| ATLANTA — A lot of hype
surrounds the likes of Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, Isaac Bruce, Kevin Carter, Steve
McNair, Eddie George, Jevon Kearse and many of the other stars for the Rams and Titans as
Super Bowl XXXIV approaches. And with good reason. They are great players. That said,
football is a team game. Unsung heroes could very well play a critical role on Super
Sunday in small or large contributions that can make a difference in the final outcome of
the game.
"That is the reason why we are here today, because you never know who is going to
step up," Rams CB Dre’ Bly said. "In our offense, there are other guys
besides our dominant guys that can step up at any given time. Whoever is called upon, they
step up. I think that is the reason why we are here today because of the overall team
success and the ability that we possess."
With that in mind, here is a look at some of the unsung heroes on the Rams and Titans:
LB London Fletcher
He may have led the team in total tackles during the regular season, but the undersized
linebacker does not get the hype he deserves. An undrafted free agent in 1998, he has been
fighting for respect since Day One with the Rams.
He was fourth on the depth chart going into training camp his rookie season.
"That just motivated me to play that much harder," Fletcher said. "(LB
coach) John Bunting told me the only way I would make the team was as a special-teamer or
nickel linebacker, but I took offense to it because I thought I was playing as well as any
of the other guys at the middle linebacker position. So I have always felt that I had to
prove myself to my coaches and teammates."
One can only imagine what his teammates thought of him when he arrived. They probably
thought, where is the rest of him? After all, Fletcher stands a mere 5-feet-10.
"They saw this short guy walk into the locker room and probably thought I was a
running back," Fletcher said. "Then when they saw me at middle linebacker,
I’m sure they didn’t take me seriously."
They do now.
"London has been a tremendous inspiration," Rams DT D’Marco Farr said.
"He’s the best middle linebacker that I’ve played with since I got into the
pros, maybe ever. He is a guy that plays sideline to sideline, up the field. He hits, and
he talks with the best of them too. Whenever we need a lift or something to make you
laugh, he is there. He is the guy. He is our quarterback on defense. I thought I was crazy
and a lunatic in the huddle, but London tells me to shut up because I’m interfering
with his monologue. He is just a great guy to play with."
Rams LB Mike Jones said, "London sets the tone for our defense. He’s so fiery
and mad all the time. No matter if we’re down by two or up by 30. He stays so mad
that you can’t help but be fired up."
DLs Grant Wistrom, D’Marco Farr and Ray Agnew
DE Kevin Carter gets most of the attention because he led the NFL with 17 sacks this
season, but he doesn’t do it alone.
Farr ranked second on the team in sacks with 8.5 during the regular season. Wistrom and
Agnew ranked sixth and seventh on the club in total tackles. Wistrom also finished third
on the team in sacks with 6.5.
"The guys are awesome, and they’re all young," Agnew said. They’re
going to be awesome for a long time. Grant Wistrom will be one of the best defensive ends
in the game. Kevin Carter is already one of the best. You can’t find a more intense,
hard worker than D’Marco Farr. I don’t care what business you are in,
there’s nobody more intense than him. Me? I just want to clog up the middle."
WRs Torry Holt and Ricky Proehl
Isaac Bruce is the superstar of the receiving corps, and WR-KR Az-Zahir Hakim has
received a pretty fair share of publicity this season because of the nine touchdowns he
scored.
Holt very quietly had an excellent rookie season. Even though he caught more passes
than Hakim, Holt seemed to receive very little hype for a first-round pick. The fact that
he caught 52 passes in an offense where Bruce and RB Marshall Faulk gobble up so many of
the balls put in the air is truly remarkable, though.
"I talked to Ricky (Proehl) during training camp, and he told me to continue to be
patient," Holt said. "I wanted everything to happen right now, and he was
telling me to continue to be patient and to work on my technique. He said everything would
come."
It is to Holt’s credit that he did not step on egos as a rookie on a team with so
many options, yet he also was highly productive.
"I’m the type of guy who likes to learn and to try to become a better person
on and off the field," Holt said. I didn’t want to come in and step on
anybody’s toes and make them feel like I was trying to take their job. I wanted a
job, but I wasn’t going to come in and step on anybody’s toes. I wanted to sit
back and contribute and learn as much as I can from guys like Isaac Bruce, Ricky Proehl
and Marshall Faulk."
He waited his turn. Then he stepped up to the plate down the stretch. He had five or
more catches in three of the Rams’ final four regular-season games, and his receiving
yards were over 100 yards in two of those contests. In the NFC title game against the
Buccaneers, a contest in which Bruce was limited to three catches, Holt led all Rams
players with seven catches.
In that same game against the Buccaneers, a nail-biter won by the Rams 11-6, it was
Proehl who saved the day. It was Proehl, who did not catch a TD pass all regular season,
who hauled in a 30-yard TD pass in the fourth quarter to give St. Louis the lead, its only
touchdown of the game and ultimately the victory.
"It couldn’t have happened to a better guy," Faulk said. "Ricky
works hard. He’s a guy who, last year, stepped into this offense and caught maybe 70
balls and was the focus of it. Then, this year, with all the new things happening and with
everybody being healthy, he ended up being the fourth receiver. To have a guy like Ricky
as your fourth receiver is so much of a luxury."
Rams offensive coordinator Mike Martz said, "Ricky has made an awful lot of key
plays for us in critical situations out on the field on third downs. He made a big
fourth-down catch for us at Carolina. He takes pressure off some of those other receivers.
It’s hard to figure out where that ball is going to go. We try to distribute it as
evenly as we can and utilize guys in certain situations. He’s just so trustworthy,
you know what he’s going to do, you know he’s going to do the right thing, and
he’s going to make the catch."
