Rams release Timmerman
February 26th, 2007 | by Kevin Morris |
By
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Monday, Feb. 26 2007
The news was unwelcome but not unexpected for Adam Timmerman.
The Rams’ guard, a stalwart on the team’s offensive line for the better part of
the decade, was informed by coach Scott Linehan late Monday morning that he was
being released by the club.
“He just said, ‘We’ve got some young guys that have a good chance of
developing,’ ” Timmerman said. “I was like, ‘Well, OK.’ There’s not much you
can say at that point.”
The Rams were the NFL’s losingest team in the 1990s, when they signed Timmerman
away from Green Bay in free agency after the 1998 season. Timmerman was
immediately inserted into the starting lineup at right guard and stayed there
the next eight seasons, playing in two Super Bowls for the Rams and earning two
Pro Bowl berths.
Timmerman’s combination of toughness and athleticism helped the Rams compete on
an equal footing with San Francisco, then the power in the NFC West. The Rams
went from worst to first in 1999, Timmerman’s first season with the club,
winning Super Bowl XXXIV over Tennessee. Timmerman played in 10 playoff games
and two Super Bowls in St. Louis.
He was willing to play in pain, too, playing through an assortment of injuries
over the years while compiling a streak of 204 consecutive regular-season and
playoff games dating back to his rookie season (1995) with the Green Bay
Packers.
But Timmerman missed all but one snap in the Rams’ last three regular season
games in 2006 because of cracked ribs. The Rams won all three of those
contests, with a young offensive line interior that included Richie Incognito
at Timmerman’s right guard spot.
Incognito will open ’06 as the Rams’ starting right guard. Timmerman, dubbed
one of the “Doughnut Brothers” in St. Louis (along with veteran center Andy
McCollum), will attempt to find a job elsewhere in the NFL at age 35.
“I don’t have any doubts that there’s going to be something out there,”
Timmerman said.
