Steven Jackson expected to be released

[Mikey Ram]

He couldn't retire a Ram, it doesn't work that way in the NFL Hall...You just become a member of the Hall of Fame...I'm as sure of that as I can be, but I've been wrong about things I was sure of before...

 

[wmc540]

I'm talking about Arizona retiring his jersey and the Rams can't even do that after all he did for the organization.

Gotcha. My bad.

 

[Mojo Ram]

I hear you but I disagree. Yes, there were problems with the line at numerous times when he was in STL but Jackson's length, lack of leverage, his need to build up speed to move the pile all played against his ability in short-yardage. I'm not saying he was the worst but it was easily not part of his strengths.

Not trying to rag on SJ here, but i agree. For a 240 lb RB his short yardage power stuff wasn't very good. Bad OLine or not...you're a huge, strong back with good vision. Put your head down and get a yard. I didn't see enough of that from Jack.

 

[blue4]

Not trying to rag on SJ here, but i agree. For a 240 lb RB his short yardage power stuff wasn't very good. Bad OLine or not...you're a huge, strong back with good vision. Put your head down and get a yard. I didn't see enough of that from Jack.

I'd have to say I saw a lot of him putting his head down and getting a yard. What I didn't see enough of was an actual hole for him to run to. If your guards and center are being driven backwards and LBers aren't being accounted for, putting your head down even at 240 isn't going to do a thing. To me, those teams were so untalented, and so poorly coached, that the few good players like Jackson are really hard to judge. For example, seems to me that Jackson's dancing would have been much less noticeable on a actual real NFL level team.

 

[Rmfnlt]

So how's that desire to be the bell cow and to be playing for a playoff team thing working out for you SJ?

Not sure this is necessary.

He saw the writing on the wall in STL with Fisher.

I'm sure he knew his NFL days were numbered and Atlanta provided a chance he could end up on a winning team.

Didn't work out that way. I wonder what you'd be saying if he had.

Hindsight... always 20/-20.

 

[dieterbrock]

Not sure this is necessary.

He saw the writing on the wall in STL with Fisher.

I'm sure he knew his NFL days were numbered and Atlanta provided a chance he could end up on a winning team.

Didn't work out that way. I wonder what you'd be saying if he had.

Hindsight... always 20/-20.

He quit on the Rams and I dont understand why that was so accepted. Karma is a beyotch and he got what he deserved.
He could have stayed in St Louis and opted out instead

 

[Boffo97]

Not sure this is necessary.

He saw the writing on the wall in STL with Fisher.

I'm sure he knew his NFL days were numbered and Atlanta provided a chance he could end up on a winning team.

Didn't work out that way. I wonder what you'd be saying if he had.

Hindsight... always 20/-20.

Exactly this. Dude did some great things for us (at least in terms of providing a lone hope spot on some bad Rams teams with very little help). Disrespecting him because he moved on isn't cool.

 

[Boffo97]

He quit on the Rams and I dont understand why that was so accepted. Karma is a beyotch and he got what he deserved.
He could have stayed in St Louis and opted out instead

Because if the terms of your job became unpleasant to you, and you had the opportunity to take another job that had terms you liked, you'd take it in a second.

 

[dieterbrock]

Because if the terms of your job became unpleasant to you, and you had the opportunity to take another job that had terms you liked, you'd take it in a second.

Yeah, pretty good analogy. About as accurate as comparing an apple to a polar bear.
He had a contract, he opted out of it. Terms didnt become unpleasant, he wanted to go to greener pastures.
Well, he got them
Worse record in Atlanta then the Rams had without him.

 

[Rmfnlt]

He quit on the Rams and I dont understand why that was so accepted. Karma is a beyotch and he got what he deserved.
He could have stayed in St Louis and opted out instead

Quit on them? Not sure I agree with that at all.

Like I said, he saw the writing on the wall with Fisher.

Choices:
1] Stay in STL and know you will get phased out for sure
2] Go to another team (hopefully a contender) and possibly have a shot at contributing significantly.

Like I said, didn't work out... but the hindsight stuff is for the birds IMO.

Seems most fans here acknowledge all he did for the Rams... played his heart out on flat-out terrible teams.

If, after all he gave to the team, is a memory of him as a quitter, that's sad to me.

Seems most fans here understand and appreciate all he did.

 

[Boffo97]

Yeah, pretty good analogy. About as accurate as comparing an apple to a polar bear.
He had a contract, he opted out of it. Terms didnt become unpleasant, he wanted to go to greener pastures.
Well, he got them
Worse record in Atlanta then the Rams had without him.

The term that became unpleasant was that he wanted to be THE guy and Fisher wanted to phase him out. His contract gave him the right to opt out, and he did. Mind you, the only reason he had such a right was that he repeatedly went along with being restructured in order to save the Rams money.

Not apples and polar bears at all. Any of us would take a similar opportunity in a second.

 

[snackdaddy]

I wouldn't be opposed to having him back up Mason and Cunningham. Would be a veteran influence on the youngsters. He'd have to understand he ain't getting a lot of carries.

 

[Rmfnlt]

I wouldn't be opposed to having him back up Mason and Cunningham. Would be a veteran influence on the youngsters. He'd have to understand he ain't getting a lot of carries.

I don't see him coming back.

In fact, I'd be surprised if he doesn't retire now.

He's a smart dude. He's got his art (and gallery) and loves to travel the world (and has the money to do so).

 

[dieterbrock]

Quit on them? Not sure I agree with that at all.

Like I said, he saw the writing on the wall with Fisher.

Choices:
1] Stay in STL and know you will get phased out for sure
2] Go to another team (hopefully a contender) and possibly have a shot at contributing significantly.

