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Howard Balzer
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Last season, the Rams took a risk by selecting cornerback Janoris Jenkins in the second round of the draft. Jenkins produced in his rookie year, although he was benched in a game against San Francisco for missing curfew.
Now, the Rams have taken another leap of faith by claiming troubled wide receiver Titus Young on waivers from the Lions. No other teams claimed Young, who was waived Monday (Feb. 4) following a turbulent season in which he punched safety Louis Delmas during offseason workouts, purposely lined up in the wrong spot in a game against Green Bay when he tried to switch places with tight end Tony Scheffler because the play was designed to go to Scheffler. He had also gotten into an argument on the sideline with receivers coach Shawn Jefferson. That dispute led to an argument between Jefferson and offensive coordinator Scott Linehan.
He was banished from the team for a week. After he returned, things didn't improve, and the Lions eventually placed him on injured reserve because of tendinitis in his knee. At that time, Lions coach Jim Schwartz famously said Young would have knee surgery "unless he doesn't show up for it." Schwartz also said, "When you have an issue or something that occurs and you do get a second chance, and you're welcomed back, you have to do everything to take advantage of that opportunity. I think in this case, that didn't happen."
Before Young was placed on injured reserve, center Dominic Raiola told the Detroit News, "We've moved on from him. He wants to be a (bleep), let him be a (bleep). It's not my problem. What we can control is the guys who want to be here. And when you act like that, you don't want to be here."
Ironically, Young was benched in the season opener against the Rams when he head-butted Jenkins.
Selected in the second round of the 2011 draft by the Lions, Young had 48 receptions for 607 yards and six touchdowns. This past season, he has 33 receptions for 383 yards and four scores.
Young recently had a bizarre string of tweets that started with: "Like I said I never been selfish but if I'm not going to get the football i don't want to play anymore."
He also addressed the story about lining up wrong by tweeting, "Never have I ran the wrong route, just put my self where the ball was going."
After those tweets, Schwartz said, "Every offensive player wants the football and there's good ways to go about trying to get that done. This is a pretty good example of a not so good idea. Guys are responsible for what they post, what they say. You wear your uniform 24 hours a day now, everybody's aware of that. We obviously still got some ground to cover there."
That prompted a Jan. 25 tweet from Young that said, "Oh I'm not done, if y'all going to cut me let me go. I'm tired of the threats. Never needed the money Give me a dollar and a ball bet I come back #HallofFame."
Then there was the story after the latest tweet in which he told his high school coach he was as good as Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson.
Coach E.C. Robinson said, "He did tell me he thought he was just as good as Megatron. I said, 'Come on, man. Who you talking to?' I said, 'Come on, you're as good as that guy? This guy is the real deal.' And he really believes this. And he was sincere about it. 'Ah man, I'm better than him.' I said, 'No you're not. Be real man. Come on.' So I don't know, I'm hoping for the best for him."
Two days after Young was waived, Lions general manager Martin Mayhew and coach Jim Schwartz met with the media to discuss Young as well as the release of guard Stephen Peterman and defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch.
Asked about not trying to trade Young, Mayhew said, "He didn't really have any trade value. I didn't talk to anybody. I didn't call 32 GMs and try to get a seventh, or anything like that. I think it's my job to know sort of what his value is, and he didn't have any trade value."
Added coach Jim Schwartz, "We obviously went through a lot. We had our incident last spring (punching Delmas). We took quite a few steps there. He came back onto the team and was fairly productive and wasn't a distraction.
"We had a couple of other incidents and kept him away again, and came back, and we still had other incidents, and at that point, it was done. We certainly exhausted all of our resources in trying to keep him productive and keep him in a team mood, but it wasn't successful."
Detroit News reporter Chris McCosky recently wrote, "I have been told that the organization has pleaded with Young to get help. They have set him up with therapists. He has not cooperated."
McCosky also was told Young has “emotional issues” and that “he has a condition that requires medication. But he won’t take it.”
Lions wide receiver Nate Burleson said on SiriusXM Radio that Young’s problems were traced to his “competitiveness” and his belief he should have been the target of more passes.
“I did everything I could to help him,” Burleson said. “I gave him all the knowledge I could. I told him, ‘You will have your time.’ But his emotions got to him, being so competitive. He is a great talent. Hopefully, he learns from this.”
Because of issues in college (he was suspended for 10 games one season) and was also booted from his high school team at one point, Young's four-year contract signed with the Lions included reporting bonuses in the final three years of $67,333 last year; $184,666 this year and $301,988 in 2014. He also has unusually large $50,000 workout bonuses each of those three years. The Rams are responsible for this year's reporting and workout bonus and his $555,000 base salary if he adheres to team rules and makes the opening-day roster.
Young was a teammate of Rams receiver Austin Pettis at Boise State, and the addition of Young makes him only the fourth returning receiver under contract. Scheduled for unrestricted free agency are Danny Amendola, Brandon Gibson and Steve Smith.
One theory was that the addition of Young is a hedge against the possible departure of Amendola, who has been quarterback Sam Bradford's go-to receiver, but who has also missed 20 games over the last two seasons.
Amendola's agent, Erik Burkhardt, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "I don't think it affects Danny one bit. Titus Young isn't anywhere in the same zip code as Danny as far as a player goes. I'm sure Young may disagree with that because he thinks he's better than Calvin Johnson."
When asked about the status of negotiations with the Rams for Amendola, Burkhardt called them "positive" and added, "I think they know what Danny brings to the team, and the spirit of the team aside from what he does on the field."
Rams coach Jeff Fisher and players spoke often during the 2012 season about the strength of the team’s locker room. It remains to be seen whether Young will fit.
