Rams News

"In-shape" fan takes a shot with Rams
08/10 10:55 PM

By Jim Thomas
Of the Post-Dispatch

MACOMB, Ill. -- Whether it be the grocery or the mall, Tyji Armstrong occasionally got this question last fall as he made his way around his hometown of Tampa: Do you play football?
Last year, the answer was no. It might still be ``no'' had Armstrong taken up golf, or caught up on his reading. But Armstrong got Direct TV and watched a lot of NFL football.
``I pretty much was a fan,'' Armstrong said. ``But I was an in-shape fan who could still play.''
Never was this more apparent to Armstrong, a chiseled, 6 feet 4, 250 pounds, than when he watched the tight ends play in all those TV games.
``They were terrible,'' Armstrong said. ``I felt since they were giving the money away, I might as well go get a little piece of it.''
So after a year out of the game, Armstrong is back on the practice field. He's one of several long shots trying to make the Rams roster.
After four years with Tampa Bay, and one season with Dallas -- a span of 75 games and 33 starts -- Armstrong lost his desire to play.
``I sat out last year, just because I was kind of getting bored with the game,'' Armstrong said.
He got a call from one team interested in his services, but he said, ``I just didn't want to do it. Why go and waste their time, and waste my time, too, when I really didn't have the `want-to'?''
The fire is back, but occasionally during the grind of two-a-days, Armstrong's mind wanders. ``I can think of other things I'd rather be doing. But I can maintain.''
Maintaining a roster spot in September and October will be trickier. Armstrong is battling Mitch Jacoby, Aaron Laing and Roland Williams for what probably will be two backup spots behind starting tight end Ernie Conwell.
Armstrong has been a solid NFL player. He can block and can catch the ball a little, including a career-best 81-yard touchdown catch against the Los Angeles Rams in 1992. That was the same year his mother died -- of a heart attack while in the stands at Soldier Field watching her son play Chicago.
Armstrong's first name -- pronounced ``Tie-jay`` -- is the name of a cologne his mother liked. After her death, Armstrong played once every season at Soldier Field from 1993 through '96 as a Buccaneer or Cowboy.
He always bought tickets for the entire row she sat in that October day in 1992. Every seat would be filled by relatives coming down from the Detroit area -- except hers. They put flowers in that one.
After signing with the Rams, Armstrong couldn't help noticing that the Rams play the Bears at Soldier Field on Nov. 8. ``When I saw that on the schedule, that gives me even more incentive to play,'' Armstrong, 27, said.
But first, he's got to make the roster -- a task he shares with several other training camp long shots.


Bush-man
Don't tell Daryl Bush that Florida State is a football factory. Even while starring at linebacker for the Seminoles, it took him a mere 4 years to get his degrees.
His bachelor's and master's degrees.
Bush has an undergraduate degree in finance and a master's in sports administration. He also has $18,000 of postgraduate scholarship money to burn.
``So if I decided to go back to school, I'd probably get my law degree,'' Bush said. ``If I got a job right away, I'm interested in starting a business.''
All of those plans are on hold while Bush attempts to make a living playing professional football. He had a relatively high profile for the Seminoles, as a third-team All-American and semifinalist for the Butkus Award, which goes to the nation's top college linebacker.
But his football career suffered a jolt with a knee injury in his last college game. He needed arthroscopic surgery to remove a bone chip and repair torn cartilage. Once he recovered from the injury, he didn't have much time to work out and prepare for the NFL Scouting Combine and various pre-draft workouts.
``When I came back off this injury, I ran like a 4.9,'' he said.
After that slow time, his stock plummeted like a Duke halfback trying to run up the middle on Bush. He went undrafted before signing with St. Louis as a rookie free agent.
Despite all his college accomplishments, he's just another guy in training camp for the Rams, trying to squeeze onto the roster at a middle linebacker position that already includes Eric Hill, Lorenzo Styles and London Fletcher.
``It's like being a walk-on in college,'' Bush said. ``Everyone else is on scholarship and you come in as a walk-on. . . . All your accolades, all the things you've done in the past, really don't matter now to these guys. You have to earn respect every play.''
Bush's knee has swelled at times after practice. But he says it hasn't affected his play, his speed, or his cutting ability. ``It's not even a question mark now for me,'' he said. ``I don't even think about it. I don't wear a brace on it or anything.''
Even at full health, he's not the fastest linebacker on the block. But he plays smart and instinctively.
``I'm going out every day like it's my last time,'' Bush said. ``I know the window of opportunity for football is so short. I'm going to try to take this as long as I can.''
And if it doesn't work out? Well, Bush has a few safety nets.


Iowa's pride
So close to his home state of Iowa, Kurt Warner has been interviewed more than any fourth-string quarterback in NFL history.
``It's kind of fun to be close to the family, and to have an opportunity for my family to get updates on me, and get a chance to see me,'' Warner said. ``It's nice just to have the interest.''
The Rams were interested enough to sign Warner to a free agent contract right around Christmas. After Warner's three stellar seasons with the Iowa Barnstormers of the Arena League, the Rams assigned him to the Amsterdam Admirals in NFL Europe, where he excelled. He's also been in an NFL training camp before -- competing against Brett Favre, Mark Brunell and Ty Detmer for a job with the Green Bay Packers in 1994.
So he's no raw rookie, at age 27, and he's not overwhelmed by what he has encountered at Rams camp.
``I've felt for a long time that physically there was no question I could compete,'' Warner said. ``Even when I was in the Green Bay camp a few years back, I felt physically that I (belonged) there.''
But sheer mathematics is working against Warner. There's only 90 of these jobs in the world -- three quarterbacks for each of the 30 NFL teams. So while Tony Banks, Steve Bono and Will Furrer might not be as formidable a trio as Favre, Brunell and Detmer, Warner realizes he's still facing long odds.
``I'm not here to be on the practice squad,'' Warner said. ``I'm not here to give in, in any way. I'm here to compete, and to show people that I'm just as good as some of the players in this league. If I'm not, then I think I'll see that . . . and I'll move on.''
But so far he hasn't seen it. Although he committed a costly fumble in the preseason opener against Denver, Warner was far from overcome by stage fright. He completed four of four passes.
``I feel it's just a matter of somebody giving me an opportunity,'' he said.
If it doesn't happen in St. Louis, it may happen somewhere else in the NFL. If it doesn't happen in the NFL, he'll go back home to Des Moines and the Barnstormers.

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