Like I said, didn't work out... but the hindsight stuff is for the birds IMO.

Seems most fans here acknowledge all he did for the Rams... played his heart out on flat-out terrible teams.

If, after all he gave to the team, is a memory of him as a quitter, that's sad to me.

Seems most fans here understand and appreciate all he did.

Not hindsight at all. I've had this stance since the day he quit.
Your choices arent true.
That's hindsight.
Fact, Steven Jackson opted out of his deal
The rest is all opinion, heresay and hindsight
Nobody knows for sure what would have happened in 39 didnt quit (opt out)
As it was, Daryl Richardson sucked as his initial replacement and who's to say what he would have done in place of Stacy.
Of course, that's a stretch even considering that he wouldnt have earned the job day 1

 

[dieterbrock]

Exactly this. Dude did some great things for us (at least in terms of providing a lone hope spot on some bad Rams teams with very little help). Disrespecting him because he moved on isn't cool.

I found quitting on the team disrepectful
His restructure didnt cost him 1 red cent, he got all his money.
And yeah quitting because the coach couldnt guarantee him 300+ carries despite his production not being great? Yeah, that's a quitter all right

 

[snackdaddy]

I don't see him coming back.

In fact, I'd be surprised if he doesn't retire now.

He's a smart dude. He's got his art (and gallery) and loves to travel the world (and has the money to do so).

Yeah, I'd be surprised if he came back. But since we speaking hypothetically I'm thinking if he would be worth the investment. I think he would be just to have a vet influence if nothing else. And he could contribute in certain situations.

 

[Rmfnlt]

Not hindsight at all. I've had this stance since the day he quit.
Your choices arent true.
That's hindsight.
Fact, Steven Jackson opted out of his deal
The rest is all opinion, heresay and hindsight
Nobody knows for sure what would have happened in 39 didnt quit (opt out)
As it was, Daryl Richardson sucked as his initial replacement and who's to say what he would have done in place of Stacy.
Of course, that's a stretch even considering that he wouldnt have earned the job day 1

Coming on pretty strong on this now.

Well, I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on Jackson.

I'm not even close to seeing things the way you do.

But, again, I think it's sad that you view the all-time leading rusher in franchise history and a guy who played his guts out for us, as a quitter.

And, again, I suspect most Rams fans don't see it your way, either.

 

[Boffo97]

I wouldn't be opposed to having him back up Mason and Cunningham. Would be a veteran influence on the youngsters. He'd have to understand he ain't getting a lot of carries.

I respect the guy a lot, but wouldn't want him back for anything other than a 1 day "retire as a Ram" contract.

Not hindsight at all. I've had this stance since the day he quit.
Your choices arent true.
That's hindsight.
Fact, Steven Jackson opted out of his deal
The rest is all opinion, heresay and hindsight
Nobody knows for sure what would have happened in 39 didnt quit (opt out)
As it was, Daryl Richardson sucked as his initial replacement and who's to say what he would have done in place of Stacy.
Of course, that's a stretch even considering that he wouldnt have earned the job day 1

So anyone who leaves the Rams for another team of their own choice, no matter what they did for us while here or what the circumstances are deserves this kind of disrespect?

Fisher made it pretty clear that he wasn't going with the plan of Jackson being the bell cow anymore as in Jackson wouldn't have had the opportunity to win such a job. Jackson thought he still had it in him to do so. And even with Richardson sucking, that wouldn't have changed.

I found quitting on the team disrepectful
His restructure didnt cost him 1 red cent, he got all his money.
And yeah quitting because the coach couldnt guarantee him 300+ carries despite his production not being great? Yeah, that's a quitter all right

He didn't quit. He opted out, which he had a right to do. Frankly, we were damned lucky he didn't ever really quit on us. There are a lot of teams he would have gotten better numbers for if he had moved on in his prime.

At the end of the day, it's a business. And I'm not going to turn on a guy who did some great things for us because he made a business decision. Especially, when the first decision that caused the move was made by Fisher.

Coming on pretty strong on this now.

Well, I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on Jackson.

I'm not even close to seeing things the way you do.

But, again, I think it's sad that you view the all-time leading rusher in franchise history and a guy who played his guts out for us, as a quitter.

And, again, I suspect most Rams fans don't see it your way, either.

This. Nothing but respect for SJ39 here. And I don't intend on turning on any other Ram player who even comes close to doing as much for the team as he did if they decide to move on.

 

[LumberTubs]

I've supported this team since I started following the NFL in around 2004. For me, Jackson defined the Rams during the majority of that time. Mainly because he was the only bright spot on a perennially bad team.

Becoming the Rams' all time leading rusher on some of the crappy teams he played on in his time in St Louis is an incredible achievement that cannot be overstated. I personally love the guy.

 

[-X-]

His contract gave him the right to opt out, and he did. Mind you, the only reason he had such a right was that he repeatedly went along with being restructured in order to save the Rams money.

That's not 100% accurate. He was obligated to play here because he didn't reach an incentive in his contract that would have allowed him to opt out of his final year. It was the Rams who more or less "pretended" that he did meet the requirements of opting out so that he could test the free agent market. IMO, it was a mutual parting of ways. He wanted to play for a team that had a better chance of making it to a SB (his words, despite saying months earlier that he wanted to see the rebuild through to the end), and the Rams wanted more RBs on the roster who they could rotate in and out for fresh legs and changes of pace.

He was a great guy, great team player, great ambassador to the team, and a mentor, but it was time for him to go.
There was no way he was going to rip off runs like Tre Mason did against the Raiders recently.