MMQB: Peter King - 8/4/14 (Larry Marmie resurfaces)

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Chuck Burton/AP

The Maturation of Cam
Training camp tours are full of surprises, and there was a big one in Carolina. Plus, Joe Philbin's knuckles are getting a workout, Devin Hester starts anew in Atlanta and a new NFL practice trend has loudly announced its presence
By Peter King
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Nothing of note on the Rams today but here's something on Steven Jackson and believe it or not the return of Larry Marmie...yes that's right, Larry 'Freakin' Marmie. To read the entire article click the link.
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This is why “Hard Knocks” is like that Cosmo Kramer portrait.

Remember the “Seinfeld” episode when the society lady sees the oil painting of Kramer and says, “He is a loathsome, offensive brute, yet I cannot look away?” Well, the Falcons’ “Hard Knocks” series, five one-hour shows between now and the final cut of the roster, debuts Tuesday night on HBO (10 p.m. Eastern Time), and the producers have more than 400 hours of footage to cull down for the first hour.

One scene very likely to make the final cut is this one:

steven-jackson.jpg

Steven Jackson is entering his 11th season, second with the Falcons. (John Bazemore/AP)

Running back Stephen Jackson, 31, has his running-back/fullback group clustered around him before the first practice of camp. The group finishes a pre-camp prayer, and Jackson indicates to the eight players around him—all of them younger—that he wants to speak.

“Hey man—I just want to say one thing too,” he begins, and all eyes go to the 10-year vet.

“It’s a lot of y’all’s first training camp. Nothing different, man. Football’s football. When you get between the lines, your God-given ability’s going to take over. All I do is encourage you to be confident in yourself. Motivate one another. Push and try to be better. Competition’s going to bring the best out of everybody. At the end of the day, only so many men gonna make this team. But at the end of the day we can still be brothers. At the end of the day we can still uplift each other. That’s what life is about. Know what I’m saying? Regardless what your paycheck reflects, you’re cared about amongst your brotherhood here and not just what you can do for a coach or an organization. Know what I’m saying?

“I made a lot of money in my career. Had a lot of success. But at the end of the day, I appreciated when somebody genuinely cared about me. I will do that for you. I want you to know, whatever you need, whatever you ask me, I will try to make sure you HAVE that information. And if I don’t know, I will try to find a resource to help you with it.

“When we walk on the field, we compete. When we walk OFF the field, we brothers. Know what I’m saying?”

“I take responsibility for being the leader of this room. Can’t nobody relate to us but this circle of people right now. We miss a block, we gonna make it right. We gonna make it right together. There’s no isolation. We gotta make it happen together. All right?”

Hands in the middle of the group now, one on top of another.

“RBs on three. One-two-three …”

Nine voices: “RBs!!!!”

Pretty good TV right there.
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The Bucs have an assistant coach assigned to coach nickel backs. They have separate meetings with the coach, Larry Marmie, a 71-year-old football lifer. I do believe this is the first time a team has assigned a coach to handle the nickel, or slot, corners. “Why not?’’ said Tampa Bay GM Jason Licht. “That’s a position where the guy might play 65 percent of your snaps.” The nickel backs meet and talk all about the unique position of slot corner, with its emphasis on physicality and playing in traffic that is separate from the outside corners.

It’s an interesting story. Marmie coached Lovie Smith as a collegian 36 years ago, at Tulsa, and later hired Smith to be on his coaching staff when he was the head coach at Arizona State. Smith felt the position—with in many cases a more physical player ping-ponging on the slot receiver inside the formation, as opposed to outside corners who can afford to be less physical—had become so important.

“We coach the nickel like he’s one of the 11 starters,’’ Marmie told me after practice Thursday, “because he’ll play more snaps in a game than some starters. The nickel plays not just on third down now, but on first and second downs if you’re matching up against a team that throws a lot.’’

In practice, Marmie said, “I take them every day and do individual drills away from the corners, away from the safeties. In some cases the drills are like linebacker drills. You want a guy who can play the passing game and be strong in coverage, and who can sort the routes out, and who also can play the run because he’s playing inside.’’

