Today from the St Louis Post-Dispatch:Long before the cheers were once again ringing in his ears, long before there was that dazzling moment when so many emotions came rumbling up from his gut and darned near made him cry, long before he had sprawled out onto his chest, skidded across the end zone turf and caught (all things considered) perhaps the most amazing reception of his football life, Danario Alexander knew he had to do something truly spectacular.This was a few days ago, before Sunday's nervous 20-17 victory over the San Diego Chargers at the Edward Jones Dome. Here he was in the quiet of the trainer's room at Rams Park on Tuesday morning, and the rookie wide receiver from Mizzou was surrounded by a flock of trainers, medical staff and coaches, each one scrutinizing him, poking and probing him like he was a lab experiment.They wanted to know if he was really ready to play an NFL football game. They wanted to know if he had done enough physical rehab on his surgically repaired left knee to withstand the violent rigors of a pro football game. They had watched him all summer long and through early autumn, but still they weren't sure if he was ready to go, even if he kept looking impressive in practice, even if he kept telling him that he was good to go.So this would be Alexander's closing argument to convince everyone in that room that he should get final clearance to go on the field for his NFL debut."All right, what more do I have to do to convince you that I'm ready to play?" Alexander asked, to no one in particular.All he got were a lot of shoulder shrugs, but no definitive answers."Okay then, how about this?" Alexander said.He swung his arms in rhythm, bent his knees deep like he was about to do a standing broad jump, but instead suddenly propelled his body straight up into the air.His long legs whipping out in front of him, his feet nearly scraping the ceiling, and now he was in a pike position, upside down about four feet in the air ... in the blink of an eye, he uncoiled his body out of a pike as if he were some lithe munchkin gymnast, not a 6-foot-5, 215-pound NFL wide receiver with a supposedly gimpy knee.Alexander had just stuck a standing back flip in front of a room full of dropped jaws.End of discussion.So now here he was walking out of the Edward Jones Dome on Sunday afternoon, a little more than an hour after his spectacular four-catch, 72-yard, 1-TD pro debut (all done, by the way, within the first 16 minutes of the game), with his two-year-old son Danario Jr. hiked up on his shoulders and the rest of his family in tow. And three generations worth of Alexanders couldn't stop smiling. Mom and dad held the door for him and their grandson, and Alexander's two brothers stood at his side as a flock of Rams fans dashed his way armed with Sharpies, game programs and a ton of good wishes.If this seemed like the perfect ending to one heck of an improbable comeback — college superstar on the verge of NFL fame wrecks his knee at the Senior Bowl, doesn't get drafted, doesn't even get signed as an undrafted free agent, battles back from all sorts of impossible medical odds and stars in his first NFL game — Alexander wanted to make sure he had this moment all in proper perspective."This was great, but I haven't done anything yet," he said. "I caught a touchdown, but I haven't made it. Not yet."But he is finally on his way, and there were quite a few spectators in the place who were familiar with the trials and tribulations he endured since leaving Mizzou last spring to get to this point. Too many knee injuries, too many surgeries, too many NFL teams that had no faith at all that he could ever regain the wonderful athletic gifts that made him everybody's All-America a year ago.Yet somehow he did it. Somehow, Alexander was activated from the practice squad on Tuesday and out there running with the first unit in practice a day later. Sunday just turned into an inspiring extension of this storybook tale.He caught his first pass barely five minutes into the game, a simple 5-yard slant. On his second catch of the day, Alexander went down the left sideline and caught a 16-yard fade pass over Chargers 6-1 cornerback Antoine Cason, who looked like a little point guard trying to fend for a rebound against a lengthy small forward.The second quarterback Sam Bradford let the ball go, I remember saying:"Wow, look. The Rams threw a fade pattern."One moment later, I amended my observation."Wow, look. The Rams CAN throw a fade pattern."Yes people, a healthy Alexander just added a new and important wrinkle to the Rams' offensive attack. He is the big-body wideout who can get down that sideline and create problems for any defense willing to play single coverage on the outside.Two plays later, we saw exactly why a healthy Alexander can be such a potentially dangerous weapon. On second and six from the San Diego 38, Alexander split wide left and at the snap, Cason gave him an eight-yard cushion. Within seven or eight strides, Alexander had loped even with Cason at the 20. Three strides later, at the 10 yard line, Alexander was two strides ahead of Cason. So instead of jockeying off the cornerback's outer shoulder and hoping for a more difficult throw from Bradford to drop down into the corner of the end zone, Alexander was able to make an adjustment and cut inside and Bradford laid it out for him.As he crossed into the end zone, Alexander dove for the ball and hauled in the first NFL touchdown of his career to give the Rams a 10-0 first-quarter lead. As he rose to his feet, Alexander stood up, stretched out his arms, raised his hands high over his head and bathed in the cheers of the 52,000 delirious fans who fully understood the magnitude of what he had just accomplished.This wasn't about the singular moment. This was about the journey from the depths of a shattered football dream to the indescribable high of overcoming insurmountable odds.Alexander said he almost cried when he rose to his feet. Up in the stands, in Section 110, just behind the Rams' bench, Danario's family wasn't holding back the tears."Aww shoot, I was making all the noise," Danario's father Larry said after the game outside the family lounge. "I was screaming 'THAT'S MY SON! THAT'S MY SON!' His mom couldn't even get up from her seat she was so happy and in tears."When someone asked Alexander what that open-armed celebration meant, he didn't hesitate."I was basically saying, 'I'm here,'" said Alexander, a smile spreading across his face. "After all the things I've been through, and for that play to go just how it went, I kind of got emotional."It felt like a perfect ending. But it might have been something better than that.Perhaps it was a perfect beginning.
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Even Jor Bryant gave Otis some props for some slightly out of the box reads in this thread. Nobody hits 100%. Kudos for having the stones to lay it out there on unpopular players like he did.... even bigger kudos for getting em right at a pretty good clip. :X
OP feeling unappreciated.. lol
