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Burwell: Jackson ready to prove he's the exception to "Thirtysomething" Rule
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/ ... cc3ff.html
As surprising, fascinating and occasionally confusing as the first half of this NFL season has already been, the Rams are about to take those emotions to even higher levels now. We’re still not quite sure what to make of them. We still can’t figure out if Jeff Fisher’s young 3-5 team is on the verge of a swan-like transformation into something fairly good, or still stuck in the awkward rut of a difficult total rebuild.
But for a refreshing change, instead of simply grinding our teeth about their failures and counting the days until the next NFL draft, now we’re a bit more preoccupied with a clear vision of progress on the horizon.
Maybe that’s one of the reasons Steven Jackson’s ever-evolving status has so many people buzzing.
Jackson is the epitome of the past, the present and the future of this franchise all rolled into one mixed bag of emotions for a Rams fan base aching for this team to finally tell us exactly where it’s going.
Everything he does over the course of the next eight weeks is going to be analyzed, scrutinized and debated by the entire fan base. He is the provocative indicator of the course of the Rams whether he likes it or not. If he is up to his old, reliable tricks, then Jackson will be the Battering Ram in this offense, defying decades of NFL history and perhaps finally cementing himself into the hearts of this town as he becomes a symbol of a long-awaited football revival.
If he plays well over these last eight games, he’ll start to prove that he might be the exception to the rule about 30-year-old running backs in the NFL, and in the process spark another fascinating debate about where he will play the 2013 season. From the looks of things, Fisher and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer are going to give Jackson all the opportunity he needs to prove that he will defy all those odds that tell us that the expiration date on an aging NFL running back is unavoidable.
This is the perfect situation for both the Rams and Jackson. If he grinds out the yards against a rugged 49ers defense like he believes he still can, then the offense simply continues to grow and Jackson’s workload probably will, too.
But if his production slides and the slightest signs of old age begin to be exposed, then you’ll probably see his carries erode, the workload of Daryl Richardson and Isaiah Pead increase, the future of the rookies as the new one-two running punch hastened and Jackson’s pending free agency clarified.
“I think a number of guys have done a good job of being productive after 30,” said Jackson. “And as being a back who took a lot of pride in being a three-down back for such a long time, now I’m going to try and take the torch of being a 30-year-old back – when I get to be 30 – to continue to be productive, to continue to play at a high level and show that I take care of myself and still love the game as much as I did when I was a rookie.”
There are no gray areas in this one, no need to waste time engaging in a lot of arguments about Jackson’s worth to the franchise. A lot of people who don’t appreciate what he’s done and what he’s still capable of doing will continue to grit their teeth, complain that his role needs to decrease and refuse to recognize what he’s meant to the Rams under some of the worst conditions imaginable. Already the franchise’s all-time career rushing leader, he is only 57 yards shy of passing Torry Holt for second place on the Rams’ career all-purpose yardage list. With 9,496 career rushing yards, Jackson is now the leading ground gainer among all active NFL running backs and only 504 yards away from becoming the 27th man in NFL history to pass the 10,000-yard career rushing milestone.
They will never allow for the possibility that Jackson might still have a lot of production left in that big body. I’m not one of those people. I know it can happen, because I can run off a list of 30-something Hall of Fame running backs who have defied the history books and continued to produce at Hall-of-Fame levels beyond age 30.
At age 30, the late Walter Payton had a career-high 381 carries, 1,684 yards (4.4 yards a carry) and 11 TDs, averaging a staggering 105.3 yards a game. A year later, he gained 1,551 yards (4.8 yards a carry) and scored nine TDs while averaging 96.9 yards a game, and at age 32 averaged 4.2 yards a carry while collecting 1,333 yards and scoring eight TDs.
In his final NFL season, a 30-year-old Barry Sanders gained 1,491 yards (4.3 avg) and 93.2 yards a game.
At age 30, John Riggins gained 1,153 yards (4.4 yard average) and scored nine TDs, then followed that up at 34 with an NFL MVP season of 1,347 yards and 24 touchdowns, and came back at age 35 with 1,239 yards and 14 TDs.
A 30-year-old Curtis Martin topped 1,300 yards, then had career highs in carries (371), yards (1,697), yards per carry (4.6) and yards per game (106.1) to go along with 12 TDs at age 31.
Add in Emmitt Smith to that list and you’ll find no fewer than five Hall of Fame running backs who each had multiple superb seasons after turning 30. And some good backs who weren’t quite Hall of Famers have also thrived.
It’s too early to make a judgment either way on how this will fall for Jackson; to automatically write him off is just plain foolish. My hunch is we haven’t seen the last of his high-production Sundays. As the Rams’ offense gets more healthy starters back in the lineup (see: Danny Amendola, Roger Saffold this week, Scott Wells soon to follow), and as rookie receiver Chris Givens’ role in the offense continues to expand and fellow rookie Brian Quick’s role finally gets defined, the last eight weeks could be very interesting for the offense.
“I’m ready to do whatever Coach Fisher and his staff see fit for us,” said Jackson. “I’m ready whenever they need me, whenever they call on me. And I’ll be mentally and physically ready to turn it on and I want to show that I still have what it takes.”
