Watch out Sam, GK's coming for you
Published: 10/21/2010 11:32 AM
Last Modified: 10/21/2010 11:32 AM
When I was in Indianapolis last winter to cover the NFL Scouting Combine, I knew Gerald McCoy would be the belle of the ball. Even told a few pro football scribes that.
He was. Nearly every reporter walked away from McCoy’s time at the podium either smiling, laughing, shaking their heads or mumbling something like, “Wow, that was great stuff.”
On Sunday, the St. Louis Rams visit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That means among the things Rams QB Sam Bradford has to worry about is his old buddy Gerald McCoy, a Bucs defensive tackle.
Think McCoy intends to take it easy on him? Maybe. Maybe that big ol’ warm heart just means he’s got a lot of hot air. But check out this note I wrote back in February from Lucas Oil Stadium (which came out well before the 2010 schedules):
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Oklahoma's Gerald McCoy has some, let's say, pent-up frustration about Sam Bradford.
McCoy loves Bradford like a brother. They grew up in Oklahoma City competing in youth sports, played basketball together and have been Sooner teammates for four years.
But one of these days, in an NFL game perhaps years away, McCoy hopes he finally gets a clean shot at Bradford.
“I'm gonna kill Sam. I'm gonna kill Sam,” he said during interviews at the NFL Scouting Combine. “I'm gonna kill (him). You get in practice and you get a clean move — a lineman's dream is a clean move and a clear path to the quarterback. In practice, that happened a lot. But I go to Sam and they blow the whistle. Oh, I'm gonna kill him. Kill him.”
That wasn't all. Seems McCoy has been itching to get at Bradford for a while now.
“Our little league (football) team — Sam, I hope you watch this interview — his little league team ran from mine,” McCoy said. “"We were No. 1 and we wanted to play Sam, but he ran from it. That's OK.”
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Eight months later, McCoy, the No. 3 pick in the draft, hasn’t changed his mind about the guy he calls “King Sam” for all the favors and perks Bradford gets — including being selected two spots ahead of him at No. 1.
On Wednesday, during a teleconference with St. Louis-area media, McCoy reaffirmed his stance that Bradford is dead meat. Think about it: the only thing standing between McCoy and Bradford is Rams center Jason Brown.
“I talked to Sam yesterday and we are definitely cool off the field,”' McCoy said. “But once we're on the field, I do not know him. He is No. 8 of the Rams, and that's all I know.”
Said Bradford, “I talked to him a little bit last night and he said he's going to come after me, which is what I expect,” Bradford said. “He's a great player and at Oklahoma he was never allowed to hit me, so I think he's got a lot of built up frustration that he's going to try to take out on Sunday. But, I think our guys are going to do a good job protecting.”
— John E. Hoover
Written by
John E. Hoover
Sports Columnist
