Did Deion call the Rams out?
Deion Sanders is at it again.
Enraging a segment of fans by simply opening his mouth.
This time he hit a particularly sore spot…Rams fans.
It seems that Deion was recently seen and heard on a segment of NFL Access on the NFL Network that involved a preview of the Rams 2008 season and the team’s prospects in general.
Deion, never one for subtlety, let it all hang out with his first remark, which approximated, “Well, I guess we have to talk about the Rams because they are in the NFL.” And hello to you, too, Prime Time.
Deion went from there to talk about the Rams with utter disdain, complete disrespect, and an unmistakable air of boredom in his demeanor. He reached his peak when he remarked that the Rams’ top draft choice, DE Chris Long, wouldn’t get very many sacks this season because he would constantly be playing run defense. Why? Well, the Rams would always be trailing in games, that’s why.
Sanders’ concluded with a somewhat testy, lets-get-on-to-something-more-interesting (like my career) remark when he was reminded by the co-host that the Ram analysis wasn’t quite finished: “Oh, are we still talkin’ about the Rams?”
Sorry to disappoint you, Your Neon-ness.
Rams fans reacted, in the main, with all the fury any school kid who was just picked on by a big bully could muster. Among the more printable names he was called was “garbage,” and his fitness as an analyst was called into serious question, as was NFL Network’s competence for having him as an analyst in the first place. Retaliation went beyond name-calling, however, as the Ram faithful took comfort in reminding each other how many times Ram heroes like Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt, and Henry Ellard torched Sanders. That tactic reminds me of the “My big brother will get you” refrain that was directed against bullies in the playground where I went to school.
Some fans saw things in a bit more, um, balanced way. While acknowledging that Sanders is, indeed, “a jerk” and that his comments were “disrespectful” and made the Rams appear “irrelevant”, they also defended Deion’s First Amendment rights. Saying, in effect, that Deion has a right to voice an opinion that we can all ignore, this segment of Ram fandom also had the guts to acknowledge a simple truth; that if Deion were talking about the hated 49ers, his comments would have been hilarious…and oh, so true.
A couple of bloggers on the realramsfans.com site took the gloves off when they scornfully brought up Deion’s recent defense of one Adam Bernard (Pacman) Jones to attack Sanders’ credibility as a person. Once a Cowboy, always a Cowboy, I guess.
I think the point here is that Deion can say pretty much whatever he wants and that we, as Rams fans, can’t really do much about it. In his hubris-tainted remarks, Sanders was reminding us that, except for a few years around the turn of the century, our Rams haven’t been a good team in a long time, going back to the John Robinson-Eric Dickerson days. Teams with that kind of record are often seen in the same light that a sports car driver going 85 MPH down the highway views a dead cat in the road. Momentarily interesting but, in the larger scope of things, irrelevant.
Having a 3-13 record last season isn’t going to earn you much respect, either.
Well, it was the injuries, you say. Or, we are better than that record.
Well, the injury excuse, however valid it may be, has run its course. Nobody cares anymore. Just like I don’t care about Jason Taylor, Bill Parcells, and Dancing with the Stars. And the Rams aren’t better than 3-13 until they finish with a better record. And 4-12 won’t do, either.
In the end, maybe what went on at NFL Access that day was Deion’s way, as a former player, of calling the Rams out. Maybe that set became a locker room in which, in locker room speech, Sanders said that the Rams really aren’t worth getting excited about until they step up and win. Not occasionally, but consistently. Year after year. Until they do that, they are only a speed bump, and a mighty low one at that, on the schedule of the teams going to the playoffs.
Perhaps, instead of attacking Deion, we should ask Scott Linehan to play the tape of that program in the Rams’ locker room.
Then, each player can decide just how badly he wants to change his team’s image in the unforgiving world of the NFL.
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, June 10th, 2008 at 4:18 am and is filed under Chris Long, 2008 NFL Season, 2008 NFL Off-Season, Isaac Bruce, Pacman Jones, Dallas Cowboys, St. Louis Rams.
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14 Responses to “Did Deion call the Rams out?”
June 10th, 2008 at 8:47 am
Hal,
Just wanted to let you know that I come slithering over from the Raiders site to read your first class articles, misery loves company.
Here’s to the “dead cats.”
June 10th, 2008 at 9:50 am
Thanks a lot, man. I really appreciate the good words.
May our teams both prosper in ‘08!
Here, here!