The Bucs’ nickel back in 2013, Leonard Johnson, played 711 of the team’s defensive snaps last year, which ranked 10th on the team. Johnson is competing for the spot this year and is favored to keep it. At 5-11 and 202 pounds, he jams and bumps more physically in practice than the outside corners.
 

cracengl

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In practice, Marmie said, "I take them every day and do individual drills away from the corners, away from the safeties. In some cases the drills are me telling them to run away when the bad man comes for them. We have other drills where I hold a red bed sheet with both hands to help them learn how to whiff on tackles. If all else fails, all of my nickle backs carry a special white flag in their uniform pants to wave. Oh and we get pumped for a game by listening to Nickelback, because nothing exemplifies my shitty defense like a shitty song from Chad Kroeger."
 

Faceplant

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Ugh. Just not sure I can stand that SJ. I am sure I will get flack here for saying it, but that dude always tries to make it about him.... even when he is preaching "brotherhood". I felt that way during his entire career with Rams as well. Please spare me the "he carried our terrible team" argument. I think he loved being the only "rams superstar" those last few years.

flame suit on/
 

CGI_Ram

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Ugh. Just not sure I can stand that SJ. I am sure I will get flack here for saying it, but that dude always tries to make it about him.... even when he is preaching "brotherhood". I felt that way during his entire career with Rams as well. Please spare me the "he carried our terrible team" argument. I think he loved being the only "rams superstar" those last few years.

flame suit on/

I violently disagree with you! :sneaky:

I find the SJ topic almost as polarizing as the Bradford topic. Very clear camps. Very little middle ground.

SJ might have enjoyed being the lone superstar... I dunno... But if that stroked his ego it didn't take away from how hard he worked and the effort we saw on Sundays.
 

bwdenverram

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Sorry plant, I can't agree with you. This is why I always loved SJ. Even when things didn't always go well he was a good teammate.
 

Alan

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On SJ:

Again the messenger is being conflated with the message. I loved and totally agree with the message.

Of course I also like SJ quite a bit but I'd agree with the message even if CJ2K said it.
 

iBruce

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SJax poured his heart and soul out for us. I think he just wanted to win.
 

fearsomefour

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Ugh. Just not sure I can stand that SJ. I am sure I will get flack here for saying it, but that dude always tries to make it about him.... even when he is preaching "brotherhood". I felt that way during his entire career with Rams as well. Please spare me the "he carried our terrible team" argument. I think he loved being the only "rams superstar" those last few years.

flame suit on/
Don't have an opinion on SJ in this regard.
It is the problem I always had with Ray Lewis. RL was and will always be a cartoon character. A self absorbed raging Dbag. I cannot image that any vet, any pro found his silly intro dance anything but a joke.
SJ is nowhere that level.
 

cracengl

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I think SJ was genuine (just my gut feeling). He certainly had the opportunity to be a complete tool and he would have been justified by the crap teams they put around him. Instead he tried to make the best of the situation. I can't fault the guy. I know that at times people take that "rah, rah" stuff to the N-th degree and it gets old. But I think his heart is in the right place.

Doesn't it really just come down to how you feel about motivational speeches in general? I mean, I'm pretty no nonsense when it comes to that stuff. Just let me do my job and leave me alone. I don't need someone blowing smoke up my ass. But a lot of that is just my personality in general. I long dissertations and extra words and filler. Just say what you gotta say and get it over with and let's all move on.
 

blue4

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Ugh. Just not sure I can stand that SJ. I am sure I will get flack here for saying it, but that dude always tries to make it about him.... even when he is preaching "brotherhood". I felt that way during his entire career with Rams as well. Please spare me the "he carried our terrible team" argument. I think he loved being the only "rams superstar" those last few years.

flame suit on/

I feel I must violently disagree with you too. If there's anything left of your flame suit after CGI_Ram's initial violent disagreement.
I looked and did not find a ragequit smiley so you'll have to endure this maybe kind of puking one.:eek:
Take that sir.:)
 

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I feel I must violently disagree with you too. If there's anything left of your flame suit after CGI_Ram's initial violent disagreement.
I looked and did not find a ragequit smiley so you'll have to endure this maybe kind of puking one.:eek:
Take that sir.:)

HA! I can appreciate why people disagree with me on this. Something about SJ just never quite connected with me. Strange, because I love all Ram greats. I respect his hard work and how he tried to be a leader for the team through those lean times, no doubt. Maybe he is just a casualty of the decade of horrors in my mind as it pertains to the Rams. Never loved Bulger either, and he was a great QB for our team. Oh well, thank you all for not completely torching me for my opinion on the matter.....
 

