St. Louis Rams: Friday's Rams News and Notes at Noon

Welcome to Friday's St. Louis Rams "News and Notes at Noon", the one-stop midday destination for all major Rams updates and other related information.

Alabama Running Back Trent Richardson to Workout with St. Louis

According to a tweet from Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com, Alabama running back Trent Richardson will workout for the Rams: 

"Mary Kay Cabot‏ @MaryKayCabot   

#Alabama RB Trent Richardson said after his Pro Day workout he has private workouts set up with the #Browns, #Rams and #Bucs, among others.

"

Richardson is the consensus choice as the top running back prospect available in the 2012 NFL Draft and is thought to be a potential consideration for St. Louis at No. 6.  

If indeed taken there, he would provide exemplary injury insurance in the event that Steven Jackson goes down (as he missed four games in 2011), or at the very least, a great one-two tandem and the eventual successor to SJ39.

For much more on Richardson's aforementioned pro day, video of him smashing his running back coach there and the thoughts and analysis of Mike Mayock of the NFL Network, please click here. 

Time For St. Louis To Be All That It Can Be

In a terrific piece for 101sports.com, Randy Karraker expresses in detail his thoughts and analysis on the future of the Rams in St. Louis and looks at the current situation in Los Angeles from many angles.

Karraker discusses how the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission, the city, the county, St. Charles County and the state of Missouri can help to both ensure the Rams stay put.

I highly recommend the above-linked piece as it is an interesting and thought provoking article relative to Rams Nation and the Gateway City.

St. Louis Rams and NFC West Free Agency Grades

Mike Sando of ESPN grades the Rams 2012 Free Agency efforts to this point along with the remainder of the NFC West in this article.  Sando rates the Rams third among the NFC West in the previously mentioned category. 

As one could imagine, he downgrades St. Louis somewhat due to the fact that they failed to land an elite playmaker for Sam Bradford and the Rams offense. 

The Rams have to hope that wide receiver Steve Smith, who was recently signed to a one-year deal, can regain his 2009 form when he caught 107 passes and seven touchdowns in earning a well-deserved Pro Bowl birth before incurring a severe injury late in the 2010 season.

Gregg Rosenthal suggests in this column for nfl.com that Smith could potentially be a terrific bargain signing for St. Louis. 

Los Angeles Stadium Committee Has Been Disbanded 

According to a tweet from Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Rams owner Stan Kroenke is no longer on the L.A. Stadium Committee as it apparently has been terminated or allowed to go inactive:

"Jim Thomas ‏ @jthom1

One Kroenke leftover from NFL owners meetings. He no longer is on the "Los Angeles stadium working group." That committee no longer exists.

"

It is important to note (as it has been far too often misunderstood or unrecognized) that Kroenke was appointed to that committee, as he clarified in 2010 as reported by clanram.com:

"

I was appointed to that committee by the commissioner, just like I was appointed to the TV network committee by the commissioner. I did not volunteer or go 'sign up' for those committees.

I guess because of my background in real estate development the league thought I would be useful on the stadium committee. And I have experience in different markets. That's all there is to that.

"

Many have wrongfully assumed that Kroenke had volunteered for that committee but the aforementioned committee was comprised of individuals who were selected to be there, not people who volunteered for those posts. 

"

 

"

Downtown L.A. Stadium Proposal Appears to be on Shaky Ground 

In a report by Jason Cole of YAHOO! SPORTS, the proposed downtown L.A. stadium proposal appears to be stuck in neutral, at best.

Cole explains the reason the project has apparently stalled out and shares insight into events that led to where things currently stand in terms of how the NFL and NFL owners feel about it.

According to Turf Show Times in this piece, the league had preferred this plan over a separate stadium proposal led by Ed Roski.  The Roski project, as detailed here, appears to be even further away from coming to fruition, according to the same above-linked post from turfshowtimes.com. 

Rams General Manager Les Snead Has Been Busy

According to a column by Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Rams GM Les Snead has been one busy man, as expected amidst the NFL Free Agency period. 

The column reports that the pace has moderated a bit for Snead as the initial wave of free agency has came and went.  

According to Rams owner Stan Kroenke via the above-linked Thomas column, the Rams feel very good about having Snead in place:

"

I think Les fits our model just like Jeff (Fisher) fit our model. Once we had a strong head coach in place, then we started looking for a certain type of individual (at general manager).

We felt really good about Les, and so far Les has done a great job. He brings a lot of energy, a lot of intelligence, and considerable background to the job.

"

Torry Holt to Retire with Rams; Holt Highlights Here 

As most of you probably know by now, former St. Louis superstar wide receiver Torry Holt will sign a one day contract with the Rams next week and then announce his retirement in a press conference from Rams Park on April 4 at 11AM central time.

The Rams have posted a great highlight video with some of "Big Game" Holt's greatest plays at stlouisrams.com.

Play 60 Makes Impact in St. Louis 

The St. Louis Rams have been making strong efforts in the St. Louis community through a multitude of outreaches (especially since Rams Chief Operating Officer and Vice President of Football Operations Kevin Demoff came aboard) in an effort to make a positive impact and to use their platform as an NFL franchise for the betterment of the city and region.

That is a big reason the Rams earned the honor of being named the Philanthropic of the Year in St. Louis in 2010.

The franchise has worked hard to reach out to St. Louis through many means, as mentioned above. One of the avenues utilized has been through a monthly staff day of service where essentially the entire organization takes a day away from the office to serve the city in some capacity. 

For a look at a long report on Rams outreaches including the above-mentioned monthly day of service, please go here. 

The Rams have also taken the time and effort to help out state-wide, as they did in tornado ravaged Joplin, which was devastated by an F-5 tornado last year.

Recently, the Rams performed work centering around the NFL Play 60 program and linebacker James Laurinaitis took part in the process therein, as seen and read here via stlouisrams.com.

Have a great day and a great weekend, STL Rams Nation. 

Shane Gray covers the St. Louis Rams year-round. You are encouraged to check out the rest of his work here and to follow him on Twitter.