Sam the Ram

[PLaw]

USA Today had the sports front page feature on our boy Sam.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/rams/2010-12-09-sam-bradford_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

I can see Rookie of the Year in his future.

BOOMER

[Rocko]

The pic of him and Jackson hugging is epic.

[cccasooner2]

"If Bradford doesn't fire the football within the allotted time, he pays $15 to a charity fund. If he beats the clock, Spagnuolo pays $5."

Spagnuolo is a cheapskate. :)

[Blue]

Very Nice. Go sam.

[sluggo sooner]

He looks like a giant next to Spagnuolo.

[rainiersooner]

"If you go into a season thinking, 'OK, we won one game last year, and if we win three this year it will be a success,' you're totally wrong," Bradford says. "You have to go into every season thinking that you want to win the Super Bowl. If you don't, then what are you playing for?"

Sam, the man.

[waynepayne]

The Rams (6-6) have won as many games this season as they did in the previous three seasons combined and are in first place in the NFC West.


Wow! No wonder the Rams fans are bonkers about him!

[BigBoomerInBigD]

Sam is THE MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!

[THE-JROD]

Sam was as well on front of our sports page here in Enid...the dude is amazing!

[OU-HSV]

Just wanted to add to your thread (instead of making my own for this)...just read this article on the tulsa world website. It's a great read. Talks about Sam and Drew Brees and at the end it shows a breakdown of his rankings for rookie QBs in the NFL history. He's on pace to own a lot of rookie QB records probably by the season's end.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/OU/article.aspx?subjectid=92&articleid=20101210_223_B1_ULNSar384018


Sam Bradford leads revitalized Rams after being inspired by Drew Brees' comeback

Sam Bradford drew inspiration from New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees after the former OU star re-injured his shoulder last season against Texas. ROSS D. FRANKLIN/AP

By JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer
Published: 12/10/2010 2:23 AM
Last Modified: 12/10/2010 4:48 AM

IT SEEMS appropriate that as he nears a handful of NFL rookie passing records, and as his team draws nearer to a division title and a playoff spot, St. Louis Rams quarterback Sam Bradford this week will face off against Drew Brees and the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints.

It was a more than a year ago, long before he became the NFL's leading candidate for rookie of the year, that he took inspiration from Brees.

After the one-time University of Oklahoma star re-injured his right shoulder against Texas last year, Bradford surveyed his NFL future and consulted with Dr. James Andrews, one of the world's foremost sports and orthopedic surgeons. Andrews immediately gave Bradford consolation.

"I remember one of the first times I went down and visited with Dr. Andrews, he told me that Drew's injury (complete tears of the labrum and rotator cuff and severe dislocation in 2005) was 10 times worse than mine and when he originally got hurt," Bradford said Wednesday on a national conference call. "There were people who were very skeptical he might come back and even throw a football. And look at what he's done after his injury. I would say he's done all right.

"Knowing that Drew came back from such a severe shoulder injury, and knowing that mine really wasn't nearly as bad as his, it gave me a lot of confidence going into the surgery, knowing that afterwards if I went through rehab process

that I would be fine."

Bradford has been more than fine. Twelve games into


his rookie season, he has the Rams (6-6) tied for the lead in the NFC West. This is a franchise that won six games in the last three seasons combined. The Rams had won just one road game in three years, but they go into New Orleans with back-to-back triumphs at Denver and at Arizona.

Bradford had his first career 300-yard game against the Broncos. Quarterbacks coach Dick Curl, offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur and head coach Steve Spagnuolo have been lauded for devising weekly game plans that don't put too big a burden on a rookie quarterback. Despite a potentially disastrous string of injuries on offense (including former Sooner Mark Clayton, acquired in a trade with Baltimore), the Rams have continued with success behind Bradford.

"He's playing with a lot of confidence," New Orleans coach Sean Payton said on a conference call with St. Louis press. "I think as everyone evaluated him coming out of Oklahoma, you saw arm strength and you saw someone that located the ball very well.

"You're never able to predict the learning curve, but he's handled that aspect very well. He operates very well in the no-huddle. I think the ball's coming out of his hands on time. He's a guy that has done a great job with ball security, and you've seen that confidence not only with him, but with the rest of the offense."

Bradford has 17 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions, which is nearly unheard of for a rookie in his position. By comparison, former No. 1 picks Peyton Manning (19 and 24) and Troy Aikman (9 and 18) were on teams coming off poor seasons and didn't perform on Bradford's level. Aikman's in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and Manning will be.

Bradford's efficiency has left an impression. Earlier this week, Hall of Famer and Super Bowl winner Steve Young, one of the most efficient quarterbacks in NFL history, said on ESPN that Bradford should win rookie of the year.

"Taking a team that's flat on its back - the No. 1 pick, historically, gets picked by a horrible team; and the Rams were the definition of a horrible team," Young said. "And when you get a quarterback that can deliver the football from the pocket effectively, not flub around and fumble a bunch and lose ball games, but actually help you win some games as a rookie, you can't ask for more from a human being than to be a No. 1 pick and a rookie quarterback on a lousy team and help that team become what I believe is the favorite to win the division."

