Category: Sports pieces

Gennady Golovkin will make you love boxing again

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Ask any casual boxing fan on the street and they will tell you the sport is losing steam. It’s getting boring, doesn’t have the allure it used to, or lacks stars. Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao are getting old and Andre Ward doesn’t seem to be too interested in fighting. The heavyweight division is dead. Canelo Alvavez is an exciting talent but needs to beat Miguel Cotto to regain world dominance again. For my money, Gennady Golovkin is going to bring boxing back and he will do it one knockout at a time. This weekend, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Golovkin will face his stiffest test in Montreal’s David Lemieux, a fellow power puncher with knockout power. A pair of middlweights clashing like a pair of trains on a lit up track.

For all the people who don’t like seeing two boxers step into a ring and dance around each other while throwing harmless jabs and complacent hooks, meet this Russian tank. He’s got hammers for fists and he likes action packed fights. He likes action packed fights so much that he will resist knocking his opponent out so he can give the fans a better fight. A longer bout. How about that? GGG, as fans and analysts call him, will take a few punches to enliven the audience. He will take a shot, smile at the opponent as if the love tap wasn’t hard enough and then unleash a few thunderous shots of his own.

The best boxers have the ability to cut off the ring. Make the square shrink and seem like a tight phone booth instead of an open ring. The best boxers cut it off and then attack with a vengeance when their prey is stuck in the trap. That’s what Golovkin does in his fights. He stalks his prey around the ring and gets them into a corner, where he attacks the head and the body. He has knocked opponents out before with a single body shot to their kidneys or a dynamic combination to their head. He’s the train that rips across the tracks that fighters don’t see coming. If Floyd put you to sleep with his slow boiling ring routine, Gennady is going to pull you out of your seat when he goes to work. On the Road to Golovkin-Lemieux on HBO this past week, GGG put it bluntly. “You have dance. Or you fight. I prefer action.” So do we.

The most appreciative fan of the sweet science will admit that a power puncher is fun to watch. The glory days of Mike Tyson knocking people out before they knew where they were at is sexy and something that was missing before Golovkin showed up pitying the fools who got into a ring and locked horns with him. Golovkin has the highest knockout percentage at 90.9 in middleweight championship history and that includes over 300 fights, both professional and amateur. He has 30 knockouts in 33 professional wins with no losses. He has never been knocked down, showing the ability to have a jawline comprised more of porcelain than glass. He isn’t a flash in the pan yet a real deal that will be realized completely when he sends Lemieux to the canvas Saturday night in the Big Apple.

With no disrespect to the Montreal native, I don’t think Lemieux knows what he is getting into with GGG. It’s like expecting a few inches of snow and getting slammed by an avalanche. Lemieux can say that Golovkin hasn’t tasted the kind of shots he can deliver, but that coin can be flipped the other way. He hasn’t tasted Gennady’s power and that’s the dangerous part. Did I mention that Gennady Golovkin has knocked out 20 straight opponents since he joined up with Abel Sanchez in 2010.

Here’s an example. Marco Antonio Rubio beat Lemieux four years ago. Golovkin knocked Rubio out in the second round a year ago. After the fight, Golovkin called out Cotto to no avail. He knocked out Martin Murray in the 10th round and Willie Moore Jr. in the sixth round after a third knockdown forced Moore to shake his head to the referee, who stopped the fight. Golovkin has destroyed the same opponents who either gave Lemieux a tough time or beat him.

On Saturday night, Golovkin is going to officially coin himself as the pound for pound champion in boxing. He isn’t the next best thing. He is the thing right now in boxing that shouldn’t be missed. If you can’t buy the fight this weekend, go somewhere and watch it. Don’t wait for the replay. It’s better than any action movie in theaters and worth watching. The greatest boxers appeal to hardcore fans, casual fans and people who don’t even like the sport. When you watch Golovkin work, it’s hard to keep your eyes off him. He’s truly something else and he’s quickly taking over the sport.

