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Chat with General Manager Les Snead
July 27
http://chat.nfl.com/front/index/1683?a_id=2
Lance L, Cape Girardeau, MO
1:02 PM ET
What do you personally look forward to most this season? What do you think we fans should look forward to most?
SNEAD: Personally, I think I look forward to seeing this young team mature as a group on the field and the goal is for the fans to notice the tipping point when this young team gains momentum and you actually FEEL this every Sunday and ultimately look forward to this young team stacking wins back to back
RAMFELLOW, SAN JOSE CA
1:04 PM ET
Mr. SNEAD ,as a life long RAMS FAN going on 65 years young.I welcome you as a bright light for exciting things to come for this team!! With that said, do you folks have any back up plan just in case Saffold and or Smith dont pan out?
SNEAD: Football, like life, is about adjusting to adversity and the best way to do that is have a plan in place in case of injuries. But our number one insurance policy is hiring Paul Boudreau. I had experience with him in Atlanta and he was very good at making the sum of the parts greater than each individual. That's what offensive line play is all about, five guys playing as one
David, Virginia
1:06 PM ET
Les, thanks for taking this time with the fans. We've read those reports after the draft about those private workouts that the Rams' brass held with some potential receivers like Justin Blackmon, Michael Floyd, Kendall Wright, AJ Jenkins and, of course, Brian Quick. Could you tell me in what order you ranked those players before the draft and what was it that you saw in Quick that made you so comfortable with taking a chance on a small school receiver?
SNEAD: The advantages of those private workouts is you can take four to six players at the same position, work them out in consecutive days and by seeing them back to back to back can be the icing on the cake in our research. In the workout with Brian Quick, you felt his passion for the game, you felt the unique physics that he brought to the field in that you have a 6'4, 225 pound man with long strides, very good burst off the line of scrimmage so this human being could cover ground in an exceptional way and had the hips of a basketball player that allowed him to make sharp breaks and the arm length of a rebounder. Because he came from a smaller school and a spread offense, we will need time to take him to NFL routes but basically in a nutshell that's getting enough reps so he's not thinking, he's just doing
Tom, Huntington Beach, CA
1:09 PM ET
Hi Les. I have been a Rams fan since the mid sixties. How are thing meshing personal and business wise between you, Stan, Kevin and Fish?
SNEAD: I couldn't imagine a better partnership to this point. First and foremost, I wanted to be the Rams General Manager because of Stan's vision for this franchise and this city. As a GM of a sports franchise, I can't think of a better city with better sports fans than this one
Daniel K, Ontario-Canada
1:11 PM ET
Our 2012 roster is mostly complete. Some new guys are obvious starters (Finnegan). What camp battles are you most excited about?
SNEAD: Every battle, simply because that is where you find out who the warriors are and in the jungle that we're in, in terms of 32 teams wanting one prize, it will take warriors and lions to accomplish that goal. Yes, there are a few positions that are set but for the most part each spot is up for grabs
Ross, Berlin, Germany (from Dublin, Ireland)
1:13 PM ET
Hi Les, first off I want to say I love what you're doing for the team and the manner in which you're doing it; very exciting time to be a Rams fan! My question is this: will you/do you have any gameday superstitions? e.g. will you be like Brad Pitt's GM character in Moneyball and not watch the game? Many thanks. GO RAMS!
SNEAD: Yes. Unfortunately, I am very passionate about winning and my adrenaline runs extremely high on gameday and there will be a few times when I escape to the locker room, not to run on a treadmill but I would if I could and watch some of the tighter parts of the game on the TV feed and while doing that, make a tape ball out of the tape that we tape the players with. Every now and then I'll throw that ball up against the wall either out of excitment or angst
RamBrian from Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI
1:14 PM ET
First off, Great Job with Draft. I know it's very early but my gut tells me more than half these guys will contribute and be very good players. My question is: Moving forward do you see some more free agent pick ups and do you think our OL is good to go barring injuries? And how would you rate our LB's?
SNEAD: Every day is a new case. There may be a new player available or someone who has been available that we constantly evaluate. Obviously, it's harder to find difference making players this time of year than during the early parts of free agency or the draft. Check out my earlier response on the OL but on linebackers, we think we have a pillar type player in the middle and some younger players who have impressed us so far combined with some veterans who have played in this league we added in the spring and from that group, we are not scared to compete
Will, St Louis
1:17 PM ET
You've had a busy offseason. Who will the team be depending on for locker room leadership, among the players you inherited and the new faces you've brought in?
