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From Rams cult hero to possible cut, Nelson Spruce forges on
Los Angeles Rams wide receivers Nelson Spruce (86) and Robert Woods (17) stretch for Organized Team Activities on Tuesday, May 30, 2017, at the team?s practice facility at California Lutheran University. (Photo by Michael Owen Baker)
By Ryan Kartje
Was this a dream?
Around him, the scene felt so surreal, he couldn’t help but wonder.
Tens of thousands chanting his name. The entirety of the Coliseum pulsing with energy, roaring in harmonious praise. This was only a preseason game, and he was merely an undrafted free agent with a puncher’s chance of making the Rams’ 53-man roster. But as time ticked away and the Rams marched down the field, it was as if he’d stepped into the chill-inducing climax of a Hollywood sports classic, unaware he was the star.
“SPRUUUUCE!” the crowd roared. “SPRUUUUCE!”
In a quarter’s time, Nelson Spruce rose to cult hero status. Then, just as quickly, the hope he’d forged on the Coliseum field slipped away.
Ecstasy and agony
In the year since a stadium of Rams fans chanted his name, Spruce recalls watching film of that preseason game just once.
That one night was enough to earn him a roster spot then. Not to mention a place in Rams’ lore. But this season, as he fights 12 other receivers for a spot on the Rams roster -- a spot that will be determined this final week of the preseason -- his feelings from that night remain messy and complicated. “The highest of highs,” he says, “and then, the lowest of lows.”
With under two minutes to play, in the Rams’ first game back in Los Angeles, backup quarterback Sean Mannion threw the winning touchdown pass, capping the comeback Spruce had manufactured almost entirely by himself with a game-high six catches for 51 yards and a touchdown. But away from the play, Spruce’s knee buckled. It seemed innocuous. With the adrenaline still pumping, he left the field still thinking of the celebration to come.
The prognosis was more deflating than he could conceive at the time. He’d miss the rest of the preseason, they told him, probably more. He acknowledged the news, let it wash over him, but struggled to process what it meant. <em>How could this happen now?
His family, still in shock from his performance, greeted him after the game. He couldn’t find the words to tell them. He called his father, Neal, from the bus.
That night, he couldn’t muster up the enthusiasm to celebrate, either. Instead, he stayed in his training camp dorm room at Irvine, wondering what was next.
“He’d never been injured, never missed a game in his life,” Neal says. “Not Pop Warner, not high school, not Colorado, and he ended up missing his whole first year in the NFL.”
The knee injury gave way to a calf injury in October, which led to him being placed on injured reserve. Spruce was devastated. Everything he’d worked for seemed to lead to that moment a year ago, and then, poof. It was gone.
“He went to a dark place,” Neal says. “His body had never let him down in his life, and then, at the worst possible time, it let him down. He thought his whole career was being taken away.”
Over the months that followed, as Spruce watched from the sideline, doing his best not to slip into despair, he tried to keep his mind occupied. He started reading more. He took up yoga. He meditated.
The peace he’d made with his injury was still tenuous. “It was something I had to learn to deal with,” he says. But slowly, he pulled himself back up.
All around him were reminders of his quarter-long brush with stardom. Fans stopped him to take photos. They yelled his name in public, wherever he went. One afternoon, as he prepared to tee off at Sherwood Country Club, employees assured him that they wouldn’t announce his name over the loudspeaker. They were concerned the announcement might incite a mob of Rams fans.
Even in London, when the Rams traveled to play the Giants, he was greeted by British customs officials who unleashed their own “SPRUUUUCE!” chant.
For months, he worried his career was over. But as he returned to Rams camp in late July, he walked onto the field to the same roar. When he caught a touchdown during the Rams’ second practice, tiptoeing the sideline, the stands exploded with excitement.
No one had forgotten.
