Tuesday, Sep. 08, 2009

Rams trim roster; survivors savor their spots

ST. LOUIS -- Like the other young players hoping to make the St. Louis Rams' 53-man roster, offensive tackle Eric Young spent Saturday afternoon praying his telephone didn't ring.

And, each time it did ring, Young braced for the possibility that it was someone from the Rams telling him that he'd been cut.

"It's kind of like a double-edged sword,'' Young said. "Everybody who called my phone, I'm like, 'Oh, no,' and I'm looking for the 314 (area code).''

Young said he spent Saturday alone in his hotel room watching college football games, though a search of channels for his alma mater Tennessee came up empty.

"I just tried to take my mind off of it the best that I possibly could, even though it was still lingering in the back of my head,'' Young said.

Young said his agent called him around 4:30 p.m. to tell him that he was still a member of the Rams.

"I called my mom and I told her, 'We still have a couple of days waiting period, but as of right now, I'm on the roster,''' Young said.

The 6-foot-3, 304-pound Young came into training camp having not played in a game for 22 months because of a quadriceps muscle injury suffered late in his senior season at Tennessee.

Young was among the players thrilled to have survived the initial roster cutdown.

"As a rookie class, you gain bonds with each other and just to see some of the names scratched off the lockers, that was a little eerie,'' Rams guard Roger Allen III said. "I just feel blessed to be here, and I'm ready to do my part.''

The 6-foot-3, 323-pound Allen is an undrafted rookie out of Missouri Western State.

Allen said he learned from his agent that he was on the Rams' 53-man roster.

"He was like, 'Congratulations,''' Allen said. " I said, 'Congratulations about what? It's not 4 o'clock yet.' He's like, 'You've made it. I've talked to them.'''

Allen joked that his parents were in town to help him pack up his things if he got cut. The visit ended with him going out dinner.

"They took me out to dinner,'' Allen said.

Job security can be fleeting in the NFL, as Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo pointed out to his team before Monday's morning practice.

"I congratulated everybody first of all for being on an NFL football team,'' Spagnuolo said. "It is special, not everybody can do that. And, then I told them that they should feel proud of it and never take it for granted.

"Coaches, players, should never take this for granted. It can be taken away like that, and hopefully the message got through."

It got through to Young, who was bemoaning having jumped off sides twice during practice.

"It's still a job, you still have to go to work just like if you're with a Fortune 500 company,'' Allen said. "If you don't go to work, they'll get rid of you.''

Defensive end C.J. Ah You, who has spent the better part of the past two seasons on the Rams' practice squad, felt his heart skip a beat when he got a telephone from Rams General Manager Billy Devaney on Saturday afternoon.

"I saw the number pop up, and I was like, 'Oh, no,' because I didn't know which way it was going to lean,'' Ah You said. "You never know when you get that phone call, but it was very positive.

"He thanked me for the hard work, and I really appreciated that. I thank him for the opportunity and sticking by me. I'm just excited for the chance.''

Rookie Keith Null found out that he had beaten out Brock Berlin for the job of third-string quarterback from his father who had seen Internet reports.

"I just sort of sat there for a while,'' Null said. "I was like, 'What?' Of course, I called a million people. I was on the phone for about two hours.''

Null said staying focused on his job was the biggest key to him earning a roster spot.

"I think I was just executing well, throwing to the right people, and trying to make plays,'' Null said. "That's all I was trying to do, and I was hoping it would be enough.''