How the Greatest Show on Turf fell apart as quickly as it was assembled

[Hobgoblin]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBNeKsGzsRI


Not that we haven't all already heard the story. But thought I'd share.

 

[So Ram]

Shaw & Z fucked it all up, add DV was worth more than the draft pick The Rams gotnback .
Army was the guy who brought in Tory Holt.

 

[EasyE]

I contend Az Hakim was very important as the underneath homerun....with Bruce and Holt over the top...that was a deadly triangle....

 

[Merlin]

 

[Merlin]

Vermiel installed a culture of hard work and accountability but it was superseded by the strategic brilliance of Martz. Who was not good enough as a leader to run the whole show or overcome the Rams' front office.

It is a travesty how quickly the GSoT was dismantled. If there were a GM college course, it would serve as a central lesson in how important it is for a front office to be capable of handling success.

 

[Rams43]

That video was a painful reminder, indeed.

Seemed like the Rams at every opportunity made bad decisions.

Drafts, trades, coaching hires...

Those of us that suffered through all that probably best appreciate this current FO, HC, and roster.

 

[Loyal]

Remove Armey and Vermeil, and replace them with HC Martz and Ziggy with Shaw holding the purse strings tightly. I'll never understand how a brilliant OC like Martz was so bad at evaluating talent. The danger was that if Vermeil stayed, Martz would have been poached by a HC needy team. Mike Martz probably would have been a little remembered footnote in Rams history if he had gone to be HC in 2000 for a different team and failed there. He was given Vermeil's cadillac and he drove it eventually into the ground.

Vermeil opened the door when he told the Rams that he wanted to retire...They should have waited a week or two before anouncing anything, and we probably keep him in horns until he retired. Oh, and fire Zymunt and Shaw on general principle and have Kroenke do a hostile takeover of the Rams!

 

[RamFan503]

I'm guessing I'd rather have bamboo shoots stuck under my fingernails than watch that video. Nope.... can't do it.

 

[LouisvilleRam]

I'm guessing I'd rather have bamboo shoots stuck under my fingernails than watch that video. Nope.... can't do it.

I couldn't watch it either. I remember years ago Troy Aikman(grew up a Rams fan) while announcing a game was saying how we had all the makings of becoming a dynasty during the early 2000's but a few bad decisions stopped us from becoming one.

 

[Loyal]

I'm guessing I'd rather have bamboo shoots stuck under my fingernails than watch that video. Nope.... can't do it.

 

[Merlin]

Vermeil opened the door when he told the Rams that he wanted to retire...They should have waited a week or two before anouncing anything, and we probably keep him in horns until he retired. Oh, and fire Zymunt and Shaw on general principle and have Kroenke do a hostile takeover of the Rams!

No doubt. Or they should have given him a nice raise and kissed his @$$ to get him to come back. Before the '99 season there was a feel that DV was in his final "prove it" year, and then when the program came to fruition Martz was the glory boy.

I'll always believe that the way Shaw and Ziggy fell all over themselves to lock Martz up insulted Vermiel. IMO they should have handled DV with some class and ensured he knew he was appreciated, but I think they wanted Martz to have the job and DV knew that. So DV showed class and "retired."

I also remember an interview after the Super Bowl win where they asked DV what his plan was or something to that effect and he said the defense needed work (paraphrasing of course). Oh what could have been sigh.

 

[Loyal]

No doubt. Or they should have given him a nice raise and kissed his @$$ to get him to come back. Before the '99 season there was a feel that DV was in his final "prove it" year, and then when the program came to fruition Martz was the glory boy.

I'll always believe that the way Shaw and Ziggy fell all over themselves to lock Martz up insulted Vermiel. IMO they should have handled DV with some class and ensured he knew he was appreciated, but I think they wanted Martz to have the job and DV knew that. So DV showed class and "retired."

I also remember an interview after the Super Bowl win where they asked DV what his plan was or something to that effect and he said the defense needed work (paraphrasing of course). Oh what could have been sigh.

He was right.

 

[Karate61]

Still the happiest ever that the Rams even had a team worth talking about falling apart. GSOT was the best football years ever!