Waging an uphill battle
On Aug. 11, the Rams announced a blockbuster trade that brought top wideout Sammy Watkins to Los Angeles. The move indisputably improved the team’s receiving corps. It was applauded by nearly everyone inside and outside the building. But for Spruce, the trade signaled something else entirely. With another receiver in the mix, he was all the more expendable.
Watkins, Robert Woods, Tavon Austin, Pharoh Cooper, Cooper Kupp, and Josh Reynolds are basically guaranteed spots on the Rams roster. Mike Thomas, who’s suspended for the first four weeks, will likely remain on the team, as well. That’s seven wideouts. The likelihood of Spruce making the 53-man roster, realistically, is quite low.
“That’s the fact of it, I guess,” Spruce says. “But one thing I learned last year having all that time off and learning about so many different things, was that I can really only worry about the things that I can control. I guess that’s the only way to look at it.”
The injuries he dealt with last season have lingered into camp this year, making his uphill battle for a roster spot even more grueling. He caught six passes in the Rams’ exhibition opener against Dallas on Aug. 12, but played just five snaps in the preseason win over the Raiders. Last Saturday, with Kupp out and an opportunity to showcase his ability, Spruce was inactive. He did not practice Tuesday and is questionable to play in the final exhibition Thursday at Green Bay.
“When Nelson’s been available, you can see he’s a conscientious football player, just has a good feel for the game, good natural hands,” Rams coach McVay said. “Unfortunately, he’s struggled with just some rare injuries, whether it be his calf or some pulls here and there. Not being able to be available has made it a little bit difficult.”
Spruce is still confident he can survive cuts. But even if he’s a roster casualty this week, his story is hardly over. Last season, the Rams feared placing him on the practice squad would lead another team to claim him. So it’s not hard to believe that same claim could be made this season.
Perhaps the chants will follow him wherever he lands. But even if they don’t, the undrafted free agent from Westlake High will always have that storybook night under the Coliseum lights, when he lived his NFL dream and a legion of Rams fans responded with a hero’s welcome.
“No matter what,” he says, “I won’t forget that.”
[www.whittierdailynews.com]
Los Angeles Rams wide receivers Nelson Spruce (86) and Robert Woods (17) stretch for Organized Team Activities on Tuesday, May 30, 2017, at the team?s practice facility at California Lutheran University. (Photo by Michael Owen Baker)
By Ryan Kartje
Was this a dream?
Around him, the scene felt so surreal, he couldn’t help but wonder.
Tens of thousands chanting his name. The entirety of the Coliseum pulsing with energy, roaring in harmonious praise. This was only a preseason game, and he was merely an undrafted free agent with a puncher’s chance of making the Rams’ 53-man roster. But as time ticked away and the Rams marched down the field, it was as if he’d stepped into the chill-inducing climax of a Hollywood sports classic, unaware he was the star.
“SPRUUUUCE!” the crowd roared. “SPRUUUUCE!”
In a quarter’s time, Nelson Spruce rose to cult hero status. Then, just as quickly, the hope he’d forged on the Coliseum field slipped away.
Ecstasy and agony
In the year since a stadium of Rams fans chanted his name, Spruce recalls watching film of that preseason game just once.
That one night was enough to earn him a roster spot then. Not to mention a place in Rams’ lore. But this season, as he fights 12 other receivers for a spot on the Rams roster -- a spot that will be determined this final week of the preseason -- his feelings from that night remain messy and complicated. “The highest of highs,” he says, “and then, the lowest of lows.”
With under two minutes to play, in the Rams’ first game back in Los Angeles, backup quarterback Sean Mannion threw the winning touchdown pass, capping the comeback Spruce had manufactured almost entirely by himself with a game-high six catches for 51 yards and a touchdown. But away from the play, Spruce’s knee buckled. It seemed innocuous. With the adrenaline still pumping, he left the field still thinking of the celebration to come.
The prognosis was more deflating than he could conceive at the time. He’d miss the rest of the preseason, they told him, probably more. He acknowledged the news, let it wash over him, but struggled to process what it meant. <em>How could this happen now?
