Rams want to win for Ferguson/PD

[RamBill]

Rams want to win for Ferguson
• By Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_da561ce5-f7f5-5f4d-92ad-b3b13936673c.html

With long days of meetings, practice and treatment for aches and injuries — not to mention travel and the games themselves — football is all-consuming for Rams players this time of year.

Even so, how do you ignore the events in Ferguson? Well, the players say you don’t.

“You keep a close eye on it,” defensive end Chris Long said. “I’d keep a close eye on that situation no matter where it was in America. But it happens to be in our backyard.

“We care a great deal about our community. Care a great deal about this country. You hope something good comes of it because it was a tragedy no matter how you slice it.

“You hope that they’re able to heal in Ferguson. You just pray for them and pray that everybody can protest peacefully and safely, and that everybody comes out of it all right.”

Ferguson isn’t far from the team’s practice facility at Rams Park, maybe 15 minutes. And the team feels a bit of a kinship after playing host to three high school football teams from that area during training camp last summer.

McCluer, McCluer North and McCluer South-Berkeley all needed a place to practice for a week last summer when the schools were shut down, and Rams Park opened its doors for them.

“That was awesome,” defensive end William Hayes said. “I wasn’t able to practice at the time, but that might have been the most energy I’ve ever seen at one practice. To see how excited the kids were to be around us, and just to take their minds off a situation that’d be hard for anybody.”

Hayes wasn’t practicing because he was still rehabbing from multiple offseason surgeries at the time. But the visit from the young high schoolers had a big impact on him.

“It was probably one of the best experiences I’ve ever had in the NFL,” Hayes said.

Long said seeing those high school football players from Ferguson and the surrounding area at Rams Park during training camp, and experiencing their enthusiasm, helped keep things in perspective for him.

“Sometimes during camp, you just kind of get caught up in going to work every day and honing your craft,” Long said. “You forget what you’re doing playing this game.

“I followed along with them a little in their (2014) season on Instagram and Twitter. Hey, if we can have half the enthusiasm and energy every time we take the field, it’d be pretty good.”

So as the Rams watched Ferguson burning Monday night on television, they undoubtedly had flashbacks to that August visit.

The arson and looting came after the announcement that no criminal charges would be filed against Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of teenager Michael Brown.

No Rams players offered opinions on the merit — or lack thereof — of that decision, but simply expressed their sadness about the overall situation.

“It’s hard, man,” right tackle Joe Barksdale said.

After a lengthy pause, he added, “It’s hard. Especially being from the city, from Detroit. We have riot history. And you hate to see a community tear itself apart.”

“Our hearts go out to basically everyone that’s been affected by it,” left guard Rodger Saffold added. “It’s Thanksgiving. It’s a really big time of the year for family and friends and those types of things.”

The Rams have been active in the community since moving to St. Louis in 1995, but there’s little or nothing the players can do in terms of reaching out to Ferguson this time of year. (Although several players did hand out Thanksgiving turkey and fixings to needy families in nearby Jennings on Tuesday, which is an annual event held in conjunction with the Urban League.)

About the best they can do now is provide a diversion for a few hours Sunday when they play Oakland in a noon kickoff at the Edward Jones Dome.

“Yeah, that’s the game plan,” Hayes said. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to put together a good win and give the city something to be proud about for a little bit. Just kind of help people take their minds away from the reality of the situation for a little while.”

“The issues in play (in Ferguson) are a hundred times bigger than sports,” Long added. “And we’re just athletes. If sports can provide a little release and allow people to kind of come together as a community and watch a game and forget about the tough things that are going on, then I hope that can help.”

Coach Jeff Fisher said the Ferguson situation was discussed with the squad on Wednesday morning.

He said the team would like to get involved once again with the Ferguson area once the season is over.

“Hopefully, as soon as things settle down, then we’ll get back involved,” Fisher said. “As we talked (about) as a group, it’s our community.

“They’re neighbors. Everybody cares deeply about what’s going on and hopes things can get settled as soon as possible.”

