During the preseason, defensive end Leonard Little let coach Steve Spagnuolo know that if the Rams needed his services he would rejoin the team. But with James Hall and Chris Long both enjoying good seasons, such a need never existed.
So Little split his time between his home in Charlotte, N.C., and Atlanta, where he has some business interests. And now, with the season winding down and the Rams doing just fine defensively without him, Little has decided to retire.
He informed the Post-Dispatch of his decision Tuesday in a telephone interview.
"I didn't want to leave there and leave a hole to be filled," Little said. "But Chris Long started playing well last year, and I felt comfortable walking away from it."
Over the course of the preseason and regular season, Little said he received lots of calls from other teams seeing if he was interested in playing. "But I told them I was not coming back," he said. "I miss playing football, but you don't miss what it does to your body. Over the last few years I've been injured, and it's been more stuff than I let people know. So I think it's a good time for me to walk away rather than leave another way."
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Little made the Pro Bowl in 2003 and over 12 seasons with the Rams registered 87½ sacks, and led the Rams in sacks in six seasons. But his time in St. Louis will always be known, also, for a drunken-driving fatality he was responsible for as a rookie in 1999.
Probably on TV
Rams executive vice president for football operations Kevin Demoff said only 500 tickets remain for Sunday's home game with Kansas City, and he expects the contest to be televised locally.
No visits
For one of the few times all season, the Rams had no 'street" free agents in for visits Tuesday. Instead, general manager Billy Devaney and the Rams' personnel department began their meetings for the 2011 draft.