The Curious Case of Lamar Odom

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Lamar Odom is fighting for his life right now after an eventful three day binge in the Nevada brothel called The Love Ranch. This love shack is owned by Dennis Hof, the same guy who owns the Bunny Ranch, which a few HBO subscribers may have seen on Cathouse. Odom’s case is unfortunate but I don’t get the pity party and outcry for sympathy. I don’t feel sorry for the guy, even as his life hangs on a ventilator right now.

First, I agree with the stupid notion that calling Odom a reality TV star is coarse and inaccurate. He is a NBA championship ring owner and respected talent. He’s also a man suffering from depression as his marriage to Khloe Kardashian came to its final stages over the past few weeks. I understand depression but I won’t sit here and feel overly sorry for a guy who snorted cocaine, sexual enhancers and whatever else existed at the Love Ranch in powder form. It’s another case of sports fans feeling like they have to stop their own life and feel sorry for a rich guy who made some bad choices.

Odom is more than likely a good guy who bought his teammates shoes and treated them like brothers. That’s great to hear. He seems like a well meaning guy who has gone off the deep end. I just won’t feel too sorry for him. This has nothing to do with basketball and everything to do with perspective.

There are several people around the world and even athletes who are dealing with a worse shake than Odom. Kids battling diseases. Adults battling diseases. Unfortunate cases without a happy resolution. My mom works as a nurse at a St. Louis Hospital so I understand sad stories. My dad, now retired, worked for decades at a hospital and told my brother and I painful stories about what he saw.

There’s sadness and despair all over this world and it is far worse than a former NBA star dealing with depression by sinking his sorrows into various drugs at a brothel. When I am feeling down, I get a bag of skittles, a quart of ice cream or maybe a glass of whiskey and drink until I feel numb to pain as I sit in my office. That’s a rough night for me folks. No naked bodies, drugs or desolate parking lots needed. This isn’t the first time Odom has partied beyond his bodily limits either so let’s not feel too sorry for him.

Lamar Odom was chasing a lot more than depression out there in the desert. His problems run much deeper and will need tons of reshaping if he makes it out of this ordeal alive. It’s unfortunate yet not tear inducing.

Odom needs serious help. He doesn’t need a pity party.

Thanks for reading if you did,

DLB

Yogi Berra: Truly one of a kind

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On May 12th, in 1925, Yogi Berra was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Launched down into the world flat in the roaring 20’s and full of life, Berra made the most out of it. He played 19 years in the Major Leagues. He served his country in the Navy(something that may have kept him from being a Cardinal). He created the most unforgettable one liners that baseball figures would never forget. He did all of this with a smile and didn’t stop until he decided the world had enough. On Tuesday, at the tender old age of 90 years, Berra passed away.

One of the worst things in life is a waste of talent. We see all over the place. Berra did the opposite. He picked up his talent, his name and used it well. He was signed by the New York Yankees in 1943 and made his debut at the age of 21 a year later. Berra hit a home run and collected two hits on that fall day near the end of the season. It was the start of a career that few would forget but many in this modern world don’t know enough about. Berra played 19 seasons, 18 of them and all but 4 games in a Yankees uniform. Not bad for a guy who proclaimed baseball to be 90 percent mental and the other half physical.

Berra played in 18 All Star games and won 3 MVP awards. He averaged 27 home runs, 26 stolen bases and an .830 OPS over his career, according to Baseball Reference. Berra won 10 World Series titles with the Yankees, but people remember him more for saying “it ain’t over til it’s over” or “when you come to a fork in the road, take it.” To many, he is the character instead of the great baseball player, but he was the latter in full.

He never shrunk from the massive spotlight that New York can shine on players and watch them melt. Berra was the Big Apple’s match for nearly two decades and in his last season with the Yankees, hit .293 and slugged .493 at the age of 38. He didn’t play too long. When it was time he stepped down but he did so with these unique labels at the end of his run.

Nobody has won more World Series titles than Berra. No catcher has won more MVP awards. He played with Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle, never got their spotlight but made his mark. No catcher made more All Star Games than Berra’s 18. If you include his time as a player, coach and manager, he appeared in 21 different World Series matchups.

Most teenagers know him as the cool guy in the barber shop in the Aflac commercial. You know, where the duck walks into the shop and talks about the insurance and Berra goes, “If you get hurt and miss work, it won’t hurt to miss work.”

