Rams News

After R&R, Vermeil is getting ready for camp

Wednesday, July 15, 1998

By Jim Thomas
Of The Post-Dispatch
* As rookies prepare to report, Rams look to sign Wistrom, McNeil.

Their first preseason game is three weeks from Saturday. The regular-season opener is seven weeks down the road. But already, the Rams have registered a major upset.

Namely, coach Dick Vermeil, the guy who popularized the term "coaching burnout" in the early '80s, actually took a vacation this summer.

We kid you not. Vermeil headed back to Pennsylvania the third week of June and . . . basically loafed.

Really.

"I didn't realize how much I needed a vacation," Vermeil said Tuesday. "I took my full briefcase home with me. It's my office on the road. I never opened it except to get out my checkbook."

Vermeil spent six days romping with nine grandchildren and assorted relatives at a family get-together in the Poconos mountains. He spent the rest of the time kicking back on his 100-acre ranch outside the Philadelphia area. He went trout fishing, spent a lot of time on his tractor, did chores.

"The nicks in my hands are just starting to clear up," Vermeil said. "It's as much fun as I've had in a long time."

But the fun is over. The only nicks he's worried about now will be those absorbed by his players. Vermeil and his staff returned to St. Louis over the weekend. After a few days of meetings and final preparation at Rams Park, it's off to Western Illinois University in Macomb for Camp Vermeil II.

Thirty-two rookies and selected veterans (quarterbacks and players coming off surgery) are expected Saturday for the start of training camp, with the first practice Sunday. The full squad reports July 23.

Between now and Saturday, there are a few housekeeping chores to attend to. Foremost of which is attempting to get the unsigned Rams - first-round draft pick Grant Wistrom and cornerback Ryan McNeil - under contract.

"Hopefully, Wistrom will be in training camp on time," Vermeil said. "We're very close."

Executive vice president Jay Zygmunt and Wistrom's agent, Tom Condon, have been in regular contact, including a couple of hours worth of talks on Tuesday.

"The agent we're dealing with, he's a true pro," Vermeil said. "Jay and he have a good communication system going. So I feel good about that. If Wistrom's not there by rookie camp Saturday, then I would like to believe he'll definitely be there when the vets report."

As for McNeil, Vermeil also is typically optimistic.

"He wants to be here," said Vermeil, who spoke with McNeil on Monday. "I believe that sincerely. I understand the situation. Correct me if I'm wrong - not one franchise player has signed a contract, because they became franchise players at the worst possible time."

McNeil has resisted playing for the NFL's franchise player designation of $3.2 million for cornerbacks in 1998. Because of the league's lucrative new television contract, being a franchise player isn't the financial windfall - relatively speaking - that it has been in past seasons, thus leading to McNeil's disenchantment.

But Vermeil believes McNeil will be in camp by veterans reporting day.

One player who definitely won't be in Rams camp on time - or at any time - is reserve offensive lineman Ernest Dye. The Rams have rescinded their June 1 tender offer to Dye, an unrestricted free agent, meaning the team no longer is interested in his services.

A former first-round draft pick with the Arizona Cardinals, Dye was a backup guard and tackle for the Rams last season. But the Rams are two-deep at Dye's best position - right tackle - with starter Wayne Gandy and Fred Miller.

Another player in danger of falling into the "former Ram" category is fullback Craig "Ironhead" Heyward.

In his strongest language yet, Vermeil said Heyward better show up at his prescribed weight of 260 pounds on July 23. Or else.

Asked if there would be any leeway on that weight limit, Vermeil said: "Zero. I told him to consider himself retired. `You don't line up and play until you meet the weight.'

"I like Ironhead. If I didn't like Ironhead, I wouldn't even have him back in training camp. I'd say that I'd made a mistake and let it go at that. So I'm pulling for him to meet the standards of the program. But we aren't bending. He meets the standards or he won't play here. He's a good guy and a good person. He just likes to eat."

Heyward is one of two Rams players who missed out on an offseason conditioning bonus, by failing to participate in the required number of workouts at Rams Park. Heyward's bonus would have been $50,000, but he chose to winter at his offseason home in Atlanta. Running back Amp Lee, the team's MVP last season, missed out on a $25,000 offseason bonus in his contract.

"I'm always disappointed when players are not involved," Vermeil said. "But
I have a lot of confidence in (Lee). . . . I know what he can do. And I know
he's in very good condition. Amp Lee is not my concern. But I would rather have
had him here for leadership."

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