Rams News

In Week 2, Rams face a major test

Sunday, September 13, 1998

By Jim Thomas
Of The Post-Dispatch

* Some players appear unhappy with the grind of life under Vermeil.


If the team starts slowly in the regular season, one player mumbled, "then you might see a revolt." - Post-Dispatch, Aug. 30, 1998.

Well, who would have guessed that seven days later the team would lose its season opener to the lowly New Orleans Saints? Not only that but fall behind 24-0 in the second quarter?

So here it is, just Week 2 of the regular season, and the Rams of Dick Vermeil already are at a crossroads. The high-octane, heavily favored Minnesota Vikings visit the Trans World Dome for a noon kickoff Sunday. Then comes a road game at Buffalo.

Can Vermeil hold this team together? Is he in danger of losing the team mentally? Already?

"You guys can write that all you want," Vermeil scoffed early in the week. "That's your job. I have no concern about losing this team mentally. That's good radio talk. That's good media talk. That's good for the management to be concerned. That's not for me.

"Because I know what I've got. And I think (the players) know what they've got in me, and in my coaching staff. This team talks to me behind closed doors. Individual leaders. I know what the pulse of the squad is. I listen to them."

But on Friday morning, the squad held a players-only meeting. Players-only meetings aren't all that unusual. The Rams seem to hold one or two a season. But they're never called when a team is in the midst of six-game winning streak. And rarely are they called on the second weekend in September.

Player and team sources, who requested anonymity, said the main thrust of the discussion wasn't very sinister. The team wasn't happy about its effort against the Saints and wants to play better. But concerns persist about the length of practices, the number of meetings and longer-than-necessary work days.

"Hey, every place I've ever coached they've" complained, Vermeil said. "I've only had one team go out on strike. That was my Rose Bowl team."

That was Vermeil's UCLA team in the 1975 season. "They didn't come to practice," Vermeil said. "It was in preparation for the Rose Bowl, like the third or fourth day of practice. I come out and they're not there. They're having a squad meeting. They're upset."

Vermeil said he hasn't had any Ram complain to him about the work load.

"There are key leaders on this squad who know they can come and talk to me about anything they want to talk to me about," Vermeil said. "I listen to them, and I make changes based on what I hear them say if I agree with them. I don't always agree with them."

But several players, who do not want to be named publicly for fear of reprisal - or even getting released - say Vermeil has been approached about such concerns, but either hasn't gotten the message or doesn't want to hear the message.

In a team meeting the day after the preseason finale against Kansas City, Vermeil said he brought up the issue of player complaints.

"I said, `Which guy in this room is not improved? Which guy is upset with me that we have made him a better football player? Which guy is upset with me because the next time around his contract's going to be better because he's a better player?'

"There is no easy way. They're my guys. They're my family. And the only way I can help them get better is to work them."

So far, the work hasn't paid off. The team has lost 12 of 17 regular-season games under Vermeil. But there's nothing like a victory or two - especially an upset over a team like Minnesota - to cure all.

And one thing is certain, according to veteran cornerback Todd Lyght. Quitting on a season won't solve anything.

"That's the own individual player's mental weakness," Lyght said. "I'm here for the long haul. I'm going to play every play, every down as hard as I can, and just hope to get some wins. If guys start bailing, then that's their own sign of weakness. But I don't think that's going to be the situation. I don't think this team will quit."

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