He also loved life, his family and baseball. He once said that love is the greatest thing in life, but baseball is pretty good too. Unlike many of his famous quotes, which he claimed to never ever say, that quote and baseball and life rung more true than any of them.

Part of being a true baseball fan is remembering its heroes, both large and small. Unlike most of today’s giants of the game, Berra was 5 foot 7 inches tall and weighed 185 pounds. He didn’t need to stand taller than most when his game already did. He threw out baserunners, hit more bad balls than anybody and only struck out 414 times in 7,555 at bats.

Yogi Berra lived a full life, on and off the field. Every kid, teenager and adult living today should know who Yogi is because of his unique name and sense of humor, but please know that he was one of the best to ever play his position and he did it in the biggest city.

Everybody in life wishes to be special or unique. Rest in peace, Yogi. You were truly one of a kind.

Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s final fight: What We Learned

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There’s nothing in life that leaves a worse taste in your mouth than being swindled out of your hard earned cash. Of course, if you were dumb enough to hand it over to something so mildly promising, the joke is on you.

The promo reel for Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Andre Berto fighting in Las Vegas Saturday night promised something special. What paying customers got was a snoozefest. Same as it ever was with a Mayweather fight.

Here are five things we learned about Mayweather Jr.’s supposed “final” ride-

  1. Mayweather Jr. picked an easy final ride. For his 49th win, Floyd picked a guy who had lost 3 of his last 6 fights. Embarrassing for a so called pound for pound champ.
  2. The clinic for getting beat by Floyd isn’t rocket science. Berto leans his head in and Mayweather Jr. pounds him with jabs. Berto isn’t fast enough. When Berto tries to land something heavy, he misses and Floyd lands 3-4 counter shots. Snooze.
  3. Boxing is greedy. 65 dollars for that. Hold up. One can only hope the sport follows the UFC and gives back some of its earnings to the sport and its younger generation and development systems.
  4. The chances of Floyd fighting again are very good but not so good for a rematch against Manny Pacquiao.
  5. A lot of boxing fans were lost this weekend because they paid for this fight.

Sometimes you spend money on that shiny toy that looks good in the packaging only to find it fall apart when the bands are cut and the wrapping is thrown in the trash. Boxing didn’t die Saturday night. It just didn’t grow.

The best thing about it. The sport’s big villain may finally be done. That’s also the worst thing. Boxing may have lost its most interesting “must beat” participant.

Doubting Peyton Manning is futile

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(Photo by Anthony J. Causi)
(Photo by Anthony J. Causi)

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, Peyton Manning is 39 years old and still winning football games. Four neck surgeries. Constant doubt. Predators lurking waiting for him to finally fall and the man just keeps firing pigskin ribbons like he just stepped on a football field. Unlike former Iron Man Brett Favre, Manning has made adjustments and endured. He’s surprised many, including his boss and former Bronco legend John Elway and his rival, Tom Brady.

When Manning had a rough opening week this season, a game that followed a weak preseason round, the vultures flew in. He only threw one touchdown, and had a passing rating below 50. Oh no, he’s finally done. Call the referee or the NFL quarterback coroner. Peyton may finally be relegated to being a commercial comedy king. Well, four days later, on Thursday night against Kansas City at Arrowhead Stadium, Manning turned back the clock to…well last season.

He threw for 256 yards, 3 touchdowns and one interception. More importantly, with his team down 24-17 late with 1:51 left in the game, Manning led the team down the field in the 2nd most hostile environment for a road team like a technician. It didn’t matter the defense laid in front of him. He was going downfield and that’s all. He led them back and tied the game at 24 with a 19 yard touchdown pass to Emmanuel Sanders with 36 seconds left. Vintage Peyton Manning on full display for the world to see.

Peyton Manning isn’t done yet. He won’t let the 2014 playoff one and done be his swan song. He still wants that second championship to easily put him into the top 5 quarterbacks list. Everyone’s list. He did something else on Thursday. He threw for his 70,000th yard. That’s right. Manning has thrown for 70,122 yards, or in other words, nearly 40 miles worth of completed passes. He’s thrown for 533 touchdowns, or 533 more than me or you.

