27 posts
  • 3 / 3
  • 1
  • 3
 by aeneas1
5 years 10 months ago
 Total posts:   16894  
 Joined:  Sep 13 2015
United States of America   Norcal
Hall of Fame

Ramsdude wrote:I love the freedom of this board. I posted a thread on McVay's GF (with PICS) on another board I won't mention and it was promptly deleted because some old lady complained. I also posted a thread about the Ram cheerleaders at the Probowl (with PICS) that showed how they went to a charity even for kids. She complained about that too. The thread was deleted also. That same old lady would post comments about how she wished the new male cheerleaders looked like Chippendales and that was ok lol. There was even a post about admins deleting posts (not by me) and guess what? It was deleted too! They claimed the board was "highly moderated" but in reality it is "over moderated". You had to walk on eggshells when posting.

Glad to see there is some freedom here. I think I have found my new home for Rams content. :)

just don't pull any of that stuff during the national anthem... btw, do the two awesome articles posted in this thread come in hardcover? wow, talk about a read!

 by /zn/
5 years 9 months ago
 Total posts:   6758  
 Joined:  Jun 28 2015
United States of America   Maine
Hall of Fame

Sean McVay on Why the Rams Will Be Different Than Dream Teams Past

ALBERT BREER

https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/04/05/sean- ... aqib-talib

Ten months ago, Sean McVay was still a 31-year-old curiosity, the Rams were coming off their 10th consecutive sub-.500 season, and the NFL’s return to L.A. was barely registering in the city’s crowded entertainment marketplace. And yet, it was right then and there, at OTAs’ end, that the stage was set for this year’s splash.

The coaching staff was running a scored offense vs. defense drill—first side to five wins; the defense won, and that meant the offense had to take a lap around the Oxnard, Calif. practice field. That’s when something funny happened. As the offensive players went to pay off the loss, the defensive players turned around too, running with guys they beat when they didn’t have to.

“You want those sorts of things to organically happen,” McVay said Wednesday evening, over his cell on his drive home. “It wasn’t something that had to be motivated by a coach—Hey, you should run, too. This goes back to where my grandfather’s history has an effect on some of the core beliefs and values that we preach day-in and day-out with the Rams.”

Making his way through traffic, the coach recalled asking his grandfather, long-time San Francisco 49ers personnel czar John McVay, what made the dynastic Niners of the 1980s so different. The elder McVay brought up Bill Walsh and George Seifert—and all the help they had, and how it related to that June day in L.A.

“Their best players were the best examples of what it looks like to do things right day-in and day-out,” Sean McVay says. “Those were the standards. Nobody was above those standards because these were the guys that led the way. Everybody followed. When your best players are coachable, receptive, accountable on a daily basis, and all your guys demonstrate what it means to do right on the practice field, in the meeting room, and they have a selfless mindset and mentality. That’s when good things can happen.”

The Rams acquired Marcus Peters five-and-a-half weeks ago from the Chiefs. They then dealt for Broncos corner Aqib Talib, before signing Dolphins castoff Ndamukong Suh, a move followed by Tuesday’s trade for receiver Brandin Cooks. Each player has had his problems, and each was let go for a reason—this isn’t the first time for three of the four.

And somehow, the Rams are confident this will be different, largely because of what they’ve established over the last year. It’s in that scene from last June, and what it represents. And it’s in their best players not just being the right kind of athletes, but the right kind of people.

Given the egos, varied personalities, expectations, and contract situations, how in the world are they going to make it work?

We’ve seen this fail before. The Eagles won their division in 2010, and hatched the Dream Team in 2011. The Cowboys had big years in 2007 and 2014, and dice-roll acquisitions (Pacman Jones in 2008, Greg Hardy in 2015) took down an all-in Jerry Jones in the years to follow.

So one more time: How does this work where the others didn’t? As McVay sees it, it starts with guys like Aaron Donald, Jared Goff and Todd Gurley, their experience during last year’s turnaround, and their willingness to repeat what it took to get to a division title and fight the temptation to feel like they’re starting this year where they left off last year.

“One of the things I’ve heard Coach Belichick say, when you look at the consistency the Patriots have had over a handful of years, ‘You wipe the slate clean,’” McVay says. “What we did last year won’t do anything for us. We’ve gotta recommit and focus on building from where we left off while understanding that what we did last year won’t get us any yards, won’t get us any sacks. You’ve gotta earn it every day.”

Still, these are individual people coming in, and as such each had to have his tires kicked before the Rams took them on. What eventually made McVay and GM Les Snead comfortable with injecting these newcomers into what they believe has become a pretty good mix was a tie binding the four—their passion for football. That showed up in the research the team did. For example:

• In tape study of Peters, coaches noticed how positively he responded to bad plays, and his concept recognition, which could only be the result of hard study.

• Talib was with McVay in Tampa in 2008 and, of course, Wade Phillips in Denver, and he was a Broncos team captain last year. So the Rams know him, and feel like, at 32, he should be a positive influence on Peters and others.

• Rams strength coach Ted Rath was with Suh for six years in Detroit, and he vouched for the maniacal manner in which the former All-Pro takes care of himself. The Dolphins had issues with his selfishness at times, and the Lions with his temper, but he does seem to still love football.