 

[OC--LeftCoast]

Mike Martz was in way, WAY above his head, in retrospect a blind man could have seen it

That is all

 

[ozarkram]

Won't watch it. I will say this. That year when we won it all my job had me traveling all over the state of Missouri. Every town , every city, every little spit in the road was Rams crazy. Signs and banners everywhere. If a town had a store there was go Rams sign there. It was magical and a little slice of heaven for a life long fan.

 

[tempests]

The danger was that if Vermeil stayed, Martz would have been poached by a HC needy team. Mike Martz probably would have been a little remembered footnote in Rams history if he had gone to be HC in 2000 for a different team and failed there. He was given Vermeil's cadillac and he drove it eventually into the ground.

Vermeil opened the door when he told the Rams that he wanted to retire...

Well actually Rams locked up Martz during the 1999 playoffs. He was coming back no matter what. And Vermeil played a pretty big role in that.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/playoffs99/conf/s/01117ramsmartz.html

Rams take Martz off the market
Associated Press

ST. LOUIS -- Asked if he ever thought offensive coordinator Mike Martz was a mad scientist, Marshall Faulk vigorously shook his head.

Then he pondered a bit longer and said, "He does come up with some things for us."

Enough things that the St. Louis Rams have promised Martz the head coaching job when Dick Vermeil retires in 2001.

Martz, who turned the St. Louis offense into one of the most potent attacks in NFL history, agreed to a two-year contract extension with the team on Monday. Vermeil, who initiated the extension and Martz's eventual elevation, said he plans to fulfill the final two years of his deal. Then, the job belongs to Martz, whom Vermeil recruited from the Washington Redskins before the season.

The deal prohibits Martz from coaching anywhere else before taking over the Rams.

"When I first interviewed with Dick for the job, he made some statements that if things went well and we won ... his intention was the opportunity would be there for me," Martz said. "I love St. Louis, it's where I want to be."

He'll be there for the next two years under a renegotiated contract that includes a raise. Terms of the verbal deal, which the Rams said would be put in writing soon, were not available.

"Being in a position to work for Dick for the next few years and to get the opportunity to develop my skills for being a head coach" was enticing, Martz added.

He also dropped out of the running for any of the current NFL head coaching vacancies. Several teams expressed interest in talking to him once the Rams are done playing, which he found "flattering."

"I think it all has been a real distraction," Martz said. "It is my intention to stay here and this is what my family wants and I want.

"I am announcing that I am not a candidate for any other head coaching positions in the NFL. After meeting with coach Vermeil ... I believe my future as a head coach in the NFL will be with the St. Louis Rams."

Vermeil, 63, said Monday he has no intention of coaching beyond the 2001 season.

"I owe it to my wife, to my grandkids and myself (to retire then)," he said. "I don't want to see someone as qualified as Mike go somewhere else."

Martz, 48, was the quarterbacks coach with Washington before Vermeil offered him the offensive coordinator's job a year ago. In that role, he created a powerhouse that scored 526 points and got 49 in Sunday's NFC playoff victory over Minnesota.

When free-agent quarterback Trent Green, signed to a $16 million contract to run the offense, wrecked his knee in the preseason, Martz turned the reins to Kurt Warner. The untested Warner was so effective, he was selected as the NFL's Most Valuable Player.

Martz joined the Rams in 1992 and was the Rams' wide receivers coach under Rich Brooks in 1995 and '96. After Brooks was fired, he left for two seasons with the Redskins.

 

[So Ram]

No doubt. Or they should have given him a nice raise and kissed his @$$ to get him to come back. Before the '99 season there was a feel that DV was in his final "prove it" year, and then when the program came to fruition Martz was the glory boy.

I'll always believe that the way Shaw and Ziggy fell all over themselves to lock Martz up insulted Vermiel. IMO they should have handled DV with some class and ensured he knew he was appreciated, but I think they wanted Martz to have the job and DV knew that. So DV showed class and "retired."

I also remember an interview after the Super Bowl win where they asked DV what his plan was or something to that effect and he said the defense needed work (paraphrasing of course). Oh what could have been sigh.

Yeah , but stil The Rams could have done alright after all. When The Rams locked Mike Matt’s out of the building was when it was ALL OVER !!!

Like I said. JZ & Shaw RUINED it all.

Did Arney retire before DV ???

 

[So Ram]

Mike Martz was in way, WAY above his head, in retrospect a blind man could have seen it

That is all

Well The way MARTZ let WARNER get beat up was ridiculous!! What a shame.

