Trade Steven Jackson. A Not Modest Proposal
Dear St Louis Rams,
Please trade Steven Jackson. This isn't a modest proposal, therefore not a satirical suggestion. As a St. Louisan I wouldn't want to see Steven Jackson leave. He has become a model of professionalism for the city, the leading rusher in your franchise's history and, barring injury, in the final three games will rush for 1,000 yards for the seventh consecutive year. But I think he is under-appreciated in his community and among Rams fans. Much like Marc Bulger, who was cursed with replacing a borderline hall-of-famer in Kurt Warner, Jackson had the unfortunate timing to supplant first-ballot hall-of-famer Marshall Faulk.
Despite his 11,735 yards from scrimmage (55th all-time, 7th among active players) and sixty touchdowns (139th all-time, 19th among active), your team has won just thirty-seven games in Jackson's eight seasons. It is a spectacular feat of futility. Has there ever been a running back who's suffered such simultaneous misery and success between the endzones? Has there ever been a franchise which has struggled to score touchdowns despite hiring a series of "offensive geniuses" to fill the coaching ranks (Martz, Linehan, McDaniels)? Is there anyone on your sidelines who will stand up to the idiot who wants to throw the ball on first and goal from the one?
Please Rams, don't cry, I know it's been a rough year. Expectations were unrealistic after the sudden improvement from 1-15 to 7-9. Bandwagon jumpers who don't understand the complexity of NFL scheduling never realized that playing the AFC West and NFC South is slightly easier than eight games versus the NFC East and AFC North. They probably didn't have the foresight to consider how the extra two variant games, based on the standings, would increase the difficulty level from Redskins and Lions to the previous two Super Bowl champions.
There are other factors (excuses) for the terrible product you've blinded your fans with this calendar year: injuries, short preseason, limited time to install a complex offensive system with a developing quarterback, the fact that you hired an offensive coordinator who runs a complex system despite having a young quarterback - and young receivers - and young tackles, not having a specific coach for your developing quarterback even though you're inevitably going to lose that offensive coordinator the next time a head coaching job (Chiefs) is open. Most of these detriments have to do with poor organizational management and not the game of football.
Regardless, by any reasonable calculation you, the St. Louis Rams, are awful. The only redeeming factor of your putrid product in the last seven years has been Steven Jackson. That is why you must trade him. I do not want to pretend that loyalty is something that exists between players and management in the sports world. I don't believe it exists between players and fans. All nostalgic remembrances of eras in which loyalty existed are sales pitches for NFL Films DVD sets and throwback jerseys. So to ask you, as a matter of kindness, to ship your prized possession off to a contender will seem unfathomable.
It is NFL policy to treat backs like horses, to run them until they're at the stud-farm or the glue factory. (Insert Travis Henry joke here) However, Jackson has survived longer than the masses of thousand-yard backs broken within a handful of seasons. His statistics, and relative youth, connect him along a path towards greatness. What's missing from this legendary recipe is a chance at winning a title. It may seem a bold statement to those who believe in the illusion of parity, but he will not get a chance to win, or compete, with a team like the Rams. You may have delusions of grandeur, fueled by historic turnarounds by other franchises, but that is not the future for your team, even in the NFC West.
Steven Jackson is an elite back. Remember when he rushed for over 1,400 yards for your 1-15 2009 team? That has never been done. Ever. Teams who win one measly game don't have 1,400 yard backs. Teams who have only one win, have lost that running back to injury. And you've lost him to injury plenty of times. Yet, he rushes for 1,000 yards a year, like clockwork, though he's only played completed two campaigns.
Eventually that luck will run out for him, and for you. It is time to do him a favor. He's given most of his legs for twenty-eight wins. Let him spend the years he has remaining on a team that can eclipse that total with swifter fortitude. There are perennial title-contenders without elite runners: Green Bay, New Orleans, New England (to a lesser extent - Pittsburgh, Jets, Lions). Give Steven a chance to end his career with a winner. Instead of fading away amidst futility.
Do it for the legacy. Do it for the brief mention on his hall of fame plaque. Do it for the draft picks. Do it because it's the right thing to do for a man who's given his career for blue and gold.
