Sam Bradford was born and raised in Oklahoma. He lives there to this day, residing in the north section of Oklahoma City.

Bradford was at home packing for St. Louis Rams organized team activities when a tornado ripped through the nearby town of Moore, leaving a trail of death and destruction in its wake.

“We didn’t get hit, but just watching it live on TV was really hard,” Bradford said Tuesday, according to CBSSports.com. “Then, seeing the photos that have come out … prayers go out to everyone’s who affected by the tornado.

“It’s just really sad. It’s just hard to see that happen. You never think it can happen at home, and then to see something like that … in a city and a state that I love dearly … it’s really hard to look at.”

Tornadoes are part of life in Oklahoma, and this isn’t the first time Bradford has been in close proximity to one. He remembers when Moore was rocked by another destructive tornado in 1999.

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They started a donation drive called #STL4OKC Sam Bradford told News 4’s Steve Savard he feels compelled to help.

All donated goods can be dropped off Thursday from 4 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. at the Tums lot across from Busch Stadium. Goods can also be donated at the Loughborough or Kirkwood Commons from 7a.m. to 7 p.m.

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No. 8: Sam Bradford, St. Louis Rams

Why he’s here

Bradford was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft for a reason. (Well, other than the fact the St. Louis Rams badly needed a quarterback and the next QB drafted that year was Tim Tebow.) Bradford came out of Oklahoma known for his accuracy, NFL arm, and smarts. After three years and 42 starts, Bradford as a pro is tougher to define.

Evaluating Bradford was harder than any quarterback on this list because of the lack of players around him and his offensive system in 2012. Bradford has played for three dramatically different offenses in three seasons. Blaming the surrounding talent is often a cheap excuse because you can isolate quarterback play, but Bradford’s supporting cast often masked solid performances.

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Ray Ray Armstrong spent the better part of the past year searching.

Searching for a place to play football. Searching for the right fit. Searching for an opportunity, any opportunity that would allow him to pursue his lifelong dream.

Once considered a rising star safety at the University of Miami, Armstrong’s seemingly certain path to the NFL first came off the rails in 2011 and was squashed further in 2012.

But a player of Armstrong’s considerable talents can almost always find a chance even if it’s not the one they always envisioned.

So it is that Armstrong is here at Rams Park a part of the Rams’ undrafted rookie class, playing a new position and hoping to show that the promise he once showed can be translated into NFL success.

“I’m excited about the opportunity,” Armstrong said. “It’s a lifelong dream. You want to play in the league so just coming out here, giving it my all and hopefully making that 53. It’s something anybody would want. Anybody would want the chance to come out here and just prove themselves so that’s how I look at it.”

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- The following is a statement from an NFL spokesperson on Rams G Rokevious Watkins:

Rokevious Watkins of the St. Louis Rams has been suspended without pay for the first game of the 2013 regular season for violating the NFL Policy and Program for Substances of Abuse.

Watkins will be eligible to return to the Rams’ active roster on Monday, September 9 following the team’s September 8 game against the Arizona Cardinals.

Watkins is eligible to participate in all offseason and preseason practices and games.

LINK

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The St. Louis Rams made a big splash at the wide receiver position during the NFL Draft. Les Snead & Co. moved up eight spots to get the explosive Tavon Austin. His PIC (Partner in Crime) at West Virginia, Stedman Bailey, was subsequently chosen with the team’s second third-round pick.

Austin brings the speed/elusiveness/video game play-making ability that the Rams have been lacking for years. Bailey gives the Sam Bradford a reliable, sure-handed receiver with speed. At first glance, these wide outs were brought in to replace the departed Danny Amendola (have y’all seen this commercial??? I thought it was freakin’ hilarious!) and Brandon Gibson. But in essence, Tavon is so much more of an explosive weapon than Amendola ever was and Bailey has been quoted as saying he models his game after Steve Smith. Lets hope we get the Carolina Panthers’ Steve Smith and not the one we are more familiar with.

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The St. Louis Rams added another offensive tackle this week, a big one. The team signed Terrell Brown of Mississippi, who measures a towering 6’10, 388 pounds. That officially makes him one big dude. The only thing longer than his 92″ wingspan may be his odds to make the final roster.

Offensive linemen need to be pretty flexible, bending down, springing up and moving to keep track with today’s speedy pass rushers. It cost him playing time at Ole Miss, where he saw the field exactly twice in his senior season there. Still, he had plenty of NFL teams checking him out at Mississippi’s pro day this year (full results for Brown’s workouts are here). With those kind of measureables, he’s worth a look.

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The “Ground Chuck” nickname for Chuck Knox fit the former NFL coach’s old-school reputation even if it sometimes misrepresented his approach to offensive football.

Quarterbacks John Hadl and Dave Krieg went to Pro Bowls with Knox as their head coach. Steve Largent retired as the NFL’s all-time receiver and landed in the Pro Football Hall of Fame largely for what he accomplished under Knox.

Not that I would question Knox’s conservative reputation entirely. Football Outsiders ranked the former Los Angeles Rams, Buffalo Bills and Seattle Seahawks coach 84th out of 84 qualifying coaches on its “Aggressiveness Index” showing fourth-down tendencies from 1991 through last season. Knox was least likely to go for it on fourth down outside situations when teams were obviously playing from behind.

Football Outsiders also produced a chart showing where coaches ranked in 2012 alone. The St. Louis Rams’ Jeff Fisher and the Arizona Cardinals’ Ken Whisenhunt fell on the more aggressive side. The Seahawks’ Pete Carroll, ranked 13th out of 84 coaches from 1991 to present, appeared to be less aggressive last season even though his team famously executed a fake punt while leading the Bills by 30 points.

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Coach Rick Venturi assesses Rams chances in NFC West, talking about how the division went from NFC Worst to NFC Best. Venturi loves the job Snead and Fisher have done turning the team culture around. (1:18)

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Rams quarterback Sam Bradford was at practice Tuesday as the team held its first OTA of the offseason. But his mind was in Oklahoma City, his hometown, where the devastating tornado hit Monday afternoon.

In an interview with Clark Judge of cbssports.com, Bradford said, “It was definitely difficult (at practice) today in the sense that I was constantly checking my phone, and I found out two of our strength coaches at the University of Oklahoma lost their homes yesterday to the tornado. So you’re constantly checking your phone and making sure they’re not finding any more bodies and making sure everyone’s been accounted for. So, yeah, my mind’s definitely been there most of the day today.”

In fact, Bradford was home Monday when the twister wreaked havoc on the southern part of the city. He lives north of Oklahoma City.

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