His family, still in shock from his performance, greeted him after the game. He couldn’t find the words to tell them. He called his father, Neal, from the bus.
That night, he couldn’t muster up the enthusiasm to celebrate, either. Instead, he stayed in his training camp dorm room at Irvine, wondering what was next.
“He’d never been injured, never missed a game in his life,” Neal says. “Not Pop Warner, not high school, not Colorado, and he ended up missing his whole first year in the NFL.”
The knee injury gave way to a calf injury in October, which led to him being placed on injured reserve. Spruce was devastated. Everything he’d worked for seemed to lead to that moment a year ago, and then, poof. It was gone.
“He went to a dark place,” Neal says. “His body had never let him down in his life, and then, at the worst possible time, it let him down. He thought his whole career was being taken away.”
Over the months that followed, as Spruce watched from the sideline, doing his best not to slip into despair, he tried to keep his mind occupied. He started reading more. He took up yoga. He meditated.
The peace he’d made with his injury was still tenuous. “It was something I had to learn to deal with,” he says. But slowly, he pulled himself back up.
All around him were reminders of his quarter-long brush with stardom. Fans stopped him to take photos. They yelled his name in public, wherever he went. One afternoon, as he prepared to tee off at Sherwood Country Club, employees assured him that they wouldn’t announce his name over the loudspeaker. They were concerned the announcement might incite a mob of Rams fans.
Even in London, when the Rams traveled to play the Giants, he was greeted by British customs officials who unleashed their own “SPRUUUUCE!” chant.
For months, he worried his career was over. But as he returned to Rams camp in late July, he walked onto the field to the same roar. When he caught a touchdown during the Rams’ second practice, tiptoeing the sideline, the stands exploded with excitement.
No one had forgotten.
Waging an uphill battle
On Aug. 11, the Rams announced a blockbuster trade that brought top wideout Sammy Watkins to Los Angeles. The move indisputably improved the team’s receiving corps. It was applauded by nearly everyone inside and outside the building. But for Spruce, the trade signaled something else entirely. With another receiver in the mix, he was all the more expendable.
Watkins, Robert Woods, Tavon Austin, Pharoh Cooper, Cooper Kupp, and Josh Reynolds are basically guaranteed spots on the Rams roster. Mike Thomas, who’s suspended for the first four weeks, will likely remain on the team, as well. That’s seven wideouts. The likelihood of Spruce making the 53-man roster, realistically, is quite low.
“That’s the fact of it, I guess,” Spruce says. “But one thing I learned last year having all that time off and learning about so many different things, was that I can really only worry about the things that I can control. I guess that’s the only way to look at it.”
The injuries he dealt with last season have lingered into camp this year, making his uphill battle for a roster spot even more grueling. He caught six passes in the Rams’ exhibition opener against Dallas on Aug. 12, but played just five snaps in the preseason win over the Raiders. Last Saturday, with Kupp out and an opportunity to showcase his ability, Spruce was inactive. He did not practice Tuesday and is questionable to play in the final exhibition Thursday at Green Bay.
“When Nelson’s been available, you can see he’s a conscientious football player, just has a good feel for the game, good natural hands,” Rams coach McVay said. “Unfortunately, he’s struggled with just some rare injuries, whether it be his calf or some pulls here and there. Not being able to be available has made it a little bit difficult.”
Spruce is still confident he can survive cuts. But even if he’s a roster casualty this week, his story is hardly over. Last season, the Rams feared placing him on the practice squad would lead another team to claim him. So it’s not hard to believe that same claim could be made this season.
Perhaps the chants will follow him wherever he lands. But even if they don’t, the undrafted free agent from Westlake High will always have that storybook night under the Coliseum lights, when he lived his NFL dream and a legion of Rams fans responded with a hero’s welcome.
“No matter what,” he says, “I won’t forget that.”
[www.whittierdailynews.com]
