NFL Talk with Jim Thomas: 2/9/16

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PT
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Peter
These are only selected questions and answers from this chat. To read the whole thing click the link below.
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http://sports.live.stltoday.com/Event/NFL_chat_with_Jim_Thomas_4?Page=0

NFL Talk with Jim Thomas: 2/9/16

I was wondering, does the Rams Super Bowl Vince Lombardi Trophy stay in St. Louis? That is where it was won and I think where it should stay.

Unfortunately for St. Louis, the Lombardi Trophy goes with the team. It was displayed in the lobby at the Rams Park facility in Earth City for years behind a glass case (w/other trophies and memorabilia). It will make the trip out West w/the rest of the team.
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So I saw that Goodell says St. Louis still has chance for NFL team. Since his word is not worth the paper it is printed on, I think I will plan on MLS tickets for my future

To be honest with you, that's probably a good move.
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Anything new on Peyton Manning retiring?

Not really. He said he was going to take a little time before deciding what to do, but I think most everybody expects him to retire. It's interesting after the game, he said that Tony Dungy told him don't make an immediate decision based on emotion. If Dick Vermeil had taken that course, he might have stayed on in St. Louis for a few more years. . .and who knows what would have happened. Maybe another Lombardi Trophy or two?
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When Peyton Manning retires, do you think he will be an offensive coordinator, a head coach, an announcer or maybe somebody who ate too many Papa John's pizzas and drank too many Budweisers?

The hours involved in coaching are tremendous. For that reason, a lot of players _ especially those who have been at or near the top of the game both in playing and money made _ stay out of coaching. I don't know what's on Manning's mind post-football but doing analyst work and more commercials seems more likely.
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No reason to keep secrets, what Rams rumors did you hear at the Super Bowl?

That's kind of a broad questions. The only gossip I heard _ and it's probably more than gossip _ is that Dallas might open the preseason playing the Rams in the LA Coliseum, and that the Rams might have their offseason program and OTAs in Oxnard, with their training camp in Orange County.
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Although I don't trust Goodell or this ownership group at all, history does favor cities who lost teams, either by hook or crook, to get a new team within 8-15 years. The only way I see history favoring STL is through Goodell's replacement and the next generation of owners. Thoughts?

Yeah, but St. Louis doesn't seem to have much of an appetite for pursuing the NFL at this point. Maybe that changes. Goodell is still fairly young, so a replacement would probably come more at the back end of your time frame _ the 15 years out.
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Would Jay Nixon really meet with Goodell about bringing the NFL back? If so, do you think that would mean an existing team or an expansion team?

Or is Goodell just trying to save face during his Superbowl sideshow?


I'm sure there's no harm in talking, but keep in mind Nixon is out of office in less than a year. As for another team, the NFL currently has shown no appetite for expansion so it would have to be an existing team. Unless something changes with Mark Davis and Oakland, I can't see that happening in the near future. I think Goodell was keeping the door open. It's smart to never say never. The NFL likes using non-NFL cities as leverage to help get stadiums built around the league.
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What are the chances of a NFL development team an arena league team or a Canadian League football team coming to stl?

Do you really think St. Louis would get excited about any of that? I really doubt it.
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Aren't goodell's comments about St. Louis mostly for the benefit of owners in Tampa and Carolina, or anybody else who will be looking for some public financing to build new stadiums in the near future?

To a degree, yes. Leverage.
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Since ST Louis no longer has a football team, why have a ST Louis chat?

Because the NFL remains by far the nation's most popular sport. You seem to have had enough interest to find your way here.
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Making no apologies for Newton's postgame behavior, but I can't blame a guy for not wanting to hear the other team's comments and glee about defeating him. Why would they have them so close to one another? Did other Panthers players, like Norman and Olsen, have the same problem during their presser?

Because of the crush of reporters at Super Bowls,, most of the interviews are done outside the locker room. It's a pretty common occurrence at Super Bowls for these post-game interviews to be pretty close to each other. While realizing that Newton was clearly devastated with the loss, I'm sure he's had a lot of experience tuning out crowd noise on the field. I don't see it as much of an excuse.
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My two sons 6 1/2 and 4 yr old want to be Rams Fans so I will continue to do so. I have 3 questions.
1. Do you think Roger Gooddell was serious about football in the stl on friday or just a company line to make themselves look good.
2. What are the chances of a NFL developmental team, Arena team or Canadian football team coming to the STL
3. What do you think will happen with Chris Long will he be back with the Rams?


1.) Just being smart. In the NFL, you learn to never say never. 2.) Slim to none. 3.) Hard to see him back at his current cap number _ $14.25 million.
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though I am ecstatic to have the Rams back home, where I watched them since I was a little kid, I feel very sorry for the STL fans, who are great fans. STL is a fine city, visited several times to see Rams games and toured around. The NFL sadly is a monopoly that acts like one, and throws fans under the bus whenever it suits them.

