Rams News

Dick Vermeil/Grant Wistrom Press Conference


Vermeil on Signing Wistrom before Camp:

"I don't get too concerned about the guys who aren't in training camp because I have the responsibility to everyone here and my coaching staff. That is where I maintain my focus. It's sure nice to be done so much earlier, this is the last time I have to talk about it (signing draft picks). Now we have to talk about Grant Winstrom as a football player and not as a first round pick. And that's how he would want it. We have one player to sign and that's our right corner, Ryan McNeil. I'll be excited when that's all done, but I'm not going to worry about it. It's my responsibility to prepare the guys who are here and ready to play."


Wistrom on getting to camp:

"It's a great relief (to be signed). For the last few days I've been sitting in my apartment waiting for my agent to call and say it's done. I'm tired of it, I'm ready to get out on the field and play. It's nice to have it all behind you, to be able to concentrate on football now. It's nice and I'm really looking forward to it."


Wistrom on the importance of signing before camp:

"We both knew it was really important to me. Tom (Condon, Wistrom's agent) is a no-nonsense kind of guy. He went in with a number in his mind, the Rams had a number in their mind and they went from there. Tom knew that I wanted to be here as soon as possible and he wanted me here as soon as possible. We knew that's what Coach Vermeil and the Rams wanted. When you get off on the right foot like that it makes things so much smoother.


Vermeil on Wistrom's Agent:

"I think Tom Condon, as an agent in the National Football League, is very much respected in that he does a great job with the player and that he can be dealt with. You can actually negotiate with him and therefore when we drafted him and found out Condon was going to be his agent, along with Robert Holcombe's agent, you know from a business standpoint, because you go by a track record, that the job will be done with great integrity."


Wistrom on the adjustment to the NFL:

"It's a whole new ballgame, I learned that from the mini-camp. It's going to be an even greater transition now that we have pads on. I learned as much of the defense as I could in mini-camp so that when I come here, and we have the pads on and it's full speed that I can step in a not be hesitant. Right now, my whole goal is to learn as much as I can every day and improve every day. I'm going to contribute on special teams as well as I can. As I get more involved in it and I'm able to flow with it, I'll get a little better and hopefully my playing time will increase. The only thing I can ask of myself right now is to work hard every day and learn as much as I can to become a better player every day.


"I saw it at mini-camp, so I know what it's going to be like. It's not the same anymore. It's so cliché to say 'it's so much faster', but it's so true. Sometimes when I come off the ball in college, and the guy would get his hands inside of mine and get a good punch at my chest, nine times out of 10 I'd finish and make the play. Now, when a guy comes off the ball and gets his hands on you, it's over with. It's really frustrating, but that's why we are here. It's why we have six weeks of training to camp to adjust and become better and to be able to learn and play at this level."


Vermeil on bringing rookies in early:

"We do it because we like to give the young players an opportunity to be coached without the intense competition of a seasoned veteran competing against him. It helps them get mentally and physically in tune. This year we are going to give them a 48 hour break, instead of a 24 hour break. Then they'll be ready to put the pads on with the veterans and get back to work. The competition is so much more intense. These kids have so much pride, having been so successful at competing at their level and they get frustrated when all of a sudden when here's an NFL guy and they can't do what they used to real well. We get the rookies up to speed a little quicker than we would if we just started them out with the vets."


Vermeil on who impressed him at the first practice:

"Robert Holcombe. Not as a runner, but as a blocker. He's been a R-back tailback and hasn't been asked to block too much, but we did a live pass protection drill and I liked what I saw. He is everything that Coach (Ron) Turner at Illinois said he was. He's a tough kid, but there were a number of kids who were impressive for the first time on the field. The first thing you look for once you have pads on them, is how tough are they. They're all tough, or they wouldn't be here. But just some are just more naturally tough than others. Robert Holcombe jumped out and impressed me."


Winstrom on what he did this summer:

"I was at Rams Park the majority of the summer. All through the month of June I was there. It's been crazy, going from one place to the next, lot's of obligations. That's why I'm excited to be here. Finally to be able to settle down and play football with no distractions."


Wistrom on what he will do with his money:

"About the only think I've done is I've bought my dad a car and I'm going to pay off my mom's credit cards which will be a pretty good chunk of change. I got my dad a Navigator. I don't feel any different really. I don't think it (the money) will affect me that much."


Vermeil on Wistrom playing special teams:

"With the kind of athlete he is, he's unlimited with regard to special teams. You can put him wherever you want him because he can run so well. That's why we drafted him in the first round. All young players coming in want to and have to be exposed to special teams play. Last year it took us too long to get great production out of some of our younger kids. We are making more off an emphasis on getting (special teams coach) Frank Gansz more time to work with the younger kids and get them into the special teams frame of mind as much as the technique."


Vermeil on Wistrom's development:

"You can't take away talent that the individual has. What we try to do is add the techniques that he's now going to have to utilize with all the movement skills that he already possesses because the people that he's being blocked by move almost as well. They're just bigger now and more consistent. He's played against people in college that our playing left tackle in the National Football League, but only once in a while. Now it's every day on our field and every day from now on. His techniques have to become instinctive so he can take advantage of their very good moves otherwise they can nullify your great quickness and your intensity and everything else with their own. He'll be working every day with Orlando Pace. As we've said to Grant all along: you were a first round pick, now you're a Ram football player, now you earn the right to play. Obviously we bring him here because we think he can play. We pick him number one, we know he can play. That's our confidence level.


Vermeil on Jay Williams (currently the starter at DE ahead of Wistrom):

"Jay Williams is a good football player. He is not the kind of guy that surrenders. Last year we gave him the award for being the most consistent, intense service player for the offense. He doesn't know anything other than give his best of the football field, every snap."


Vermeil on Wistrom:

"As you watch this football program grow, you're going to find more people that express themselves as Grant Wistrom expresses himself. The qualities that make Grant Wistrom a great football player were implanted before he ever got to Nebraska. Meet Mom and Dad, and the environment, and the family, and the schools that helped him mature into the person that he is."


Vermeil on management finishing the negotiations:

I appreciate Georgia Frontiere, Stan Kroenke, John Shaw, and then the guy that does all the work, Jay Zygmunt's, efforts to get this guy here. Now we're one of five teams to have them all signed and in camp on time. That takes a commitment from your ownership and your president and the guy who does the hard work, the negotiations. I really appreciate their efforts on our behalf because we can't coach them unless they're here.

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