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http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_6fae1378-5a62-509e-abb1-1a3c2eab2704.html
When the forearm met the mirror, it was a culmination of frustration on several levels for defensive end William Hayes. Losing a hard-fought game; losing to a Tennessee team he once played for; and seeing an underachieving Rams team fall to 3-6.
So in one emotional moment, he summed up a season and the feeling of an entire team. You think highly-paid professional athletes don’t care? Tell that to Hayes and his forearm.
“You know I’m passionate about the game, about my teammates,” Hayes said Wednesday. “I know every guy in this locker room was a little frustrated after the game. And I kind of let my feelings out, probably in a way I shouldn’t have. There’s a way to do things, and I probably took things a little too far.”
He added: “The mirror was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I kind of took it a little overboard. Emotions came out and got the best of me.”
These were Hayes’ first comments about his mirror-smashing locker room tirade following Sunday’s 28-21 loss to Tennessee.
Hayes said it never crossed his mind when he struck the mirror that he might get hurt.
“I was in a whole ’nother mindset,” he said. “I got stitches in my arm, but I’m fine now.”
Hayes received the stitches right on the spot, in a back area away from the main locker room. His right arm was wrapped during Wednesday’s practice and he was a full participant. He wasn’t even listed on the team’s official injury report for the day.
Although he declined to provide details, Hayes said he had a similar issue or two in college at Winston-Salem State. But now is different, he said.
“Football to me now probably means a little more in recent years,” said Hayes, now in his sixth NFL season and his second with the Rams.
“I know at the end of the day, I’m not in my first or second year any more,” said Hayes, 28. “So I know that time is ticking. I don’t have too many more chances to try to get where I want to get to. My rookie year (in Tennessee), we made it to the playoffs and I’ve been trying my best to get there ever since.”
Time is also ticking on the 2013 Rams. Any chance to make the playoffs or even avoid a losing season has dwindled to the nub, and everyone in the locker room knows it.
“We just don’t have that much time left to try to turn this thing around,” Hayes said. “I know what we’ve got in here. As a whole, I think this is a (talented) team. If that wasn’t the case, I probably wouldn’t have come back here. I came back here because I knew what we had.”
Hayes was an unrestricted free agent this past offseason and took less money to return to St. Louis. So the fact that the Rams haven’t played to their potential is part of what’s eating at Hayes, and to some degree, at the rest of the team.
“If you look at the games, we kind of cost ourselves some games, making big mistakes and the defense not coming through at times when we probably needed to,” Hayes said.
The Rams have lost three games by seven points or less – against Atlanta, Seattle, and Tennessee. Win just two of those three, and the Rams’ record is 5-4 and things don’t look so bleak even with starting quarterback Sam Bradford out for the season. Instead the record is 3-6.
“It hurts to lose Sam,” Hayes said. “But Kellen (Clemens) has been playing at a pretty high level. At the end of the day, Kellen’s put us in position to win games and we just haven’t come through.”
In talking to Hayes last week leading up to the Tennessee game, it was obvious that the contest meant a lot to him. He spent his first four seasons there.
“And I really wanted to win it for Coach (Jeff Fisher),” Hayes said. “Because I know how good of a man he is, and everything he’s ever done for me. So that’s what really came forth out of me. I really, really, really wanted to win that game.”
As is often the case in an NFL locker room, no deed goes unpunished. So Hayes got his share of ribbing from his teammates on the defensive line. Some of which involved a certain line from the movie Tropic Thunder.
“I didn’t take it personal,” Hayes said. “I’m not a sensitive guy. So I can take it.”
Underneath the ribbing is respect for Hayes in the locker room. No one was shocked by what Hayes did and many felt the same way.
“Guys are beat up after losses,” defensive end Chris Long said. “Sometimes people watching the game with a beer in their hands, they think they’re bent out of shape about the game. And nobody’s denying the fact that the fans have a lot invested in what we do. After a loss, it can be devastating. Guys are hurt bad because we put a lot into it, we prepare hard, and everybody wants to win. Everybody in this league wants to win.”
“Will’s a competitor,” Clemens said. “There’s no question how much he cares about this football team, how much he cares about winning. You appreciate a guy who shows emotion. We’re just fortunate that Will’s all right.
‘‘We’ll use what part of it we can as motivation for the team. We’re better than 3-6. That’s frustrating. But all we can do is try to get to 4-6.”