The NFL indeed can be a cold business. It's hard to imagine why the NFL thinks the prospect of alienating three markets (St. Louis, Oakland, San Diego) to move into one market (LA) is a good thing.
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Still puzzled as to why Spanos would go back to San Diego with tail between his legs or become Kroneke's tenant in LA, when he could come to St. Louis with a potential revitalize new stadium in this market. Could hold the Chargers name, etc. with SD, like the Browns did, if needed to make it work.

Yeah, you make good points. But it seems like if he had his way, he'd prefer to stay in San Diego.
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Jim, for the first time in 50 years I feel nothing but disgust for the Rams ownership, which does effect how I feel about the team. The after cost profit ends up lining the pocket of Mr. Kranky, therefore I'm not purchasing anything that contributes to that, including cancelling Sunday Ticket, and telling directv the reasons.

I hope the city of St. Louis and the county can successfully sue for recovery of funds that this observer thinks were spend based on a fraud by the NFL, you never had a chance. Just think what the community could have accomplished with spending 13 million(correct me if I'm wrong) and even more importantly, had those man hours been spent on solving issues in your community. I find it impossible to root for the team and separate it from the owner, he is heartless.

I mean after all, how much money is enough and at whose expense do you acquire it. Shame on Mr. Kranky!! Do you have any idea on the actual costs spent on this fraud, how many hours spent and is anyone going after the recovery of assets?


Actually, it was $16 million. That's just pocket change for Kroenke. The league should've made Kroenke pay that money back as part of the relocation fee. Not that that will ever happen. I understand your anguish. There was a fundamental unfairness about this entire deal. The good fans of StL did not deserve this.
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What was the most interesting thing you heard during your time at the Super Bowl about St. Louis?

Most people I talked to thought it would be a long wait before St. Louis gets another team. (if ever). Most media members I talked to don't have a high regard for how the league handled this. They feel St. Louis got dumped on. I talked to Eric Grubman for a while by myself after Goodell's press conference, and he said some interesting things. I plan to get those in print sometime this week.
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There was an article in the paper that suggested the NFL again was going to change the All Star format. Have you heard what changes are being considered? I guess they weren't happy with the quality or intensity of play.

Goodell mentioned at his Super Bowl press conference that his wasn't happy with the Pro Bowl this year, and suggested that perhaps the league needs to reconsider the format once again. But that's as far as it went.
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Anything going on with resigning any of our upcoming FA's?

I'm sure the Rams are working on it, between getting everything ready for the move to LA. I thought they would've had some players re-signed by now. We're only a month removed now from the start of the free agency period. But I don't really have any specifics on negotiations, although I did hear there's a possibility that Trumaine Johnson could be given the transition tag
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As last week wore on, I saw a QB (Newton) go from joyful to annoyed and weary by week's end. That seemed to carry over into the game, as he was so uncharacteristic of what we saw all year, even when they were still very much in the game. What do you think was the reason for the lackluster performance?...nerves?...worn out...?...etc.?

He did seem nervous at the start of the game. High throws are definitely a tell-tale sign that that's the case. Obviously, you have to give the Denver defense a lot of credit. They literally knocked the fun out of him. It was interesting during the pregame build-up of Super Bowl week how he gradually became more annoyed with the questioning, particularly the repeat questions.

Basically, he had only 4 twenty-minute sessions to worry about all week w/respect to the media. In the grand scheme of thing, that's really not a big chunk of his time. If I had been a member of the Carolina pr staff(and maybe they did so) I would've pointed out to Newton going into Super Bowl week that almost all of the media attending your press conferences will be people who have not followed the team all year.

So they may ask you questions that you've heard before, and perhaps heard on many occasions before. I would've also pointed out that many of the media here have traveled at significant expense to their media outlets to cover you, your team, and the game. I think it was another example that Newton still has some growing up to do.
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What is this rumor of the Eagles wanting Nick Foles back?

I don't put much stock into it.
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We're you present for Cam's SB50 post-game presser. Sure seemed like that was positively the last place on the planet he wanted to be...

I was not. Obviously, I saw it a couple, three times on the Internet. Here's the thing: We all know he was devastated after the loss. No one expects him to be the bluebird of happiness. But if you can laugh and dance and carry on after you've thrown 4 TD passes in a game, you can answer a few questions after things don't go so well.

That's the acid test for most sportswriters, and the athletes that are available and put forth at least some effort to answer questions when things don't go right, are the ones that are the most respected. And I've told several Rams players that over the years.
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What was your schedule like when you were on the Rams beat (wow, feels weird to say that) since obviously your chat is on Tuesdays and the Rams's off day was on Tuesdays? Did you ever have a day off during the week? How did you and your colleague (Coats, Nelson, Lyons, Kee, et al.) split up duties? And how often were you at Rams Park versus at the P-D downtown?

