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Fightin' words Rams, Saints engage in trash talking leading up to game
Updated: Friday December 29, 2000 1:22 AM
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- In the first game, there was trash talking. In the second, they added pushing and shoving. Now, the St. Louis Rams and the New Orleans Saints meet for the third time this year with the stakes raised and the animosity remaining. "When you have two teams that already play each other twice a year and then they're trying to take something away from each other, you're bound to have some bad blood," Saints linebacker Darrin Smith said. "They want this bad and so do we. That's bound to cause some tension." The Rams and Saints (10-6) head into Saturday's NFC wild-card game 1-1 against each other. New Orleans, which won the NFC West with a better division record, took the first game in St. Louis. The Rams won the second one last Sunday in New Orleans. "There was a lot of trash talking going on in both games," Saints wide receiver Jake Reed said. "I think those guys started it trying to get our defense out of their game, but we need to stop it and all the other stuff this week. We need to take care of business no matter what they do." That game plan seems to agree with what the Rams also want. But like the Saints, St. Louis feels it was the other guys who started it.
"They've already been saying some things and doing a little yapping in the media," St. Louis tight end Roland Williams said. "We don't want to get caught up in that. We just want to go out there and play big-time football." Last week, there was plenty of pushing and shoving, and at least six group fights that had officials and teammates separating players. The rivalry has grown suddenly, Saints head coach Jim Haslett said, because his team has improved rapidly. For eight years, New Orleans was not much of a factor in the division, failing to achieve even a winning season. This year, that's changed and so have the feelings of conference foes, Haslett said. "I'm sure that both teams don't like each other," he explained. "I think it's nice the Saints are in that position. You couldn't say that last year or the year before that." With the pressure on the defending Super Bowl champions to make the playoffs this year, and on the Saints to erase the stigma of being the only NFL to never win a playoff game, hard feelings are understandable, if uncharacteristic, says St. Louis quarterback Kurt Warner. "With the emotions and the way things were going last week, I think they may have gotten a little bit out of hand," he said. "Whether that will be a factor in this game, I can't say for sure. "If I were a guessing man, I would guess that the emotion will still be there." But he doesn't expect so much trash talking and rough stuff.
Rams head coach Mike Martz told his team to cool it this weekend, Warner said. Haslett did the same thing with the Saints. "I talked to them last week about it, too, but it didn't help," Haslett said. "Yeah, we talked about it. I said to just play football and don't worry about that extracurricular activity. You don't have to be shooting your mouth off, just go out and play a hard game." When the league office called to tell him who would officiate the game, they also said it would be called closely, Haslett said. "We're going to be smart, but we're definitely not going to back down," Saints defensive lineman Norman Hand said. "They'll be in here trash talking and trying to intimidate us. But nobody intimidates us." The Rams apparently have shaken off midseason problems and are intent on defending their title. The Saints have rebounded from a 3-13 season with the biggest turnaround this year. St. Louis running back Marshall Faulk, who took part in at least one brawl in last week's game, said that adds up to a lot to prove for both teams. "I think we respect each other," Faulk said. "But we don't necessarily like each other."
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