 LEONARD LITTLE, BY VARIOUS POSTERS (Nov 11) |
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THE PLAYER. Leonard Little's
return means many things. In purely football terms, it means that the Rams get a special
player. Here are some descriptions of Little from those who know something about his play. -----------> ************* "I saw him at camp and...." Posted by The Rookie on 11/11 I saw Little at camp and he looked real good. GREAT speed and a nose for the ball. He was real raw in his technique though. Unless there is an injury though I don't see him STARTING at a LB position this year. I would definately expect to see him very soon on special teams. If he isn't activated this Sunday you'll get to see him next Sunday on special teams I believe. Next year he will start at LB. I promise. You can quote me on that. For now, get him on special teams. As getting him in the games right away at LB I say no. Maybe in 2-3 weeks as a pass rush specialist. ************ Leonard Little's Ability, Posted by Zooey on 11/11 Some people have asked about Little's ability. I inquired about that a couple of months ago and communicated with a guy who attended the workouts and all of training camp. He also has access to a lot of the media guys surrounding the Rams. Basically, Little appears to be the real deal. He is scary good---the best linebacker the Rams have had since Isaiah Robertson. He has unbelieveable quicks and an instinct for the ball. He disrupts plays faster than anybody the Rams have had back there in 2 decades. He shoots to the ball like an arrow, and has an uncanny ability to get to the passer. Like Wistrom, he has a motor that doesn't quit. He plays hard doesn't take downs off. The guy may very well turn out to be the best player on this defense very soon, probably in training camp. *********** THE CONTROVERSY. Little's return will also generate controversy. MADD plans a special memorial march in memory of Susan Gutweiller on game day. It also means flame posts---as various fans from other teams come to the Rams board, they will raise this controversy over and over. They do not realize that Rams fans have debate this issue with heart-wrenching thoroughness. All possible views have been represented. In those debates, some said he is a killer. Some said he should not be allowed to play football. Some said he got special treatment from the courts because he is a pro athlere. This has been debated and debated. Some very sincere fans from other teams will raise these issues again, because they have not been part of that debate. Some will be morally outraged. Some will be smugly censorious. And some silly sick flamers will toss out the Little situation as a flame taunt (real life example---"Little is a killer on and off the field"). Here are some responses from Rams fans who have thought about this controversy and its implications. They do not respond to one another---they are simply separate posts collected by me.-----------> ************ Im very Happy for the Rams, Posted by MarkK on 11/9 I practice law in St. Louis and have some knowledge of what is custom in this area in this type of case. Certainly, Little's status as a pro football player does give his case a high profile. However, I can tell you that the disposition of his case is not, I repeat, NOT unusual for this type of case. Little had no prior offenses, alcohol-related or otherwise. By all accounts, he was a model citizen. His mistake was incredibly stupid. But again---his time served is an accurate reflection of the typical disposition in this case. The fact is, if Little were a garbage man, his case would have been resolved similarly. The time served may have been greater by a bit, but the fine may have been less. As far as his return to the NFL, no court can keep him off the field if he has satisfied his legal obligations and has been reinstated by the league. The garbage man could go back to that line of work, assuming someone would hire him. If Little were a 36 year old linebacker, weighing 220 pounds, running a slow 40, etc., no team would want him. But he's not. So he gets a chance. One can certainly argue, persuasively, that such a resolution is a great injustice. However, if that is your beef, then its with the legal system. Cases like this bring out the problems with our criminal justice system and our priorities. ************ Little and Rams fans, Posted by Zooey on 11/10 We wouldn't be interested to the same degree if Little were not a Rams fan. This is a place where Real Life intersects Sports, where an extremely important issue manifests itself in a place where a lot of people have their attention. To me, that's a GOOD thing and does not detract at all from the very important fact that everybody's awareness on these matters has been elevated. How is it different than if somebody at your workplace, or your church, or social club was involved in this? You would have a greater interest in the drama because you had some connection with it. That person wouldn't be Joe Schmoe to you either, would he? So, yeah, we're interested because we're Rams fans. Nothing wrong with that at all IMO, and plenty good with it. And while there are undoubtedly people here who have greater sympathy with Little because he is a Ram than they would otherwise, NO Rams fan has LESS sympathy for the Gutweilers just because they care about Leonard. ************ oh, brother here we go, Posted by kailuaram on 11/9 The Little controversy. It was a matter of time i guess. I'm sure we'll be seeing alot more on this subject from here on out. I have an idea. If you don't like Little's reinstatement, why don't you get a petition together or make some signs and stand outside Rams Park. Better yet, why don't you write a letter to Tagliabue and the judge in the case expressing your dismay. Those are the people you should be mad at. My point is.....do you think the system stinks? Then do something about it. As far as I'm concerned Little served the alloted punishment handed down from the courts and served the suspension handed down by the league. As far as his crime goes? This wasn't an act on par with someone killing someone else with the 'sole intent' to do so. Of course this doesn't dismiss a person's responsibility when getting behind the wheel of a car, mind you. Call Little a 'killer' if you will but if you think his act was no different than someone walking into a Denny's and spraying the room with a shotgun....you're dead wrong---a `killer' is a person who does that'. Keep in mind the type of person Little is. He's not an alcoholic or drug user. Nor was there a pattern of behavior here that would lead one to think this kind of incident was inevitable. By all accounts this was Little's first experience with alchohol. I want to know... where were his friends were? They should have played a role here somewhere. ************ Forgiveness, Posted by C_Dog on 11/10 It's a difficult situation. I can't say how I would feel if I were a member of Susan Gutweiler's family. Of course the sight of Little playing again has to be very difficult for the family. I do believe he is sorry---but sometimes sorry doesn't help much. I think he is basically a "good kid". My question to MADD is what good would trading Little do? That doesn't make him disappear or correct anything he did. I have done plenty of stupid things (cars or not), though nobody has died because of them. As a young man I thought I was somehow indestructable. I think football (at any level) imparts some of that indestructable feeling to the players. Driving now has a new meaning or perspective for me now that I have a teenager driving. I guess I had taken for granted the amount of destruction a mistake in a vehicle can cause. Hopefully, if nothing else, this situation might make us all aware that sometimes a situation can't be "reversed" or that "sorry" doesn't solve it. Maybe it will force us to be safer and more responsible for our own actions. ************ Little helped me, Posted by GET USED TO IT! on 11/10 1:53 pm My name is GUTI!, at least in this cyber domain, and I am a recovering alcholic. After 17 years of being a "heavy drinker", it became appearent to me, finally, that i needed help. On Oct 14th, 1998, I went to my first AA meeting. That meeting really opened my eyes, informed me, helped me, and blah, blah, blah. When news of the Little incedent hit a few days later, it was like someone tapping me on the shoulder and saying "See, that could have been you. What if it were?" The truth is that it very well could have been. I feel bad for Leonard (and from what I hear, this was an isolated incident for him, not related to a pattern of alchoholism), and feel even worse for Susan and her family. I guess my point is that I have actually benifited from this situation. I am sorry, and yet somehow grateful. I am doing great now. I cannot outright thank anyone, and yet, from my warped perspective, in a complicated Ying-Yang, comma contaminated way,... I wish it never happened, of course. My deepest regets to all those involved. |
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