To say that Jason Smith was eager to start his first NFLtraining camp would be understatement."Jason really wanted to get on the practice field," said KevinDemoff, the Rams' executive vice president of football operations."He spent most of the day circling the Russell Training Center."(aka Rams Park.)Demoff and Smith's agent, Ben Dogra, agreed to terms on a dealat about 1 in the morning Thursday, http://www.topguesssale.com - GUESS Womens Handbags ."Literally, http://www.guessshopusa.com - Guess Dresses , we had Jason on call from as early as 6 in themorning," Dogra said.But first-round contracts, particularly for No. 2 overall picks,aren't simple matters. There were many "I's" to dot and "T's" tocross. It wasn't until about 3 p.m., or just before the end of theRams' Thursday afternoon practice, that the deal was done.Smith signed after practice, in plenty of time to make it to theteam hotel for the first squad meeting of camp. Those at themeeting said Smith couldn't stop grinning. Understandable, sincehis five-year deal can max out at just under $62 million if certainincentives are met. Smith gets $33 million in guaranteed money.But beyond the money, the offensive tackle from Baylor justwanted to get going."Jason Smith's a football player," Dogra said. "He really wantedto be here on time. The Rams are trying to build something withthese new group of guys, and he wants to be a part of that."Smith missed two practices Thursday, but those sessions lastedlittle more than one hour apiece and included only rookies andselected veterans - less than half of the 80-man camp roster. Sincethe first full-squad practice doesn't take place until thisafternoon, the Rams can claim - with an asterisk - that all oftheir players are in camp on time in 2009."It's always nice when you can tell your head coach and generalmanager that the No. 1 pick is going to be in on time," Demoffsaid, http://www.topguesssale.com - GUESS Mens Watch . "You should have seen the smile on their faces (Thursday)morning."Missing a day or two of practice won't make or break a rookie, http://www.bottegavenetabagscheap.com - www.bottegavenetabagscheap.com .But the learning curve is steep in the NFL for newcomers, and ifyou fall too far behind it's tough to catch up. That's particularlytrue for Smith, http://www.thetoryburchus.com - tory burch handbags , since he's expected to be the starting right tackleon opening day."There are so many factors when you're selecting a player,"general manager Billy Devaney said. "But sign-ability - we talkabout that."Devaney said he never takes a player off the draft board becausehe may be tough to sign."But at the end of the day, if you have three or four guys(rated the same) ... that can be the tiebreaker, and put it overthe top on the guy you select," Devaney said.As they went through the pre-draft process, the Rams could tellthat Smith was serious about football. And Demoff has a goodrapport with Dogra and the rest of the St. Louis-based CAA Footballagency, http://www.topguesssale.com - Guess outlet online ."Jason really drove the deal," Demoff said. "And these are goodagents to deal with."
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