When the Rams chose running back Steven Jackson in the first round of the 2005 NFL draft, there was a popular media narrative that Jackson was learning the game from the Rams' veteran running back, Marshall Faulk. But in a profile in this week's Sports Illustrated, Jackson disputes that notion:
He felt that Faulk was being inaccurately portrayed as his mentor. ... "In my opinion, he could have helped me out and he didn't," Jackson says of Faulk, before adding, "[But] that's all behind us now. We're cool." (Told last week of Jackson's comments, Faulk laughed and disagreed that there was friction between the two, saying, "Ask anyone who was in our meeting room, or the running backs coach [Wilbert Montgomery]."
Whether Jackson's memory or Faulk's is more accurate, it serves as a reminder that the oft-told story about the veteran mentoring the rookie is bogus as often as not. Veterans often resent rookies who come in as the heir apparent, and rookies often get frustrated having to sit on the bench behind the veteran.
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That was the first round in 2004.