• McVay called around on Cooks, and heard that he’s universally liked off the field, and relentless on the practice field. Then, just after the deal went down, a Patriots assistant texted the Rams coach and told him Cooks didn’t miss a single practice rep in 2017.

There’s no assurance, of course, that all of it will hold up; McVay will be first to tell you that. There’s also risk involved in depleting the team’s war chest of draft picks. The Rams don’t pick until 87, haven’t had a first-round pick since taking Goff first overall two years ago, and are already out their second-round pick for 2019.

The team’s counter on this front is in its ability to make more out of third- and fourth-round picks, which it believes is a product of McVay’s clarity in what he’s looking for. Three major contributors in 2017 were rookies drafted in that range (WR Cooper Kupp, OLB Samson Ebukam and S John Johnson), where a team that already has blue-chippers can find its middle-of-the-roster talent.

Given that he’s armed with a third-rounder and three fourth-rounders, Snead will have a chance to go looking again in that area. And the team expects to get a couple comp third-rounders next year to add to its 2019 haul, which should help to make up for the ’19 second-rounder dealt as part of the Peters deal.

For now, the focus is back where it was last year at this time, and that’s on building and bonding.

Still, to us off-campus, it seems like it’s Super Bowl or bust for the Rams, especially considering we’re in this soon-to-close window in which the Rams have Donald, Gurley and Goff on rookie deals. The team itself, as McVay sees it, sits somewhere on the fringes of that reality, not living it but close enough to hear what’s happening.

“I don’t want our players ever to fear failure, we always talk about attacking success,” he says. “But for us, what will put us in position to do good things when the season begins is focusing on our offseason program, and when we get into training camp, focusing on one day at a time. That’s our mentality and our mindset.

“That’s important, to stay focused, to stay grounded. All we can do is control what we do on any given day. That’s the focus for us.”

It’s probably a good attitude to have since it’s the one that got them to the playoffs for the first time in a long time a year ago. Could things go wrong? Sure. Cooks might not be pleased with his role. Talib or Peters or both could have a gameday meltdown or two. Suh could, as he did in Miami, play for himself more than team. None of those outcomes would shock anyone.

But based on what we know about McVay’s Rams, no one should be remotely surprised, either, if all of this works out the way they drew it up.

 by R4L
5 years 9 months ago
 Total posts:   1301  
 Joined:  May 08 2017
United States of America   Dayton, Ohio
Pro Bowl

Ramsdude wrote:I love the freedom of this board. I posted a thread on McVay's GF (with PICS) on another board I won't mention and it was promptly deleted because some old lady complained. I also posted a thread about the Ram cheerleaders at the Probowl (with PICS) that showed how they went to a charity even for kids. She complained about that too. The thread was deleted also. That same old lady would post comments about how she wished the new male cheerleaders looked like Chippendales and that was ok lol. There was even a post about admins deleting posts (not by me) and guess what? It was deleted too! They claimed the board was "highly moderated" but in reality it is "over moderated". You had to walk on eggshells when posting.

Glad to see there is some freedom here. I think I have found my new home for Rams content. :)


Lmao, i know who that old lady is and what board you are speaking of. She reported my post because i wrote "tampon bay" instead of tampa bay. Damn auto correct lol.

 by R4L
5 years 9 months ago
 Total posts:   1301  
 Joined:  May 08 2017
United States of America   Dayton, Ohio
Pro Bowl

aeneas1 wrote:just don't pull any of that stuff during the national anthem... btw, do the two awesome articles posted in this thread come in hardcover? wow, talk about a read!


Lol i thought the same thing.

 by Ramsdude
5 years 9 months ago
 Total posts:   1071  
 Joined:  May 22 2018
United States of America   Pa.
Pro Bowl

R4L wrote:Lmao, i know who that old lady is and what board you are speaking of. She reported my post because i wrote "tampon bay" instead of tampa bay. Damn auto correct lol.


lol...that's ridiculous!! Thanks for referring me to this board R4L!

 by R4L
5 years 9 months ago
 Total posts:   1301  
 Joined:  May 08 2017
United States of America   Dayton, Ohio
Pro Bowl

Ramsdude wrote:lol...that's ridiculous!! Thanks for referring me to this board R4L!


It's great having another informative Rams fan aboard!

 by RamsFanSince82
5 years 7 months ago
 Total posts:   5851  
 Joined:  Aug 20 2015
United States of America   So. Cal.
Hall of Fame



Wanna know the best part about Rams training camp being at UC Irvine?? You're lookin' at it.

Here's Veronika Khomyn -- the smokin' hot girlfriend of L.A. Rams head coach Sean McVay -- finding ways to pass the time while her man figures out ways to get Todd Gurley into the end zone.

The team's training camp facilities are just a few miles from Laguna Beach (yeah, where they shot that MTV reality show back in the day) ... so Veronika decided to throw on her bikini and catch some rays.

Some background on Veronika -- she's a 28-year-old Ukranian model who started dating McVay back when he was an assistant coach with the Washington Redskins.

The two moved out to California together when he got hired for the Rams job -- and judging by these pics, she's loving the move.
So are we.

  • 3 / 3
  • 1
  • 3
27 posts Mar 28 2024