The world of sports is a frenzy and causes many to jump to conclusions. We all do it. The speed of this mobile cultural driven world means move from one topic to the next. Most people want to deem Manning finished because it means they can move onto the next hot specimen in waiting. Well, as the old cowboy said when he was down on one knee, Manning has something to say about that.

We need the Peyton’s to stay upright. He’s a throwback, a man who doesn’t use twitter or take shots at other players. A guy who doesn’t like he belongs on the front of a bodybuilders magazine. He’s the classic pocket passer who has been silencing doubters ever since he made it into the league. People said he didn’t have the arm strength when he broke into the NFL in 1998. 17 years later, they are saying the same thing and Manning just keeps completing passes. It’s not how hard you can throw in this league. It’s about how accurate you can be under pressure. In a new system with a patchwork offensive line, Manning is still getting it done.

Go ahead and keep doubting him. Manning seems to like this kind of pressure and won’t make excuses for being old as long as the doubters refrain from thinking a bad week means a burial is in order.

Talk at me, @buffa82 on Twitter

Why St. Louis fans should care about the Rams

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If you care about football in St. Louis, you should care about the Rams. It’s as simple as that as the Rams have their second home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers today. There’s an old saying that I can’t let go as I creep up in age. Don’t let something that you can’t control affect you. The situation with the Rams and how the team arrived at this fork in the road is not a fault on the fans and that is why they shouldn’t give up just yet.

For the past 10 years, while losing teams and miserable times mounted around the Edward Jones Dome and Rams park, they showed up to watch something begin again. Unlike most fan bases of losing teams, the Rams fans never gave up and whatever owner Stan Kroenke “didn’t” say, the attendance was respectable. Watching this Rams team play football the past decade is the equivalent to watching a car suddenly lose power steering and go screaming off a cliff, rolling down the nearside hill hitting every bump on the way down. It hasn’t been easy.

Yes, the owner has something to do with that. Kroenke makes Harrison Ford on a talk show seem chatty. He doesn’t say a word but he sure does speak volumes with headlines. He pushes pawns all across the board, wages the future of his football team on a dream lot in California, and doesn’t say a word to fans. He helped bring the team here and waited for his opportunity to snag ownership of them back. He’s never fully invested in this team in St. Louis. If Stan played poker, he’d make even more money. His poker face is a 24/7 gauntlet. Don’t even try to read it. I’ll sum it up. It reads, “I don’t care about you.”

That doesn’t mean stay away from the games downtown. Do St. Louis a favor and SHOW UP. Cheer for your team. Show them that you care. That is the best and only way to hurt Stan’s plan. Show that the city is a viable place for NFL football. Pack the dome. Light up the city on Sunday mornings and afternoons. Don’t let the hard work of stadium task force leaders Dave Peacock and Bob Blitz die in vain. Create a frenzy and see what happens. If the team does leave, at least you can say you did something about it. You did your best. As a football fan pleading for its team to remain in St. Louis, it’s the only thing you can do.

The Rams team is a young group once again. A bunch of young men trying to create something special out of improbable parts. Their quarterback, Nick Foles, is a transplant from Philadelphia, looking to start anew. Their running back corps consists of a few bodies. The receiving core is a group of men still trying to find their true potential and seeing their 4th or 5th different quarterback throw passes towards them. The defense is the white snake of this plaza. Powered by defensive end Robert Quinn, defensive tackle Aaron Donald and linebacker James Laurinaitis. Their front seven is among the best in football, a feared group of tacklers that dares opposing teams to run the ball.

Yes, the secondary isn’t exemplary and the offensive line will need patch work throughout the season. With a new offensive coordinator comes hope of a more exciting system but also the dreaded Jeff Fisher override. Will the passing game be opened up? Will Tavon Austin and Brian Quick be turned loose? Or will the Rams die via check down boredom? All of that is up in the air.