Sincerely,
Sporty
Please trade Steven Jackson. This isn't a modest proposal, therefore not a satirical suggestion. As a St. Louisan I wouldn't want to see Steven Jackson leave. He has become a model of professionalism for the city, the leading rusher in your franchise's history and, barring injury, in the final three games will rush for 1,000 yards for the seventh consecutive year. But I think he is under-appreciated in his community and among Rams fans. Much like Marc Bulger, who was cursed with replacing a borderline hall-of-famer in Kurt Warner, Jackson had the unfortunate timing to supplant first-ballot hall-of-famer Marshall Faulk.
Despite his 11,735 yards from scrimmage (55th all-time, 7th among active players) and sixty touchdowns (139th all-time, 19th among active), your team has won just thirty-seven games in Jackson's eight seasons. It is a spectacular feat of futility. Has there ever been a running back who's suffered such simultaneous misery and success between the endzones? Has there ever been a franchise which has struggled to score touchdowns despite hiring a series of "offensive geniuses" to fill the coaching ranks (Martz, Linehan, McDaniels)? Is there anyone on your sidelines who will stand up to the idiot who wants to throw the ball on first and goal from the one?
Please Rams, don't cry, I know it's been a rough year. Expectations were unrealistic after the sudden improvement from 1-15 to 7-9. Bandwagon jumpers who don't understand the complexity of NFL scheduling never realized that playing the AFC West and NFC South is slightly easier than eight games versus the NFC East and AFC North. They probably didn't have the foresight to consider how the extra two variant games, based on the standings, would increase the difficulty level from Redskins and Lions to the previous two Super Bowl champions.
There are other factors (excuses) for the terrible product you've blinded your fans with this calendar year: injuries, short preseason, limited time to install a complex offensive system with a developing quarterback, the fact that you hired an offensive coordinator who runs a complex system despite having a young quarterback - and young receivers - and young tackles, not having a specific coach for your developing quarterback even though you're inevitably going to lose that offensive coordinator the next time a head coaching job (Chiefs) is open. Most of these detriments have to do with poor organizational management and not the game of football.
Regardless, by any reasonable calculation you, the St. Louis Rams, are awful. The only redeeming factor of your putrid product in the last seven years has been Steven Jackson. That is why you must trade him. I do not want to pretend that loyalty is something that exists between players and management in the sports world. I don't believe it exists between players and fans. All nostalgic remembrances of eras in which loyalty existed are sales pitches for NFL Films DVD sets and throwback jerseys. So to ask you, as a matter of kindness, to ship your prized possession off to a contender will seem unfathomable.
It is NFL policy to treat backs like horses, to run them until they're at the stud-farm or the glue factory. (Insert Travis Henry joke here) However, Jackson has survived longer than the masses of thousand-yard backs broken within a handful of seasons. His statistics, and relative youth, connect him along a path towards greatness. What's missing from this legendary recipe is a chance at winning a title. It may seem a bold statement to those who believe in the illusion of parity, but he will not get a chance to win, or compete, with a team like the Rams. You may have delusions of grandeur, fueled by historic turnarounds by other franchises, but that is not the future for your team, even in the NFC West.
Steven Jackson is an elite back. Remember when he rushed for over 1,400 yards for your 1-15 2009 team? That has never been done. Ever. Teams who win one measly game don't have 1,400 yard backs. Teams who have only one win, have lost that running back to injury. And you've lost him to injury plenty of times. Yet, he rushes for 1,000 yards a year, like clockwork, though he's only played completed two campaigns.
Eventually that luck will run out for him, and for you. It is time to do him a favor. He's given most of his legs for twenty-eight wins. Let him spend the years he has remaining on a team that can eclipse that total with swifter fortitude. There are perennial title-contenders without elite runners: Green Bay, New Orleans, New England (to a lesser extent - Pittsburgh, Jets, Lions). Give Steven a chance to end his career with a winner. Instead of fading away amidst futility.
Do it for the legacy. Do it for the brief mention on his hall of fame plaque. Do it for the draft picks. Do it because it's the right thing to do for a man who's given his career for blue and gold.
Sincerely,
Sporty
Comments