pakowitz

Friday, March 28, 2003


Rams' newly-acquired T Kyle Turley arrived in St. Louis late Thursday evening and spoke with the local media Friday morning. 'Now that I’m playing in St. Louis for the Rams,' said Turley. 'I’m gonna give as much as I ever gave to New Orleans for this city and this team.'

Did you get to meet any of your new teammates today? And if so, what was their reaction?
Yeah, that's the other weird thing. Because it was such a rivalry that we had with St. Louis down there in New Orleans, it's just like I said, sinking in slowly but surely. I ran into Grant (Wistrom) and Leonard Little down there, I'm friends with both of those guys. We all came out in 1998 in the draft. Leonard and I were in the Senior Bowl together, on the same team, and Grant and I trained together down in Florida prior to the draft. We were both saying that we're looking forward to working out together because we were never in as good of shape when we were training together. Ran into Kurt down there in the weightroom it's gonna be a good fit. I'm excited to say the least.

Do you have to change your mind in that old rivalry between the Saints and Rams?
Yeah, that was a great rivalry, it really was. New Orleans and St. Louis, it really was. And that's where you had all the banter, back and forth things being said, and that was in just a complete competitive arena. The Rams were the team to beat in our division. You guys had gone to the Super Bowl and all those different things, and we had a potential team to make it to that level too, so it was a strong fight that we always fought against each other. It was a great rivalry to say the least. But I'm looking forward to playing in the NFC West again, playing the teams on the West coast so then I get to see my daughter a little bit more, my family a little bit more, so it'll be a good experience for me.

Did it impress you that Martz was so excited to get you even though the rivalry was so intense and things were said back and forth?
Yeah, definitely. When I first heard that the Rams were one of the teams at the top of the list of teams wanting to make the trade, I was like 'No, there's no way this could be with all the things that have gone back and forth.' I didn't know how well received I would be up here. But you know what? When I sat down with Coach Martz like I talked about, it was just a great conversation and we both were on the same page. The things that had been said were in a complete competitive nature in that rivalry atmosphere. I can't say that I regret any of the things I said about this organization, because that's when I was playing for New Orleans. Now that I'm playing in St. Louis for the Rams, I'm gonna give as much as I ever gave to New Orleans for this city and this team.

Talk about when you threw the helmet against the New York Jets in 2001:
It was a dramatic moment, obviously. There were things I definitely could have done better, but it was a heat of the moment kind of thing. I do things in life, I go about life with my head on my shoulders feeling that it's in the right place. The event presented itself and I did what I did and I can't take anything back, and I have regrets in certain cases, but the overall motivation behind what happened there, I have no regrets about. The press I received there was a lot of positive, there was a lot of negative, and everybody's gonna make up their own opinion between my tattoos and long hair or what not, but I know one thing. I go out there and I play football. If people want to relate my personality on the field to what's off the field, it's the furthest thing from it. I have a lot of different things to offer the real world other than my combative nature on the football field that is a completely different personality.

Have you thought about the strength of this offensive line with yourself, Orlando Pace, Adam Timmerman, etc.?
Oh yeah. If they can redo Pace (contract) and get those things worked out, it'll be as good as an offensive line that I've ever played on with Willie (Roaf) and myself. It was a tremendous opportunity to play with such a talented offensive line down there, and if we can keep the key guys around here, there should be no reason that Marshall (Faulk) can't get as many yards as he wants and Kurt (Warner) can't throw for as many. So I'm excited about it, I really am. Hopefully they can keep guys like Pace and Ernie Conwell around, and those things that can done. If it presents itself that I must play left tackle, I feel I proved myself to be able play it at a caliber as well as anything in the National Football League last year. But either way, if I'm at right tackle and Pace is at left, that's gonna be quite a tandem.