Here’s what is known. There are 16 games to play, and eight of them are at home. The fans need to show their pride one more time. Stand up for not only the Rams but the prospect of NFL action in St. Louis in general. Instead of grunting about Stan and his evil ways from your chair in St. Louis county, get down there and mix it up with the fans. Tailgate, barbecue, scream, shout and cheer. This young team will be empowered by it. This fanbase will seem stronger than ever. The city of St. Louis may just fly on it.

It’s all we can do. Show up, make our presence known and see what happens. It all starts today.

Remembering Roberto Clemente: Baseball’s “Good Guy”

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21. A number that signifies complete freedom for young people, the final breaking of the leash and new beginnings. For Pittsburgh Pirates devotees and baseball addicts, it’s a bittersweet reminder of one of the game’s true heroes. Roberto Clemente died on December 31st, 1972 in a plane crash delivering aid to Nicaragua, who were the victims of an earthquake. He was 38 years old. Like St. Louis Cardinals legend Stan Musial, Clemente’s greatness reached outside the game. He was a knight, someone who cared more about others than himself, a lesson that should be taught in a manual to every rookie in the game today.

All 30 MLB teams honored Clemente on Wednesday. His #21 will be mowed into every field and jerseys will carry it as well. Every game will have a special nod to the player who signified charity, love and passion inside the Steel City for 18 seasons. While he was one of the best off the field, Clemente was quite good on it. He was a 12 time All Star and a 12 time winner of the gold glove in right field. He won the MVP in 1966 and finished in the top 10 in voting 8 other times. He collected over 200 hits and hit over .350 twice in his career, finishing with a lifetime batting average of .317 and an OPS of .834. If you want to go with WAR, Clemente’s cumulative WAR was 94.5 over his career. All the while, he also led the league in smiles, something that so many ballplayers forget to do these days.

The Roberto Clemente award is what brings out teams and players tonight in honoring the ballplayer. The Cardinals nominee is their ace pitcher, Adam Wainwright. A man who stops at nothing in helping his community and team grow in ways previously thought impossible. Wainwright started a fantasy football league that donates all of its funds to charity. Throughout every season, Wainwright goes to area hospitals seeing kids and meeting with families. He takes what Clemente did very seriously. When you wear a jersey for a city, the reach it provides one person with is remarkable. Carlos Beltran, a native of Puerto Rico as well, won the award in 2013.

Many people don’t know about the remarkable story that connects Pirates’ second baseman Neil Walker to Clemente. Walker’s dad was going to get on that plane with Clemente and the man told Walker’s dad to stay and enjoy the party. Due to that advice, he went on to have a family and four children, including the current Pirates second baseman. In an instant, Roberto Clemente showed how one small bit of advice can extend a life.

He died doing what he loved. Showing support, care and truly helping his hometown in Puerto Rico as well as other Latin American countries, full of people who drastically needed the supplies he was delivering. He was taken too soon but didn’t die in vain. Many baseball players and human beings around the globe have taken his acts of kindness and pushed it further. That’s where the award comes from. The award is given to the player that  “best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual’s contribution to his team”. Fans and the media vote on the award, and you can place your vote right here.

I never got to watch the man play baseball but, like Bob Gibson and Stan Musial, Clemente is at the top of my list of people to travel back in time to watch play once I find a time machine. He was truly one of the best players to ever step on a baseball field and also one of the game’s most legendary humanitarians. His influence will be felt for decades. This award is a way to honor and remember one of the game’s “good guys”.

Nick Foles makes a grand entrance with Rams

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The mark of a great quarterback is refusing to give in when the stakes are set high against your team and the momentum isn’t pointed in your direction. The great ones create their own momentum and bring their team back against adversity. On Sunday in front of a fiery St. Louis crowd begging for something to hang their pride on, Nick Foles brought the Rams back, steering them towards a 34-31 upset victory over the NFC champion Seattle Seahawks.

Instead of taking to Twitter to promise victory like Russell Wilson did, Foles just went to work when the whistle blew. After a few hiccups early including a sack strip and fumble return for a touchdown and a few ill-advised throws, Foles was dynamic in the second half in reversing another fate that would have been labeled “Second Half dooms Rams again.”

