Rams News

Enis visits Rams Park, likes Vermeil

By Steve Korte
Belleville News-Democrat

ST. LOUIS -- Penn State running back Curtis Enis, the man who could be at the top of the St. Louis Rams' most wanted list in the upcoming NFL Draft, visited Rams Park on Monday.
For Enis, St. Louis was the first stop on a whirlwind tour that includes visits with the ChiCago Bears, the Arizona Cardinals, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Baltimore Ravens.
Enis, 21, got to know Rams coach Dick Vermeil when Vermeil was a college broadcaster.
"I like Coach Vermeil's attitude," Enis said. "The way he wears his heart so everybody can see it. That's the way I play football ... so everybody can see my heart, too."
Vermeil is obviously a fan of Enis.
"I watched him play a lot in college and I used sit up there in the booth and say, 'Why don't they just give the guy and let him win the football game?" Vermeil said. "lf he ends up here, I'll do it."
Despite a pulled thigh muscle, the 6-foot-l, 250-pound Enis reportedly ran the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds last week during a workout for NFL scouts. Rams personnel director Charley Armey and Rams running backs coach Wilbert Montgomery both attended the workout.
Enis was voted as the Offensive Player of the Year in the Big Ten after he rushed for 1,363 yards and 19 touchdowns. He was declared ineligible for the Citrus Bowl after it was concerned he accepted gifts from a sports agent and then lied about it.
"We all make mistakes," Enis said. "It's something I have learned from and something that has made me a better person."
The decision of Texas running back Ricky Williams to stay in school made Enis the consensus No. 1 running back in the draft.
Enis said he roomed with Williams at the Walter Camp all-star gathering.
"He wanted to go back to college and prove some things," Enis said. "I totally respected that. I kind of wish he would have came out. It would have made the draft instead of two quarterbacks, two quarterbacks and two running backs."
Enis is projected to taken anywhere from No. 5 to No. 10 overall in the NFL draft. He said the struggles of recent Penn State running backs like Blair Thomas and Ki-Jana Carter on the NFL level shouldn't be held against him.
"What we have to understand is that we are all different," Enis said. "We all have different running styles, we're all different sizes, we all carry the ball differently."
Enis didn't mind being compared to Thomas or Carter.
"When you look back on their best college years and the years that Ki-Jana is going to have and the years that Blair did have, to still be compared to those gays is unbelievable," Enis said. "I'm glad I'm in that fraternity."
Enis wasn't put off by the artificial surface at the Trans World Dome.
"You can't complain when you're running behind a guy like Orlando Pace," Enis said.
Enis said wherever he was drafted would be where his parents, his younger sister and him would set up residency.
"I won't have to worry about so many little things with my mom and dad right there to help me out," Enis said.
Enis said he'll be glad when the NFL draft, scheduled for April 18-19 in New York, is over.
"I'm looking more forward to minicamp than the draft," Enis said. "I'm looking to put the ball back in my hand and start running around."
Vermeil said the Rams are still pursuing free-agent running back Greg Hill and free-agent defensive lineman Clyde Simmons. Vermeil said the Rams would still be interested in drafting Enis if they signed Hill.
"Regardless of who we sign as a free agent, it will not influence how we draft," Vermeil said.
Vermeil said Enis was the first in a long list of potential draft picks who will pass through Rams Park.
"We're going to bring in 15-20 guys and not all first-round picks," Vermeil said. "We're going bring people in here and let them see our facilities, get to know them better, have a meal with them, let them be with the coaches, let them look at game tapes, let them meet our players."

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