Former Ohio State Buckeye and 2nd round pick by the then St.Louis Rams in the 2009 draft, James Laurinaitis announced his retirement today after spending eight seasons in the league. Laurinaitis had a six year career with the Rams before he signed with the New Orleans Saints in 2016.
He was the leader of the Rams defense for seven seasons where he tallied tackles, 15.5 sacks, nine interceptions, and one forced fumble. His career with the Saints was less than stellar as he was placed on injured reserve with a quad injury. The former Ram also made the 2011 All Rookie team and is the franchise leader in tackles.
Laurinaitis was drafted with the assumption that he would assume the Brian Urlacher/DeMarcus Ware role of being the defensive leader and while he eventually became captain he never found a way to become a star. The Rams drafter Alec Ogletree with the hopes that Laurinaitis would have a tag team partner but he was still unable to elevate himself from very good player to defensive star and that ultimately lead to the Rams choosing not to resign him in 2016.
Many fans considered him to be a bust but that is an unfair characterization. Even though he never became the player he was projected to be, he played every single game for the Rams and he was often the lone productive player during some of the darkest years the Rams ever had. His career at Ohio State was exemplary where he had 365 total tackles, 13 sacks, and nine sacks.
During the days before the team was able to draft a solid front seven, the best part of the Rams defense was watching Laurinaitis chasing down running backs wearing his Legion of Doom war paint. His father was “Road Warrior” Hawk of the famed WWF tag team, the Legion of Doom.
Laurinaitis was a great example of what it meant to be a professional football player and its too bad his career never took off the way it should have.
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