We can all go to the Warner Bulger debate though .

JZ also screwed Linehan. Didn’t pay the DL man from Ohio St. Once Libyan started watching film he tried to get him to sign. He could not get out St. Louis fast enough. It was HARD or ATTRACT FA to St. Louis !!

Let alone keep there own players.

JZ holding out SJ#39 after the season he had with Linehan was a joke. I still believe Sign SJ & let Bulger venture the open market. Draft Cutler & even trade Bulger.

The NFL has always been a QB league. You find value like that you draft the QB.

LA Chargers did it & screwed up by let Drew Drew’s take that last snap.

I still believe if The Rams draft Matt Ryan over Chris Long ?? Art BLANK would have BLINKED and had to have given up a lot of draft picks. Especially after The Mike Vick thing that was going down. Matt Ryan saved the Falcons

O’well just my 2 cents as a draftnik . Coulda woulda shoulda ??? Not sure what that all would have changed. The Rams still had JZ & Shaw.

Delaney was cool & open. He just had the Naplon complete & thought he knew it all & was the smartest GM around.

As an old Ram Fan Fight On !!!

 

[nighttrain]

"Well The way MARTZ let WARNER get beat up was ridiculous!! What a shame."

Martz was an egomaniac that thought with his system any QB would be great. He forgot, or didn't realize, that only a tough sob like Warner could run his system. Martz was an innovator, just to smart for his own good.
train

 

[Loyal]

Well actually Rams locked up Martz during the 1999 playoffs. He was coming back no matter what. And Vermeil played a pretty big role in that.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/playoffs99/conf/s/01117ramsmartz.html

Rams take Martz off the market
Associated Press

ST. LOUIS -- Asked if he ever thought offensive coordinator Mike Martz was a mad scientist, Marshall Faulk vigorously shook his head.

Then he pondered a bit longer and said, "He does come up with some things for us."

Enough things that the St. Louis Rams have promised Martz the head coaching job when Dick Vermeil retires in 2001.

Martz, who turned the St. Louis offense into one of the most potent attacks in NFL history, agreed to a two-year contract extension with the team on Monday. Vermeil, who initiated the extension and Martz's eventual elevation, said he plans to fulfill the final two years of his deal. Then, the job belongs to Martz, whom Vermeil recruited from the Washington Redskins before the season.

The deal prohibits Martz from coaching anywhere else before taking over the Rams.

"When I first interviewed with Dick for the job, he made some statements that if things went well and we won ... his intention was the opportunity would be there for me," Martz said. "I love St. Louis, it's where I want to be."

He'll be there for the next two years under a renegotiated contract that includes a raise. Terms of the verbal deal, which the Rams said would be put in writing soon, were not available.

"Being in a position to work for Dick for the next few years and to get the opportunity to develop my skills for being a head coach" was enticing, Martz added.

He also dropped out of the running for any of the current NFL head coaching vacancies. Several teams expressed interest in talking to him once the Rams are done playing, which he found "flattering."

"I think it all has been a real distraction," Martz said. "It is my intention to stay here and this is what my family wants and I want.

"I am announcing that I am not a candidate for any other head coaching positions in the NFL. After meeting with coach Vermeil ... I believe my future as a head coach in the NFL will be with the St. Louis Rams."

Vermeil, 63, said Monday he has no intention of coaching beyond the 2001 season.

"I owe it to my wife, to my grandkids and myself (to retire then)," he said. "I don't want to see someone as qualified as Mike go somewhere else."

Martz, 48, was the quarterbacks coach with Washington before Vermeil offered him the offensive coordinator's job a year ago. In that role, he created a powerhouse that scored 526 points and got 49 in Sunday's NFC playoff victory over Minnesota.

When free-agent quarterback Trent Green, signed to a $16 million contract to run the offense, wrecked his knee in the preseason, Martz turned the reins to Kurt Warner. The untested Warner was so effective, he was selected as the NFL's Most Valuable Player.

Martz joined the Rams in 1992 and was the Rams' wide receivers coach under Rich Brooks in 1995 and '96. After Brooks was fired, he left for two seasons with the Redskins.

Maybe so, but it was mistake. Vermeil knew it was a mistake soon after he did it after the Super Bowl, if memory serves. Pay off Martz and send him down the road, because the dude was a major factor in destroying GSOT's best years.