Every player interviewed Wednesday was all for trying to help Ferguson whenever and however they can.

“One thing I want to say about the (Rams) organization, it’s really big in the community service,” Barksdale said. “Yeah, it’s always great to be able to help people out when you can. In any way you can.”

“Absolutely,” Hayes said. “I feel like it’s our duty to try to (help). ... But right now, it’s just not the right time.

“Eventually everything will calm down and everything will go back to normal. You’ve just got to pray on the situation and wish the city the best.”

Although plans have not been finalized, the Rams will have beefed-up security at the dome for Sunday’s game.

 

[RamBill]

Rams hope to offer respite for Ferguson
By Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/14128/ramsferguson

EARTH CITY, Mo. -- Like many people in the St. Louis area right now, the St. Louis Rams have a helpless feeling when it comes to what's going on in nearby Ferguson.

"Well, you know, there’s a bunch of things going on down in Ferguson," guard Rodger Saffold said. "Those are our neighbors and our neighboring community, so our hearts go out to them and our hearts go out to basically everybody who has been affected by it. So we’re just trying to play a game and try to help people watch football and have a good time."

One such opportunity is coming this Sunday when the Rams are scheduled to host the Oakland Raiders at the Edward Jones Dome. Despite rumors to the contrary, the game is expected to go on as scheduled though the Rams have plans to beef up security in and around the stadium.

That's a direct result of the fallout from the grand jury decision not to indict officer Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of teenager Michael Brown. That decision has led to unrest in the Ferguson area with buildings burning and businesses being looted. It's all happening less than 15 minutes from Rams Park, where the Rams meet and practice every day.

And although the Rams have been going about their business on the football field, they are quick to point out the events happening in Ferguson should not be ignored.

"You keep a close eye on it," defensive end Chris Long said. "I’d keep a close eye on that situation no matter where it was in America but it happens to be in our backyard. Ferguson is a neighboring community to where a lot of us live and we care a great deal about our community and this country. It’s a big time right now. You just hope something good comes of it. You pray for that community and hope they are able to heal in Ferguson and pray for them and pray everybody can protest peacefully and safely and come out alive."

Yes, what's happening right now goes well beyond the boundaries of a football field. The Rams are well aware of that, as evidenced by the efforts they have made to reach out and help when possible.

Over the summer, the Rams hosted the three Ferguson-area high schools at their training facility. McCluer, McCluer North and McCluer-South Berkeley spent a week practicing at Rams Park and even popped in to a Rams practice to watch for a day during training camp. It was the most spirited practice of the summer as the high school players provided more enthusiasm than the run-of-the-mill training camp workout would normally have.

Long calls that practice the highlight of his camp and noted that he continued following some of the players on social media afterward to keep tabs on how the teams were doing. The Rams also provided free tickets to the teams for a preseason game.

Those were small, simple gestures that went a long way for those kids in a stressful time. Now that those stressful times have resurfaced, the Rams are trying to find more ways to help. They provided more than 2,000 Thanksgiving meals to local families in need earlier this week.

But they also know with the civil unrest still stirring, the best thing they can do is try to become a positive distraction every Sunday.

"I can only go back to when I was a kid and thinking about watching football -- it was a little bit of an escape," center Scott Wells said. "Because when I’m watching the game I wasn’t really thinking about anything else. For that three hours, three and a half hours, I’d like to think it provides a little bit of an escape and hopefully three hours of entertainment."

Earlier this week, Rams coach Jeff Fisher spoke to the team about what's happening in Ferguson, making it clear that staying attuned to what's going on is not only natural but important. He also emphasized that when the time is right, the Rams will do what they can to help out in the community again.

In the meantime, all the Rams can do is try to provide an entertaining diversion.

"The issues at play are 100 times bigger than sports," Long said. "We’re just athletes. If sports can provide a little relief and allow people to kind of come together as a community and watch a game and forget about the tough things that are going on, then I hope that can help out. It would be a big assumption to think that sports can fix everything. But hopefully for three hours it can just kind of help out a little bit."