When the forearm met the mirror, it was a culmination of frustration on several levels for defensive end William Hayes. Losing a hard-fought game; losing to a Tennessee team he once played for; and seeing an underachieving Rams team fall to 3-6.
So in one emotional moment, he summed up a season and the feeling of an entire team. You think highly-paid professional athletes don’t care? Tell that to Hayes and his forearm.
“You know I’m passionate about the game, about my teammates,” Hayes said Wednesday. “I know every guy in this locker room was a little frustrated after the game. And I kind of let my feelings out, probably in a way I shouldn’t have. There’s a way to do things, and I probably took things a little too far.”
He added: “The mirror was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I kind of took it a little overboard. Emotions came out and got the best of me.”
These were Hayes’ first comments about his mirror-smashing locker room tirade following Sunday’s 28-21 loss to Tennessee.
Hayes said it never crossed his mind when he struck the mirror that he might get hurt.
“I was in a whole ’nother mindset,” he said. “I got stitches in my arm, but I’m fine now.”
Hayes received the stitches right on the spot, in a back area away from the main locker room. His right arm was wrapped during Wednesday’s practice and he was a full participant. He wasn’t even listed on the team’s official injury report for the day.
Although he declined to provide details, Hayes said he had a similar issue or two in college at Winston-Salem State. But now is different, he said.
“Football to me now probably means a little more in recent years,” said Hayes, now in his sixth NFL season and his second with the Rams.
“I know at the end of the day, I’m not in my first or second year any more,” said Hayes, 28. “So I know that time is ticking. I don’t have too many more chances to try to get where I want to get to. My rookie year (in Tennessee), we made it to the playoffs and I’ve been trying my best to get there ever since.”
Time is also ticking on the 2013 Rams. Any chance to make the playoffs or even avoid a losing season has dwindled to the nub, and everyone in the locker room knows it.
“We just don’t have that much time left to try to turn this thing around,” Hayes said. “I know what we’ve got in here. As a whole, I think this is a (talented) team. If that wasn’t the case, I probably wouldn’t have come back here. I came back here because I knew what we had.”
Hayes was an unrestricted free agent this past offseason and took less money to return to St. Louis. So the fact that the Rams haven’t played to their potential is part of what’s eating at Hayes, and to some degree, at the rest of the team.
“If you look at the games, we kind of cost ourselves some games, making big mistakes and the defense not coming through at times when we probably needed to,” Hayes said.
The Rams have lost three games by seven points or less – against Atlanta, Seattle, and Tennessee. Win just two of those three, and the Rams’ record is 5-4 and things don’t look so bleak even with starting quarterback Sam Bradford out for the season. Instead the record is 3-6.
“It hurts to lose Sam,” Hayes said. “But Kellen (Clemens) has been playing at a pretty high level. At the end of the day, Kellen’s put us in position to win games and we just haven’t come through.”
In talking to Hayes last week leading up to the Tennessee game, it was obvious that the contest meant a lot to him. He spent his first four seasons there.
“And I really wanted to win it for Coach (Jeff Fisher),” Hayes said. “Because I know how good of a man he is, and everything he’s ever done for me. So that’s what really came forth out of me. I really, really, really wanted to win that game.”
As is often the case in an NFL locker room, no deed goes unpunished. So Hayes got his share of ribbing from his teammates on the defensive line. Some of which involved a certain line from the movie Tropic Thunder.
“I didn’t take it personal,” Hayes said. “I’m not a sensitive guy. So I can take it.”
Underneath the ribbing is respect for Hayes in the locker room. No one was shocked by what Hayes did and many felt the same way.
“Guys are beat up after losses,” defensive end Chris Long said. “Sometimes people watching the game with a beer in their hands, they think they’re bent out of shape about the game. And nobody’s denying the fact that the fans have a lot invested in what we do. After a loss, it can be devastating. Guys are hurt bad because we put a lot into it, we prepare hard, and everybody wants to win. Everybody in this league wants to win.”
“Will’s a competitor,” Clemens said. “There’s no question how much he cares about this football team, how much he cares about winning. You appreciate a guy who shows emotion. We’re just fortunate that Will’s all right.
‘‘We’ll use what part of it we can as motivation for the team. We’re better than 3-6. That’s frustrating. But all we can do is try to get to 4-6.”