Speaking of which, I assume you have to be out of Earth City and back downtown by the time the Rams need to be out of Rams Park? Any word on what Joe Lyons's next gig is and what Nick Wagoner has decided? It'd be a shame to lose Nick to California.


Didn't get many days off during the season. But got a block of time off in the late spring and early summer (post OTAs and pre training camp), which made it worthwhile. Usually, Saturdays of home games were the only built in days off. My partners over the years usually did the notebooks every day, the opposing team feature during the season, and a sidebar or two on game day. It was a one-person gig for much of the offseason, except when we got close to the draft and also of course during the June OTAs.

A lot of hours, but as my father used to say _ it beats digging ditches. The routine isn't much different for football beat writers around the NFL. As I mentioned early, I'll still have my "office" in the Rams Park media room until the end of March. I had lunch with Joe Lyons before I left for the Super Bowl. He's not exactly sure what he'll be doing next, although he has a lot of expertise in covering soccer and wrestling (besides football). It's strange, for 3 years I spent more time with him than I did w/my family. Now, I won't see him much.
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Jim, did you enjoy the Super Bowl? or were you too busy working?

I'll just put it this way. It was a business trip. But I've been to the Bay Area plenty of times over the years and have seen the sights. My biggest regret is that I didn't have a chance to attend the Leigh Steinberg Super Bowl party. I got a personal invitation this year _ one of my career highlights! :)
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What would have happened if the Raiders & Chargers had proposed the Inglewood site?

That was Spanos' biggest mistake of this whole deal. As soon as Kroenke won the arbitration in St. Louis, Spanos should have made his move in terms of the LA market. And done it without Oakland, I think the Raiders were more help than hindrance to the Chargers during this entire process.
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So to recap this chat so far St. Louis had a great stadium plan. NFL stole our team. Yada, yada, yada. Question when is St. Louis going to realize that everyone read right thru their so called "great stadium plan" and St. Louis is now being subjected to exactly what Georgia did to LA Rams fans 21 years ago. Ever? Trust me outside of St. Louis no one feels sorry for St. Louis.

Actually, Georgia Frontiere wouldn't have moved the Rams out of southern California 21 years ago had Stan Kroenke not decided he could make more profits short-term in St. Louis. He was given the option of buying up to 40 percent of the team and staying in Anaheim, or buying up to 40 percent of the team and moving to St. Louis. He chose the St. Louis option, so the team moved. .
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Any truth to the rumor that Stan Kroenke told the other owners no to "cross" him? Or the threats of lawsuit if his application to relocate was denied?

Don't think there was anything to that.
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-Georgia or Stan?Worst owner Rams ever had?

Well, let's see. One owner won a Super Bowl, went to two Super Bowls, and put together the Greatest Show on Turf as majority owner. The other has a record of 36-59-1 as majority owner, with no playoff berths and no winning seasons.
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what direction do you see the rams heading the draft? O/D? Any specific position they will focus on?

Again, it depends on what happens in free agency. Specifically what success the Rams have in re-signing their own free agents. Remember, three of the four starters in the secondary are scheduled for unrestricted free agency (Jenkins, Johnson, McLeod). And that doesn't include LB/S hybrid Mark Barron, who's also scheduled for free agency. If the Rams suffer multiple losses in the secondary, that obviously changes their priority. But right now, it's gotta be QB and WR.
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Do you see the Rams trying to get a big name and overpay in Free Agency/trade or will they wait till they move into the new stadium for a move like that?

I think they'd like to make a splash this offseason, and they have the money to do so.
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What does Jim Thomas do now that the NFL season is over and the Rams have left town?

I'll be at the NFL Scouting Combine later this month. Meanwhile, the chats continue.
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Cortland Finnegan said that Fisher knew about the move to L.A. 3 years ago. Did he?

That was perhaps the most interesting thing about my interview with Cortland. Only Fisher knows for sure.
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The Rams just announced they have sold out the season ticket allotment for the 2016 season. So much for LA fans not wanting Rams football!

Check back with us after 12 consecutive non-winning seasons.
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Do you believe Stan will put much effort in trying to build a winner, or will he only care about his profit? I will still root for them but hope Stan cares as much as us fans.

I think he'll try to build a winner if only because he realizes LA will not support the product that's been put on the field the last decade-plus in StL.
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Of all the names out there at QB that the Rams can acquire, who seems the most likely candidate to be the starting QB next year.

You know, as a short--term solution, guys like Fitzpatrick, Chase Daniel, Osweiler, and Cousins all are worth looking into. (Although, of course, I doubt if Osweiler or Cousins actually reach the market).
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The Rams have received 56,000 applications for season tix at 100 dollars a pop. My app included. It's deja vu all over again going back to the Coliseum where I went to Ram games with my dad. Needless to say I am stoked. Now if only the Rams could sign a couple of big name FA and we might be in business.

The Rams aren't that far away from being a playoff team. It starts at QB.