After the Los Angeles Rams signed defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh to a one-year, $14 million deal, Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschke says the Rams can now boast of being the "Legion of Goon."
"The Rams have completed a blood-curdling remodeling job that has transformed their friendly cottage into a haunted house," Plaschke wrote. "Suh [is] a powerful force but arguably the dirtiest player in the NFL. Every time he's on a highlight video, it seems as if he's beating somebody up.
"In his eight-year career he has been fined seven times for player safety violations. He has paid more than $250,000 for his bad behavior. He has been suspended for two games.
"His reckless violence never takes a holiday. On one nice Thanksgiving afternoon, he pounded the Green Bay Packers' Evan Dietrich-Smith's head into the ground three times. On another cozy Thanksgiving day, he kicked the Houston Texans' Matt Schaub in the groin."
And then there's Aqib Talib, a cornerback the Rams acquired in a trade with the Denver Broncos this offseason.
"He is a bruising veteran known for two pieces of jewelry," Plaschke wrote. "He has a Super Bowl ring on his finger, and he once had Michael Crabtree's chain in his hand after he tore it off the Oakland Raiders wide receiver's neck last season for the second year in a row."
And let's not forget about Marcus Peters, who was acquired in a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs.
"He is one of the best cover guys in the game, but last season, in a manner different from many other NFL players, he got in trouble with a flag," Plaschke continued. "He angrily threw an official's flag into the crowd. Then he walked off the field even though he had not been ejected from the game. He didn't return for two weeks, as he was suspended and fined.
"All season, the Rams were looking for a tough defensive attitude to complement their league-best offense. Maybe now they've found that swagger.
"But at what price? Whatever that might be, the Rams are willing to take a chance that they can pay it."
Every shot matters
When a professional golfer is one of the first ones on the course Sunday, it usually means that there is little to nothing at stake. But don't tell that to Paul Casey.
"I remember one year in Switzerland, I went out first, one guy in front of us. I shot 64," Casey recalled. "The wind picked up, I finished top 10. I won a watch for low round of the week, and I got a kiss from Cindy Crawford because she presented it. It was a great Sunday. See, there's always something to come out of a Sunday."
Not so reclusive
Brewers broadcaster Bob Uecker, 84, talked to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel about a bite from a brown recluse spider he suffered that required eight weeks of intense treatment: "The spider didn't 'recluse' himself from biting me."
Sports quiz
Where did Paul Casey attend college?
Sports answer
Arizona State
Sports on 03/28/2018