OLs Adam Timmerman and Fred Miller
Timmerman had a sensational year at guard and got some credit but not nearly enough.
Miller did not play at as high a level at tackle. Yet the one thing they have in common is
that the most publicity they probably got all season on a national level was when they
messed up.
Miller, in particular, lived through a nightmare. It took place when the Rams lost to
the Titans earlier this season. Facing rookie sensation Jevon Kearse in a noisy opposing
stadium, Miller was dominated. Most notable were numerous false-start penalties.
In the Super Bowl, the same matchup looms large.
"I have the utmost confidence in Freddie that he’s going to be able to attack
the situation," Rams QB Kurt Warner said. "To me, the hardest part about that
last game was the fact that we put ourselves in situations where Jevon could just pin his
ears back and come. Obviously, he’s such a talented, quick, explosive defensive end
that he’s going to be able to get you if you put yourselves in situations where they
know you’re going to take seven-step drops, they know you’re going to have to
throw it down the field. To me, that was the hardest part. I don’t think any tackle
is going to be able to hold up against him if you put him in a situation like that. So to
me, it was what we did as a team that put Freddie in a tough situation more than anything
that Freddie did and anything that I don’t believe he can do. I believe he can block
Jevon just fine if we put him in situations where we’re able to keep their defense
off-balance. And that’s what we weren’t able to do last time. Like I said, I
don’t think anybody’s going to be able to handle that guy one-on-one if you put
him in situations like that."
Timmerman played Pro Bowl-caliber football this season, but what probably stands out
most to the average fan is the fact that the Rams’ offensive guard was flagged for
three penalties on one drive in the NFC title game vs. the Buccaneers.
"I don’t think it was a big deal, Timmerman said. "It wasn’t like I
was flustered and someone was beating me. We took care of (Warren) Sapp for the most part.
I don’t think he had a sack. I don’t think he had a tackle. It’s funny how
coming into the game you had the Defensive Player of the Year, who is going to do all this
and talk this and whatever. He doesn’t really do anything, and nothing is really made
of how well that our offensive line did against their defensive line."
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CBs Samari Rolle and Denard Walker
When it comes to the Titans’ defense, all anyone wants to talk about is sack
sensation Jevon Kearse. Yet, if the Titans are to be effective against the Rams’
superb wide receivers, Rolle and Walker must come up big.
Rolle was actually one of the 25 best players, regardless of position, in the entire
NFL this season, but he still is not exactly a household name throughout the country.
Rolle and Walker are household names in the house of the Rams’ offensive coordinator,
however.
"It’s a very solid group back there," Rams offensive coordinator Mike
Martz said. The corners, Walker and Rolle, we have our work cut out for us. They get up in
the press well; they’re very tight in coverage. We’ll have to be very
sharp."
Asked whether he prefers to cover one receiver or stay on one side of the field, Rolle
said confidently, "I prefer shadowing the best guy. That way, I can keep my focus,
and I think it gives us our best chance to win."
TEs Frank Wycheck and Jackie Harris
The Music City Miracle put Wycheck on highlight shows across America, but before that
he was simply a very good tight end known to hardcore football fans but not necessarily
the casual observer. He has been voted to the Pro Bowl in his career, but he doesn’t
exactly have the name recognition of, say, a Shannon Sharpe or a Ben Coates across
America. Harris is the backup. If WR Yancey Thigpen’s injury (hairline fracture in
right foot) limits his production or keeps him out of the game entirely, you could be
hearing the names Wycheck and Harris a lot on Super Sunday.
"I think we do (have to play a bigger role because of Thigpen’s
injury)," Harris said. "Whoever we put out there, I think will have to do well
for Yancey. We’ve always felt as tight ends that we need to come out and play well.
That position is really a big part of our offense, and if we don’t play well, then we
don’t give ourselves a chance to win on Sunday."
OTs Jon Runyan and Brad Hopkins
OG Bruce Matthews gets a lot of publicity, with good reason, for his many years of
stellar play. Very quietly, however, Runyan and Hopkins have developed into a terrific
tandem.
Perhaps a little too quietly for the Titans’ tastes.
"I went up to these guys after the Pro Bowl team was announced and told them that
they deserved to make it," Titans backup QB Neil O’Donnell said. "They are
the best pair I’ve played with. We call Runyan ‘the Giant.’ And he’s
not just big. Watch him run. He’s really fast, just incredible. He’s hard-nosed.
He fights through everything. He’s very talented."
Asked whether he thinks he and Runyan are underrated, Hopkins said, Absolutely. I get
tired of looking at publications that rank people and say who’s doing a good job. I
think that the guys they mention are doing a fantastic job, and I guess it’s hard to
encompass everybody that’s deserving. But trying to accept the fact that you’re
not being recognized for doing just as good a job, if not a better job, than some people
who are getting recognized does give you a little fuel to want to do better every
time you go out."
How they play against the Rams will be extremely important, given the big plays that
starting St. Louis DEs Kevin Carter and Grant Wistrom can produce. Carter had 17 sacks,
four forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries during the regular season. Wistrom had 6.5
sacks and two interceptions. Both defensive ends had a sack in the Rams’ NFC title
game win over the Buccaneers.
FB Lorenzo Neal
If Eddie George is to have a big game running the ball, Neal needs to do the dirty work
as a blocker.
It is the type of heavy lifting that gets ignored by the highlight shows, ignored by
the headline writers and ignored by the fans. Rest assured, it is not ignored by George.
"He’s an awesome blocker," George said. "When he’s in there,
all he wants to do is block everybody. He doesn’t want to see the ball. He just wants
to get his playing time in and create holes."
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