June 10th, 2008 at 11:42 am
Hey Twocents you call this crap first class? Damn i would not like to see the type of women you like then…
Anyways i personally think Deion “Prime time” Sanders is hilarious… But i think he’s an idiot… I dont like him he’s a loud, obnoxious, overrated old man… Ive seen some of the Deion Sanders old tapes, and sure he was a good CB but he wouldnt tackle a little girl running up to him he was a pussy and he didnt like playing physical like the bump-run…
GO RAIDERS!!!
June 10th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Real solid contribution, Pat
June 10th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
A Feeling that you must do something when someone has an opinion is ridiculous, if you choose to talk smack to Deion then more power to you. Yall woulda loved Deion saying that about the Raiders, but its both a true and false statement.
False because your not taking away every attempt Long has at getting to the QB, but true that those attempts will be minimized if the Rams trail in the game.
Why is it the BIGGEST NEWS SITES(ESPN,NFLNet) have the MOST BIASED reporting, I have trouble calling a recycler of news a reporter because they or their assisstant rewrote it for the telepropmper
June 10th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
And your point is….?
BTW, I’m not a reporter, I’m a blogger, and I provide opinion, not breaking news.
June 10th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Thnks for clearing that up, my comments are towards the Rams fans propblem with Deion, its much the same as the problem I have with BSPN and NFLnotwork programs that are saying goodbye to real reporters and hello to media hype, so we are getting what should be expected and always need to take comments such as Deion’s with a grain of salt.
Example: Raider rumors all offseason, all blown out of proportion, all may have had shreds of truth, but blown out of proportion is not good journalism, the truth along with perspective can be quite appealling.
June 10th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Just cause your a blogger Hal, doesn’t take away from it being a type of journalism or reporting, but as a Blog the pure opinions are much more apparent. Don’t sell yourself short though, MVN is becoming a well respected site and as media evolve’s the net can positively influence it. Every day I read Blogs that are well thought out, researched, and biased while still sharing personal opinions.
June 10th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
SlvrBlkLoco…
Thank YOU for clearing things up, also…I strongly agree with your point about the hype and was actually trying to get fans to see it as that by describing it the way I did…I think a lot of Rams fans took the whole thing WAAAY too seriously, but I thought I would put a different spin on the whole thing by suggesting that Deion was actually, maybe unintentionally, sending the Rams a message…
I appreciate your taking the time to read the column and comment on it…sometimes I wish I was a reporter so that I could be on the front end of news rather than always reacting to it…
Hope to hear from you again sometime…
Good luck to the Raiders this year!
June 10th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
Hey Hal Schaeffer i understand what you and SlvrBLKLoco are saying… But it pisses me off when people talk about the Raiders… Even if we have a win less season it pisses me off when reporters, former players, random people, etc say the Raiders suck so i understand why Rams fan might get mad… Even if i know we suck like we did in the 2006-07, when we had a 2-14 record its still annoying to hear people ridiculing the team that i love… Im sure most other Raider fans and simply any real fans agree with me when anyone says their teams suck…
GO RAIDERS!!!
June 11th, 2008 at 6:51 am
You know, pat, if you root for a team that’s a price you have to pay…everyone hates it when something they love is ridiculed, but you have to develop an attitude that basically says “someday we’re gonna be back on top, so until then, nothing anyone says will hurt me”…and when you’re back on top, treat the fans of the lousy teams the way you wished they had treated you when the Raiders were down…
Thanks for reading the column and taking the time to make your comments…I appreciate that…
June 11th, 2008 at 7:21 am
I do understand what you say, but we haven’t really been competetive since 2002, on the other hand the Rams are one year removed from the playoffs… But i understand what your saying… But thanks Hal Schaeffer
GO RAIDERS!!!
June 11th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
The Rams haven’t had respect from fans/players/media in a long time, I remember when the Greatest Show On Turf was rolling most people said it wouldn’t last long……with that said, I kinda like the lack of respect we get, it’s o.k., I like “flying under the radar.” You rarely hear us being discussed in the media(nfl network, sirius satellite radio, nfl.com). I’m sure the teams look at us on their schedule and think “oh, thats a win.” Let them take us lightly, because when we surprise them and beat them, we still won’t get the respect we deserve. I don’t mean to sound whiney, but it’s just the truth. So go on people, continue to overlook the Rams. It’s ok.
June 11th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
RFS79,
You obviously believe in the ‘let’s sneak up on ‘em” approach…that works for me…anything as long as we win…and until we win consistently and have a front office that isn’t seen as a bunch of know-nothings, we will continue to be disrespected…
Thanks for commenting…
pat…the Rams are more than a year removed from the playoffs…and even if they weren’t, 3-13 won’t get anyone any respect…
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