SNEAD: I think with any young team maybe our top leaders have yet to truly emerge or mature into that role. But I do think the starting QB is always a leader, long time franchise players like Steven Jackson have to do their part in steering the young players in a direction that will bring about wins and new additions like Cortland Finnegan come in as leaders but then must put their stamp on how they will lead this particular franchise. The goal is for each leader to steer our young cubs to thriving ways
Sam, FL
1:20 PM ET
Do you think Sam Bradford is the future of STL
SNEAD: I think we answered that question when we traded the No. 2 overall pick but with that said, I thought Sam was a franchise quarterback when I was in Atlanta. I thought he was a franchise quarterback when he won rookie of the year. And I still thought he was a franchise quarterback last year when he was injured and had injuries on his offensive line and at receiver. We believe in him
Dave, IL
1:22 PM ET
Hello Mr. SNEAD, Thanks for joining the Rams this year. looking forward to seeing what kind of mark you will put on this team. My question is how important is it to you that guys like Steven Jackson retire as Rams? Steven reminds me of Walter Payton. Not so much in running style, but as in a consistent, reliable, productive player who plays whole heartily every game, no matter what the score is or how hurt he is. Steven seems to be the Energizer bunny, running thru everyone in spite of the team being sub par for most of his career... Thanks..
SNEAD: For the most part, when you invest early picks into players you have a vision to develop and coach them to help the Rams thrive for a long, long time. Unfortunately for Steven who has been one of the top running backs over the last four to five seasons, he's had to go through a few regime changes and this is another one but when we hired Brian Schottenheimer as offensive coordinator, Jeff was putting his stance on "We are going to be a team that runs the football, runs it well, runs it to win games." And I'm looking forward to Steven being an integral part of that philosophy
Robert, Highlands Ranch, CO
1:24 PM ET
Hello Mr SNEAD, First off, congrats on what I think was one of our best off-seasons in quite some time. Save for the recent situation with Quinn, I think we are in great shape. Here's my question. I know we've earned the right NOT to be talked about much heading into the season but what's the mood in the building and on the field? I'm thinking we are going to come out and surprise many a folk!
SNEAD: First of all, it's always best to EARN "national" attention on the field with results. But to get those results you have to be genuinely enthusiastic, optimistic and confident about the direction of where we're headed. With that being said, we will quietly take the necessary steps until the outside world can hear them
Ben S., Columbia SC
1:26 PM ET
What has been the most difficult part of the past 6 months. Would you do anything differently
SNEAD: As I mentioned before, when you take on a task like this one, you better prioritize and decide early on to focus only on the decisions that were going to effect the 2012 season and seasons going forward. I pushed everything else into May. When I got to May that pile was too high to handle in May and now I've tried to dig out of that pile in June and July. The hardest thing I've done is actually find a permanent place to live and the process of taking care of that three days before camp opens
Steven, Las Vegas
1:28 PM ET
How are contract negotiations coming along with Chris Long and James Laurinitus to get them locked down for a while?
SNEAD: Those negotiations are on point, on pace and those are the types of players like I mentioned before that you invest in and you envision helping this organization thrive for a long time
Patty, St. Louis
1:29 PM ET
Good afternoon, Mr. SNEAD. Thank you for taking our questions. What was the single most important thing you learned while working with Thomas Dimitroff in Atlanta that you've applied here in St. Louis? And will you be running any more marathons in the near future?
SNEAD: The last marathon I ran, I went sub three hours by about four seconds and ever since that day I have never had any desire to run another one. I would say that teams win championships, not individuals and we don't have enough time today to go into it but I learned from him many of the ways of how you accomplish that
Like I mentioned before, I have been very impressed with this city and its passion for sports. As I learned from Thomas, teams win championships and individuals don't. Some of the best teams that I've competed against in this league have a distinct homefield advantage and that advantage was directly influenced by the passion those fans had for the team. So I am asking you to get on board with us early and become a part of our team and not us go win games for you but let's all go win games for St. Louis!