Prime Time

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HA! I can appreciate why people disagree with me on this. Something about SJ just never quite connected with me. Strange, because I love all Ram greats. I respect his hard work and how he tried to be a leader for the team through those lean times, no doubt. Maybe he is just a casualty of the decade of horrors in my mind as it pertains to the Rams. Never loved Bulger either, and he was a great QB for our team. Oh well, thank you all for not completely torching me for my opinion on the matter.....

I was glad to see him go only for the possibility that he would win a ring with someone else. He deserves it. Now I did have a problem with him jitterbugging instead of running through whatever hole was open for him to run through. Then again, the decrepit O-lines in front of him during his years with the Rams probably got him into that habit.

Bulger...yeah. I prefer my Rams players to show some fire from time to time. Bulger seemed like an accountant who came in with his briefcase and punched in in the morning and punched out at the end of the work day. No offense to non-passionate people or accountants here. :cool:

Btw no Larry Marmie stories from anyone? I for one was glad to see him go. He was a terrible coach.
 

Rambition

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I was glad to see him go only for the possibility that he would win a ring with someone else. He deserves it. Now I did have a problem with him jitterbugging instead of running through whatever hole was open for him to run through. Then again, the decrepit O-lines in front of him during his years with the Rams probably got him into that habit.

Bulger...yeah. I prefer my Rams players to show some fire from time to time. Bulger seemed like an accountant who came in with his briefcase and punched in in the morning and punched out at the end of the work day. No offense to non-passionate people or accountants here. :cool:

Btw no Larry Marmie stories from anyone? I for one was glad to see him go. He was a terrible coach.
yeah, but it was fun saying larry marmie and charlie armey.
 

jrry32

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Ugh. Just not sure I can stand that SJ. I am sure I will get flack here for saying it, but that dude always tries to make it about him.... even when he is preaching "brotherhood". I felt that way during his entire career with Rams as well. Please spare me the "he carried our terrible team" argument. I think he loved being the only "rams superstar" those last few years.

flame suit on/

I disagree. Seems pretty genuine to me. And I like it. Telling the young guys that they can lean on him. Believe it or not, that is an issue for young guys in TC.
 

Mojo Ram

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Its amazing to me how some coaches just keep getting jobs despite never producing. Marmie wasn't any good at ASU either. The Buddy system is still going strong in sports.
 

ljramsfan

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Don't have an opinion on SJ in this regard.
It is the problem I always had with Ray Lewis. RL was and will always be a cartoon character. A self absorbed raging Dbag. I cannot image that any vet, any pro found his silly intro dance anything but a joke.
SJ is nowhere that level.
However, Ray Lewis has two SB rings also.
 

tempests

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Ugh. Just not sure I can stand that SJ. I am sure I will get flack here for saying it, but that dude always tries to make it about him.... even when he is preaching "brotherhood".

All he's doing there is relating his own experience.
 

Rmfnlt

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SJax poured his heart and soul out for us. I think he just wanted to win.


Yes. That's my take too.

Early in his career? Yes, I think he was self-centered.

But, like most of us, he grew up.

And worked as hard as anyone perfecting his craft.

It's no mistake that he is the all-time leader rusher in Rams history.

I wish him well for the remainder of his career (unless he gets in the way of the Rams, that is ;))
 

Rmfnlt

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Its amazing to me how some coaches just keep getting jobs despite never producing. Marmie wasn't any good at ASU either. The Buddy system is still going strong in
life
Fixed it for ya... ;)