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/ ... cc3ff.html
As surprising, fascinating and occasionally confusing as the first half of this NFL season has already been, the Rams are about to take those emotions to even higher levels now. We’re still not quite sure what to make of them. We still can’t figure out if Jeff Fisher’s young 3-5 team is on the verge of a swan-like transformation into something fairly good, or still stuck in the awkward rut of a difficult total rebuild.
But for a refreshing change, instead of simply grinding our teeth about their failures and counting the days until the next NFL draft, now we’re a bit more preoccupied with a clear vision of progress on the horizon.
Maybe that’s one of the reasons Steven Jackson’s ever-evolving status has so many people buzzing.
Jackson is the epitome of the past, the present and the future of this franchise all rolled into one mixed bag of emotions for a Rams fan base aching for this team to finally tell us exactly where it’s going.
Everything he does over the course of the next eight weeks is going to be analyzed, scrutinized and debated by the entire fan base. He is the provocative indicator of the course of the Rams whether he likes it or not. If he is up to his old, reliable tricks, then Jackson will be the Battering Ram in this offense, defying decades of NFL history and perhaps finally cementing himself into the hearts of this town as he becomes a symbol of a long-awaited football revival.
If he plays well over these last eight games, he’ll start to prove that he might be the exception to the rule about 30-year-old running backs in the NFL, and in the process spark another fascinating debate about where he will play the 2013 season. From the looks of things, Fisher and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer are going to give Jackson all the opportunity he needs to prove that he will defy all those odds that tell us that the expiration date on an aging NFL running back is unavoidable.
This is the perfect situation for both the Rams and Jackson. If he grinds out the yards against a rugged 49ers defense like he believes he still can, then the offense simply continues to grow and Jackson’s workload probably will, too.
But if his production slides and the slightest signs of old age begin to be exposed, then you’ll probably see his carries erode, the workload of Daryl Richardson and Isaiah Pead increase, the future of the rookies as the new one-two running punch hastened and Jackson’s pending free agency clarified.
“I think a number of guys have done a good job of being productive after 30,” said Jackson. “And as being a back who took a lot of pride in being a three-down back for such a long time, now I’m going to try and take the torch of being a 30-year-old back – when I get to be 30 – to continue to be productive, to continue to play at a high level and show that I take care of myself and still love the game as much as I did when I was a rookie.”
There are no gray areas in this one, no need to waste time engaging in a lot of arguments about Jackson’s worth to the franchise. A lot of people who don’t appreciate what he’s done and what he’s still capable of doing will continue to grit their teeth, complain that his role needs to decrease and refuse to recognize what he’s meant to the Rams under some of the worst conditions imaginable. Already the franchise’s all-time career rushing leader, he is only 57 yards shy of passing Torry Holt for second place on the Rams’ career all-purpose yardage list. With 9,496 career rushing yards, Jackson is now the leading ground gainer among all active NFL running backs and only 504 yards away from becoming the 27th man in NFL history to pass the 10,000-yard career rushing milestone.
They will never allow for the possibility that Jackson might still have a lot of production left in that big body. I’m not one of those people. I know it can happen, because I can run off a list of 30-something Hall of Fame running backs who have defied the history books and continued to produce at Hall-of-Fame levels beyond age 30.
At age 30, the late Walter Payton had a career-high 381 carries, 1,684 yards (4.4 yards a carry) and 11 TDs, averaging a staggering 105.3 yards a game. A year later, he gained 1,551 yards (4.8 yards a carry) and scored nine TDs while averaging 96.9 yards a game, and at age 32 averaged 4.2 yards a carry while collecting 1,333 yards and scoring eight TDs.
In his final NFL season, a 30-year-old Barry Sanders gained 1,491 yards (4.3 avg) and 93.2 yards a game.
At age 30, John Riggins gained 1,153 yards (4.4 yard average) and scored nine TDs, then followed that up at 34 with an NFL MVP season of 1,347 yards and 24 touchdowns, and came back at age 35 with 1,239 yards and 14 TDs.
A 30-year-old Curtis Martin topped 1,300 yards, then had career highs in carries (371), yards (1,697), yards per carry (4.6) and yards per game (106.1) to go along with 12 TDs at age 31.
Add in Emmitt Smith to that list and you’ll find no fewer than five Hall of Fame running backs who each had multiple superb seasons after turning 30. And some good backs who weren’t quite Hall of Famers have also thrived.
It’s too early to make a judgment either way on how this will fall for Jackson; to automatically write him off is just plain foolish. My hunch is we haven’t seen the last of his high-production Sundays. As the Rams’ offense gets more healthy starters back in the lineup (see: Danny Amendola, Roger Saffold this week, Scott Wells soon to follow), and as rookie receiver Chris Givens’ role in the offense continues to expand and fellow rookie Brian Quick’s role finally gets defined, the last eight weeks could be very interesting for the offense.
“I’m ready to do whatever Coach Fisher and his staff see fit for us,” said Jackson. “I’m ready whenever they need me, whenever they call on me. And I’ll be mentally and physically ready to turn it on and I want to show that I still have what it takes.”