Rams News

Vermeil values Kennison
work ethic, turns away some NFL suitors

04/26/98

By Jim Thomas
Of the Post-Dispatch Staff

Given all the trade interest in Eddie Kennison from other NFL teams, one would think he scored zero touchdowns in 1996 and 11 TDs in '97. Not the other way around.
Arizona and Chicago asked about Kennison when the Rams explored moving up for Florida State defensive end Andre Wadsworth or Penn State running back Curtis Enis in the first round of the draft.
Add Denver to the list. According to coach Dick Vermeil, Denver wanted to swap its first-round pick, No. 30 overall, for Kennison, a wide receiver/punter returner. After the Rams turned them down, the Broncos took Tennessee wide receiver Marcus Nash with that pick.
``Three different teams wanted him because they knew that we were disappointed in him, and they remember him as a rookie,'' Vermeil said. ``So obviously, they say, `Hey, maybe we can get him cheap if they're mad at him.'
``But I don't give up on people. That's what I'm talking about in terms of developing a team, and not buying a team.''
The proof will be in the performance on game day, but Vermeil says there is no comparison between Kennison's offseason work habits this year compared to last.
``He hasn't missed a workout,'' Vermeil said. ``He is making an effort to take advantage of his God-given talents, believe me. That's one reason I didn't trade him.''
You could make a case that the Rams have given up too early on a lot of young players in recent years -- Jerome Bettis, Troy Drayton and Sean Gilbert come to mind. They're trying to reverse that trend.


DV's report card
How would Vermeil grade the Rams' draft? ``I'd like to think at least a `B,' '' Vermeil said. ``I feel this is a deeper, better draft than we had a year ago. But only time will tell.
``I'd like to have more first-round picks. I'd feel smarter . . . It's not hard to have the sixth pick in the draft and draft a good football player. You've got to try hard to (mess) that up.''
Well, there was that 1996 draft -- pre-Vermeil -- when the Rams selected Lawrence Phillips with the No. 6 overall pick.


High on Wistrom
Charley Armey thinks the Rams' No. 6 overall pick in 1998, defensive end Grant Wistrom, is a better prospect coming out of college than Willie McGinest, a similar style of player drafted No. 4 by New England in 1994. Armey, now the Rams' vice-president of player personnel, was working for the Patriots in '94.
``There's no question in my mind,'' Armey said. ``Coming out of college, Wistrom's much more explosive, with better speed, and much better instincts. But he's the same size. And I'm not taking anything away from Willie, because he was a benchmark player as well.''
McGinest made the Pro Bowl in 1996.


Priester, too
Wide receiver Az-Zahir Hakim of San Diego State isn't the only Rams draft pick to have been arrested while in college. Running back/fullback Raymond Priester, a fifth-round selection from Clemson, was arrested in 1996 for allegedly charging long-distance telephone calls to a retired woman's number.
Hakim was arrested in connection with an alleged gang rape, but was never charged, and was released.


Over the Hill
The selection of running back Robert Holcombe and Priester in the draft ended any interest the Rams had in Greg Hill, the unrestricted free agent from the Kansas City Chiefs. Hill and his agent Carl Poston turned down a two-year, $1.8 million offer from the Rams well before the draft -- a deal that included a $100,000 signing bonus.


Over there
Rams quarterback Kurt Warner is tearing it up so far in NFL Europe, formerly known as the World League. Playing for the Amsterdam Admirals, Warner threw for 387 yards and five touchdowns last week in a 41-28 victory over Barcelona.
The five TD passes tied a league record. The 387 yards passing broke the Amsterdam franchise record of 384 yards set by Will Furrer -- now a Rams backup -- in 1996. Warner, 26, is 6 feet 2, 215 pounds. He played his high school ball in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and followed that with a college career at Northern Iowa.
After a training camp stint with the Green Bay Packers in 1994 -- his competition was Brett Favre, Mark Brunell and Ty Detmer! -- Warner spent three seasons playing for the Iowa Barnstormers of the Arena League. Yes, Warner played at the Kiel Center against the now-defunct St. Louis Stampede.


Briefly
Rams linebacker Troy Dumas, a restricted free agent, has accepted the team's one-year tender offer of $397,000. That leaves only two of the team's original seven restricted free agents unsigned -- wide receiver Johnny ``J.T.'' Thomas, and offensive guard Zach Wiegert. . . . After experimenting with Jeff Zgonina at offensive guard during informal workouts just before the draft, the Rams decided to keep him at defensive tackle.
Clay Rush, a kicker/punter for the St. Louis Bulldogs' minor league team, has signed with the Detroit Lions as a street free agent. Rush, from Riverview Gardens High, is the first Bulldogs player to sign an NFL contract. . . . The National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame will hold its sixth annual awards banquet May 3 at the Washington University Field House. For more information, call Bob Bunton at 891-8011.

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