2 INTERVIEWS WITH CHARLEY ARMEY, BY FAST EDDIE (Aug 31)Add yourself to The HERD's Official Roster (guestbook), if you think you are man enough!
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The mood of the team is surprisingly good. Armey says the players have handled the situation with maturity and toughness. They have "pulled up their bootstraps and are now more determined than ever to be successful and surprise the league."
There were two factors in the team's decision to trade for Paul Justin. First of all, he played for Mike Martz in college and Martz knows his personality and knows what he can and can't do. Secondly, there were other options out there, but the situation with the salary cap narrowed the choices and they decided Justin was the best way to go at this time.
The key thing to understand about Kurt Warner is that it is his first year in Mike Martz' offense. The Rams like his abilities and he's both "very intelligent and a very accurate passer." But do not expect him to be where Trent Green was. He'll need at least a year to reach that level of competence in the offense.
Still, the team has not lowered it's expectations. "We lost one good football player and the loss is made worse by the fact that it happens to be our starting quarterback, but I'm still very comfortable with where our team is right now. We're young and we're strong and the players have a great attitude." The Rams still expect to surprise the league and have a very good season.
Armey feels the starting units are strong across the board, but he is always looking to improve the depth of the team. He'll continue to monitor the wires and if anyone comes available who he feels can help the team, he'll meet with Dick Vermeil to talk about it.
He said his office has received a lot of calls from enraged fans urging them not to trade Greg Hill. Armey said it is important to understand that it isn't the Rams who are looking to make a trade. "Dick Vermeil is not shopping Greg Hill. There are at least 2 other teams that are very interested in Greg, but they are the ones calling us, not the other way around. The Rams will not trade Hill unless they get value in return. We know that Greg Hill is a very good football player and he is excellent insurance in case something happens to Marshall Faulk."
Armey had a conference call with Dick Vermeil, John Shaw, and Jay Zygmunt this afternoon to discuss various moves the club will make in the next couple of days. He said he would meet with Vermeil tomorrow morning and run through the list one more time and then they'd begin to make some roster moves tomorrow afternoon.
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Here's the summary of Armey's explanation for the Hill trade today [Aug 31] with Mike Claiborne. He says the primary reason is Robert Holcombe. I like Robert and I still think he can be a starting tailback, but I also think Armey's spinning...
I'm paraphrasing Armey except when quotation marks are used...
I'm doing well. We're just getting over the shock of losing Trent Green on Saturday. Kurt Warner has looked very good on the practice field and the entire organization is feeling much better.
I have to say to start with that I love the fact that the fans have been calling in and that so many of them are taking such an active interest in the Rams, even though they may not agree with the move we've made.
I appreciate that kind of interest, but I also have to say that I've been around this league a long time, I've built a lot of football teams and I think I know what I'm doing here.
The primary reason for this trade has been the development of our second round pick from last year, Robert Holcombe. Holcombe looks like a new player this year in camp and if we had to line up and play a game tomorrow without Marshall Faulk, Robert Holcombe would have been our starting tailback.
We can only keep so many players at each position and we already have two injured running backs that we have to keep on the roster.
We're not happy about losing Greg Hill. Greg Hill was a good football player and you never want to lose a good football player.
"There are also other concerns involved here that we can't really discuss outside the organization." There are salary cap concerns and the bigger issue is that we are building this team for the future, not just the short term.
(Claiborne - What about the return that you got for Hill?)
"The return is not the issue." The more important issue is that Greg Hill's value to this team was not what it was. He was no longer our starting tailback and Robert Holcombe had moved ahead of him on the depth chart as well.
(Claiborne - So has Holcombe slipped from the #1 fullback to the #2 tailback?)
"No, he has not slipped at all. He has proven his versatility. Robert is now one of the few backs in the league who can play either position equally well." People do not realize the sort of fullback that Mike Martz will utilize in this scheme. Robert was never expected to be a battering ram type fullback. In this scheme the fullback has to be a versatile player. With Faulk and Holcombe in the same backfield, that opens the field up for a lot of different options. When Marshall splits wide, Holcombe has the ability to play the single back in the lone back set that they used to use alot in Washington.
(Claiborne - How big a concern was the salary cap and being saddled with John Flannery's salary?)
Well the salary cap is always a concern. We were prepared to deal with that situation, but of course we lost that money when the quarterback went down and we had to sign Paul Justin. The more important issue, though, is that "we are not void of talent at the running back position. We have Amp Lee who will be back very quickly, and June Henley is not far behind Amp. Running back is the position we felt we could afford to make that sacrifice."
"We're not talking about winning a game here, we're talking about restoring this franchise to respectability, building a strong team that will compete for the next ten years."
(Claiborne- Do you plan anymore moves at quarterback?)
"We've talked to two different teams with quarterbacks who they are going to cut very soon that we are researching and we have at least a beginning interest in those guys." We brought in Paul Justin because Mike Martz is familiar with him and likes his personality. The Raiders liked him, but they had 6 quarterbacks out there.
"Keep in mind that if a player becomes available that can help this team, we won't hesitate to make a move."
Once again I'd like to thank the fans for their excitement and remind them that we're building this team for the long term.