For years, that has been the Rams motto. Start fast and deflate quicker. Foles wasn’t going to have any of that Sunday. He went 18-27 for 297 yards, throwing the game tying touchdown to Lance Kendricks late in the 4th quarter and also rushing for a touchdown earlier in the game. He completed 66 % of his passes and didn’t think twice about the Seahawks aggressive defense. Some young players may have let the early troubles get to them and mentally shut down, but it seems like the harder the situation became Sunday, the tighter the focus Foles showed.

This is a quarterback driven league and every team treats their QB like a general, rather they are a star or not. The defense can play a great game, but if the quarterback can’t do something with the ball in their hands it all goes to waste. The offense needs him to guide them down the field. Be their navigator at all times. If the QB fails, the operation is finished. Forget the flags, the coaches, the head sets and the practice.

It hasn’t been easy for Foles. He was set up behind Michael Vick in Philadelphia and had to wait for his opportunity to shine. When he did in 2013, winning 8 games and throwing for 27 touchdowns, the credit was given to Chip Kelly’s offense and not Foles. He came into his first game with St. Louis with a 15-9 record but little respect and credit given. He was looked at as injury prone for damage taken to his shoulder in 2014. Any Rams fan that had reservations about the trade for Foles isn’t holding them today. The 26 year old has turned heads with his performance.

Sure, it’s only one game. It’s just a blip on the schedule for most NFL teams. For the Rams, it was oxygen to the brain and blood flow to the heart. The fans needed this. His teammates needed him to be sharp. Foles’ unsung hero work in the second half against the Seahawks may not make the Sportscenter highlight reel or get a four minute speech from Jon Gruden about mental toughness, but it will be remembered by anybody who was in attendance Sunday. Along with a stout defense that stopped Marshawn Lynch and Russell Wilson when it mattered, Foles was the X-factor in the Rams first win.

His postgame Twitter comments was more team oriented.

The rest of the schedule won’t be easy but the Rams have all the confidence in the world at the moment. To them, the possibilities are endless. That is the power of a huge Week 1 victory. The fanbase is energized and the rest of the schedule doesn’t look at tough. Nick Foles will probably have a few bad games and rough moments with the Rams. It’s a team pre-requisite to suffer through harsh times. However, Sunday’s play showed a taste of what the man brings to this team and why the Rams extended him before the first snap.

Nick Foles has something to prove and that is he can produce results in any offensive system and with any team. He’s off to a good start in St. Louis.

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Mayweather Jr./Berto match isn’t worth your money

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Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Spare yourself the 65 dollars tonight’s boxing match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Andre Berto will cost you. It’s not worth it. It’s not worth anybody’s cash or time. Call it a snoozefest and something you can merely read about later on during your morning coffee on Sunday or gently forget about.

For his “supposed” last fight, Floyd is picking a fighter who used to be good but has lost 3 of his last 6 fights. Not a pretender but definitely not a contender to take away Mayweather’s flawless record. Berto is simply no match for Floyd, a superior defensive fighter and a man known for aggravating and picking apart offensive punchers like Berto. In order to obtain his 49th win, Floyd bypassed Amir Khan, Danny Garcia and Keith Thurman so he could sleepwalk over Berto. It’s disgusting and laughable.

It doesn’t help that a report was released this week showing Mayweather Jr. took an illegal IV injection before the Manny Pacquiao fight, a match that the Filipino champion also wasn’t completely healthy for. It’s a swipe of dirt on Mayweather Jr. that will only anger his detractors even more and promise few people care or watch this fight. It was a mix of saline and vitamins but it may as well have been salt and pepper because the amount he took was over the limit and it was before a big fight. If the claims that it was used for dehydration are the raft Floyd and company are floating on, I am not buying it. It’s sketchy, crap and suggests that Mr. Clean Mayweather Jr. may be anything but. It doesn’t matter what the USADA says either. The amount of fluids Mayweather Jr. took was against what WADA(the rules that which the USADA follows) allows before a fight.

This is greedy dealings. If Floyd wanted to give back to boxing or help the sport, he could have made this fight a non Pay Per View fight. He’s made more money than any man can possibly spend and could have made his exit a true fan favorite event. The opponent he picked isn’t exciting enough to make a sleepy styled fighter like Floyd interesting enough to pay big money for. After the disappointment that came with the Pacquiao fight, handing over cash for a Mayweather-Berto match is pointless. Save the money and take your husband or wife out for a wonderful steak dinner. Boxing doesn’t deserve your attention tonight.