<a class="postlink" href="http://howardbalzer.lockerdome.com/articles/106259177" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://howardbalzer.lockerdome.com/articles/106259177</a>
Last season, the Rams took a risk by selecting cornerback Janoris Jenkins in the second round of the draft. Jenkins produced in his rookie year, although he was benched in a game against San Francisco for missing curfew.
Now, the Rams have taken another leap of faith by claiming troubled wide receiver Titus Young on waivers from the Lions. No other teams claimed Young, who was waived Monday (Feb. 4) following a turbulent season in which he punched safety Louis Delmas during offseason workouts, purposely lined up in the wrong spot in a game against Green Bay when he tried to switch places with tight end Tony Scheffler because the play was designed to go to Scheffler. He had also gotten into an argument on the sideline with receivers coach Shawn Jefferson. That dispute led to an argument between Jefferson and offensive coordinator Scott Linehan.
He was banished from the team for a week. After he returned, things didn't improve, and the Lions eventually placed him on injured reserve because of tendinitis in his knee. At that time, Lions coach Jim Schwartz famously said Young would have knee surgery "unless he doesn't show up for it." Schwartz also said, "When you have an issue or something that occurs and you do get a second chance, and you're welcomed back, you have to do everything to take advantage of that opportunity. I think in this case, that didn't happen."
Before Young was placed on injured reserve, center Dominic Raiola told the Detroit News, "We've moved on from him. He wants to be a (bleep), let him be a (bleep). It's not my problem. What we can control is the guys who want to be here. And when you act like that, you don't want to be here."
Ironically, Young was benched in the season opener against the Rams when he head-butted Jenkins.
Selected in the second round of the 2011 draft by the Lions, Young had 48 receptions for 607 yards and six touchdowns. This past season, he has 33 receptions for 383 yards and four scores.
Young recently had a bizarre string of tweets that started with: "Like I said I never been selfish but if I'm not going to get the football i don't want to play anymore."
He also addressed the story about lining up wrong by tweeting, "Never have I ran the wrong route, just put my self where the ball was going."
After those tweets, Schwartz said, "Every offensive player wants the football and there's good ways to go about trying to get that done. This is a pretty good example of a not so good idea. Guys are responsible for what they post, what they say. You wear your uniform 24 hours a day now, everybody's aware of that. We obviously still got some ground to cover there."
That prompted a Jan. 25 tweet from Young that said, "Oh I'm not done, if y'all going to cut me let me go. I'm tired of the threats. Never needed the money Give me a dollar and a ball bet I come back #HallofFame."
Then there was the story after the latest tweet in which he told his high school coach he was as good as Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson.
Coach E.C. Robinson said, "He did tell me he thought he was just as good as Megatron. I said, 'Come on, man. Who you talking to?' I said, 'Come on, you're as good as that guy? This guy is the real deal.' And he really believes this. And he was sincere about it. 'Ah man, I'm better than him.' I said, 'No you're not. Be real man. Come on.' So I don't know, I'm hoping for the best for him."
Two days after Young was waived, Lions general manager Martin Mayhew and coach Jim Schwartz met with the media to discuss Young as well as the release of guard Stephen Peterman and defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch.
Asked about not trying to trade Young, Mayhew said, "He didn't really have any trade value. I didn't talk to anybody. I didn't call 32 GMs and try to get a seventh, or anything like that. I think it's my job to know sort of what his value is, and he didn't have any trade value."
Added coach Jim Schwartz, "We obviously went through a lot. We had our incident last spring (punching Delmas). We took quite a few steps there. He came back onto the team and was fairly productive and wasn't a distraction.
"We had a couple of other incidents and kept him away again, and came back, and we still had other incidents, and at that point, it was done. We certainly exhausted all of our resources in trying to keep him productive and keep him in a team mood, but it wasn't successful."
Detroit News reporter Chris McCosky recently wrote, "I have been told that the organization has pleaded with Young to get help. They have set him up with therapists. He has not cooperated."
McCosky also was told Young has “emotional issues” and that “he has a condition that requires medication. But he won’t take it.”
Lions wide receiver Nate Burleson said on SiriusXM Radio that Young’s problems were traced to his “competitiveness” and his belief he should have been the target of more passes.
“I did everything I could to help him,” Burleson said. “I gave him all the knowledge I could. I told him, ‘You will have your time.’ But his emotions got to him, being so competitive. He is a great talent. Hopefully, he learns from this.”
Because of issues in college (he was suspended for 10 games one season) and was also booted from his high school team at one point, Young's four-year contract signed with the Lions included reporting bonuses in the final three years of $67,333 last year; $184,666 this year and $301,988 in 2014. He also has unusually large $50,000 workout bonuses each of those three years. The Rams are responsible for this year's reporting and workout bonus and his $555,000 base salary if he adheres to team rules and makes the opening-day roster.
Young was a teammate of Rams receiver Austin Pettis at Boise State, and the addition of Young makes him only the fourth returning receiver under contract. Scheduled for unrestricted free agency are Danny Amendola, Brandon Gibson and Steve Smith.
One theory was that the addition of Young is a hedge against the possible departure of Amendola, who has been quarterback Sam Bradford's go-to receiver, but who has also missed 20 games over the last two seasons.
Amendola's agent, Erik Burkhardt, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "I don't think it affects Danny one bit. Titus Young isn't anywhere in the same zip code as Danny as far as a player goes. I'm sure Young may disagree with that because he thinks he's better than Calvin Johnson."
When asked about the status of negotiations with the Rams for Amendola, Burkhardt called them "positive" and added, "I think they know what Danny brings to the team, and the spirit of the team aside from what he does on the field."
Rams coach Jeff Fisher and players spoke often during the 2012 season about the strength of the team’s locker room. It remains to be seen whether Young will fit.
