be. And obviously, the Rams are our partner now in creating a path to when this is feasible and it works for us and it works for the team.”
Here’s Fisher on several other Rams-related topics from a Monday interview:
• Stedman Bailey’s suspension: “We’ve known for some time. We’ve spoken to Sted since we found out. We’re disappointed, as he is. As far as playing him, we’ll back off, and it’ll be a tough four weeks. In Sted’s case, you’re responsible for what you put in your body.”
• Kenny Britt’s pornographic posting on Instagram: “That was addressed and discussed in-house. It’s behind us now. This case, I’m not going to go into details except to say it was complicated, but it’s resolved.
“It’s an issue where you make sure (players) understand how sensitive things are, or how you need to be mindful and you need to make sure that your privacy’s not violated.”
• Releasing RB Daryl Richardson and DT Jermelle Cudjo: “We really appreciate their effort and their contribution. Knowing this was probably a likely decision at the end of camp, we wanted to give them both an opportunity to get jobs.
“Daryl just battled through (turf toe last season). He had the hamstring at the end of the year, and then he was just a little inconsistent during the offseason program.”
• Not having a rookie minicamp: “We called it an orientation. We spent Monday evening, Tuesday, Wednesday, and half of Thursday really before they did anything of a physical nature on the field. Only because there’s a lot of things that they needed to learn.
“I’m not going to rush them on the field. They’re a couple weeks behind from a calendar standpoint, but they’re also several weeks behind from a conditioning standpoint. So out of fairness to them we’re easing into things as opposed to putting them on the field, get them to full speed, and watch their hamstrings pull.”