Meet Todd Gurley, the Rams new running back

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Since I am not your average college football addict, when I heard the name Todd Gurley this spring, I wasn’t completely aware right off the bat who the Rams got with the 10th pick in the 2015 draft. And since I am a George Carlin fan, I immediately thought, “Well, Todd sure is a weak name for a boy.” However, if you heard my neighbors down here in Little Rock, Arkansas, you got all the analysis a man could need. In other words, sounds effects.

“Whoooa!” “Oh mannnn!” “That guyyyyyy!” Gurley, who collected touchdowns at the University of Georgia like you collect diet cokes on a long day at work, put the Arkansas Razorbacks through the trenches during his time in college. So when my neighbor told me months ago, “your Rams got a great running back,” I couldn’t help but smile. His shoe prints were still being felt down south.

The 21 year old Gurley came into Rams camp fresh off knee surgery in the offseason, which has slowed his development this summer and will keep him out of preseason games(a good thing when you think about it). Gurley has started to practice with the team and looks as imposing as his draft card read back in April. The 6 foot 1 231 pound back drew comparisons to Marshall Faulk at the draft, and NFL draft analyst Mike Mayock liked the comparison a lot. His description of Gurley for NFL.com puts it bluntly why the Rams took this kid.

“I like the Marshawn Lynch comparison. St. Louis wants to win games the same way that Seattle and San Francisco do in the same division, that is by running the football and playing great defense and special teams. Gurley has Olympic-type speed. I love this pick for St. Louis, which already has a great defense and Gurley will help out Nick Foles.”-Mayock

Gurley doesn’t come with the wrapper untouched. He was suspended for four games for accepting 3,000 dollars to autograph memorabilia and his knee had other teams wondering if he could get that burst of speed back post ACL surgery. However, it has been nine months since Gurley’s surgery, and his limited participation in practice drills continues a normal rehab. An injury at an early age does project a healthy return.

There’s a lot to be excited for. Gurley was the second freshman in Georgia history to run for 1,000 yards and set a new record with 17 touchdowns. In a head to head clash with Clemson, Gurley ran for 154 yards and 2 touchdowns in 2013. Watching the man work in videos, Gurley has a unique blend of speed and power. This bulldog has some bite. He can barrel through you or spin away. In 2014, he collected 62 percent of his yards after contact so his motor doesn’t stop when he is hit, it’s just getting warmed up. Instead of getting wrapped up by linebackers, Gurley will shred them like a house of cards and can cut back to the outside. He’s a multi-dimensional back who will fit right into head coach Jeff Fisher’s offense.

With Nick Foles driving the offense downfield yet needing that safety valve in a reliable back, Gurley should get plenty of action when the knee is stable and ready to roam. Together with Tre Mason and Benny Cunningham, Fisher is building a Game of Thrones type kingdom with his running backs and that is how the Rams will run for years. Gurley is a Fisher prototype.

The silver lining in Gurley’s suspension and injury is that he has plenty of football life in him. Unlike a guy like Jake Locker, Gurley didn’t lose a lot of his impact talent and tenacity in ugly college football battles. He’s still a brand new toy with some of the plastic attached. Unlike quarterbacks, running backs like Gurley don’t need to digest an entire system or adapt from shotgun to under the huddle. The transformation is apparent but not overwhelming. Gurley, when healthy, should be a force in this offense and an impact talent.

When it comes to young players in the draft, look at the tape and forget the combine. I don’t care how he did when the stadium was quiet and he was jumping, sprinting and moving without anyone around him. I want to know how he did in a packed house in Georgia with the pressure of the SEC barring down on him. That’s where the true analysis is dug up. From what I’ve seen, Gurley looks like a weapon of mass destruction. A healthy knee and discipline is all the kid needs. Todd is no “girley” man on the football field.

Under the tutelage of Fisher and company, Todd Gurley should run a long way for the St. Louis Rams.