Bradford set an NFL rookie record earlier this season with 169 consecutive passes without an interception. In his last seven games, he's thrown 11 TDs and two interceptions.

"I've been really impressed," said Brees, last year's Super Bowl MVP who in Tom Condon shares agents with Bradford. "Just with him going through the shoulder last year ... I just called him just to try to be there for him if he needed any advice or just to kind of help him through that time, because I know that's a tough deal going through that rehab.

"The toughest thing for a young quarterback in the league is to learn how to take care of the football and go through the growing pains at times of learning a new offense, and then going up against the type of defenses you're going up against, and still at the same time making good decisions, not turning the ball over.

"Some guys learn faster than others, and it seems like Sam Bradford learned that pretty quick, that that's a pretty critical stat in the game. It took me getting benched three times to learn that in about three years, so he's much further ahead than I was at that stage, that's for sure."

For Bradford, and for the Rams, Sunday's 3 p.m. game at the Superdome is a measuring stick.

"Yeah, it's always exciting anytime you get to play against a guy like Drew Brees, who is one of the best quarterbacks in this league," Bradford said. "It definitely adds a little bit extra to the game, but also the fact that we're playing the defending world champions. I think that adds a little bit to it, too, and definitely excites us."



Climbing the charts
St. Louis Rams quarterback Sam Bradford, a former Sooner, is on pace to have one of the greatest rookie seasons statistically for a quarterback in NFL history. Where Bradford projects to finish in several categories (based on a 16-game season) at his pace through 12 games this year: Pass completions

1. Sam Bradford, St. Louis, 2010, 357
2. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis, 1998, 326

3. Chris Weinke, Carolina, 2001, 293

Passing yards

1. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis, 1998 3,739

2. Sam Bradford, St. Louis, 2010, 3,537
3. Matt Ryan, Atlanta, 2008, 3,440

Pass attempts

1. Sam Bradford, St. Louis, 2010, 589
2. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis, 1998, 575

3. Chris Weinke, Carolina, 2001, 540

Passing touchdowns

1. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis, 1998, 26

2. Sam Bradford, St. Louis, 2010, 23
3. Charlie Connerly, N.Y. Giants, 1948, 22

Completion percentage

1. Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh, 2004, 66.44

2. Matt Ryan, Atlanta, 2008, 61.06

3. Sam Bradford, St. Louis, 2010, 60.61


NFL WEEK 14: ST. LOUIS AT NEW ORLEANS
3:05 p.m. Sunday • Superdome, New Orleans • TV: KOKI-5/23 • Radio: None
Original Print Headline: Common ground

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/OU/article.aspx?subjectid=92&articleid=20101210_223_B1_ULNSar384018

[yankee]

USA Today had the sports front page feature on our boy Sam.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/rams/2010-12-09-sam-bradford_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

I can see Rookie of the Year in his future.

BOOMER

barring a major meltdown over the last 4 games, he's had the award in his back pocket for at least several weeks.

[Leroy Lizard]

23 TD? I see only 17.

[hgarmorer]

23 TD? I see only 17.

He's "projected" to have 23 when then season is over. He has 17 now

[OU-HSV]

He's "projected" to have 23 when then season is over. He has 17 now

OH yeah, my bad...those are projections based on his current pace (It explains that in the paragraph that I made bold.

[King Crimson]

not bad for a 3 star recruit and basketball player from Putnam City.

[bluedogok]

not bad for a club hockey player from Putnam City North.
FIFY :D

[BlownGP]

sorry guys, but I hope he has a bad game this weekend..

I cant have my Saints losing... We gotta catch ATL!!!!!



dont worry. I still love SAMMY!!! He will get a ring sooner or later..

[C&CDean]

The Ain't are going down. Sammy style.

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

The Aints have 2 Sooners who DIDN'T GO TO OU!!!(Shockey and Meacham) and they canned an OU kicker(Garrett Hartley)

BlownGP, how can you even root for the Aints?

[Blue]

Hartley still kicks for the Saints.

Rootin for Sam but hoping for a Saints W.

[bluedogok]

The Aints have 2 Sooners who DIDN'T GO TO OU!!!(Shockey and Meacham) and they canned an OU kicker(Garrett Hartley)

BlownGP, how can you even root for the Aints?
Shockey and Meacham weren't Sooners, they were guys who are from Oklahoma. Just because you are from Oklahoma doesn't mean you are a Sooner, I wouldn't claim any of those Poke fans as Sooners and many meet the same criteria as Shockey and Meacham.

I don't care who roots for whatever NFL team, everyone has their reasons but even though I don't think it will happen, Go Rams.

[BlownGP]

The Aints have 2 Sooners who DIDN'T GO TO OU!!!(Shockey and Meacham) and they canned an OU kicker(Garrett Hartley)

BlownGP, how can you even root for the Aints?

Cuz I live here... Wasnt born here, but been living here since 01...

Hartley was canned for two games, but looks like hes get his game back into swing..