 "I'm so happy for Todd Lyght..."by
ValleyRam (12/23) |
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As hard as it has been for
us fans to endure the Rams of the '90's, imagine how hard it has been for T-Lyght to
suffer through one losing season after another, often being called a
"near-Pro-Bowl-caliber" player but never being selected. I was flying home to SoCal from St. Louis after the last game of the '95 season (a home loss to Miami) and I just happened to be sitting next to T-Lyght on the plane. He was very friendly and open to talking about the Rams and answered all the questions that I had for him. One of the questions that I asked him was "Why did the team collapse and not make the playoffs after getting off to such a good start?" He replied "After we got whipped by Frisco at home, it shattered our confidence and we were never able to regain it." Todd was an unrestricted free agent as I sat there talking to him on the plane and the more I talked to him, the more clear it became to me that he very much wanted to leave the Rams. I told him that they were so close to making the playoffs this season ('95) surely he would want to be around next season when they would certainly make it, and I tried to encourage him to stay with the Rams and that I personally would be disappointed if he ended up on another team (like Joe Fan's personal disappointment means anything). After we parted ways I sensed that he was going to make every effort to "break free" from the Rams and felt disheartened that we were losing one of our best players. Jacksonville offered him a 4-year $10 million contract (if I'm not mistaken) shortly thereafter, but the Rams had the right to match it and they did. I read later on that T-Lyght was disappointed that the Rams matched it as he was looking forward to moving on. I remember reading earlier in this season where T-Lyght commented that he thought he would never win with the Rams and that he was in for nothing but frustration every year. Then when he heard about the Rams acquiring Faulk, he began to believe that things might be changing. Earlier today I saw a brief news report that said that the Rams sent 6 players to the Pro Bowl, but they didn't say who. In my head I thought "Obviously Warner, Faulk, Carter, Bruce, Pace, and who could number six be? Lyght? He's the next most obvious choice." And then I went online and found out it was indeed T-Lyght, and man oh man, in a season filled with so many amazing and redemptive moments up to this point, this is yet another thing for Ram fans to smile extra wide about. Here we go again - Can you imagine what you would have thought if someone told you before the season started that the starting Pro Bowl QB for the NFC would be Kurt Warner? Remember how worried we all were after Green went down, that it was the end of the world, and many people on this board had written off the entire season, and were already saying - Wait until next year. I'm not one tenth as emotional as Vermeil, but Warner being named starting Pro Bowl QB almost brings a tear to MY eye. SEE YA IN ATLANTA!!! |
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