







ST. LOUIS – With two minutes, twenty-two seconds left before the Arizona Cardinals' deadline to make the 13th overall selection in the 2012 NFL draft, St. Louis Rams coach Jeff Fisher had a lump in his throat and a sinking feeling in his gut.



Fisher, flanked by chief operating officer Kevin Demoff to his left and rookie general manager Les Snead to his right while sitting at a table in the Rams' war room Thursday night, was riding an emotional roller coaster in his first draft with the franchise. Earlier, he'd hopefully embraced scenarios that would have allowed the team to select Alabama halfback Trent Richardson (a home run) or Oklahoma State receiver Justin Blackmon (the next-best thing) with the sixth overall pick, only to lose out on both.

In response, Fisher, Snead and Demoff had engineered a dramatic, on-the-clock trade with the Dallas Cowboys which landed the Rams a third pick in Friday's second round. Now, with the 14th pick that once belonged to the Cowboys, Fisher desperately wanted to draft the man he'd happily have selected eight picks earlier had there been no trade option: LSU defensive tackle Michael Brockers.

Only the Cardinals, the Rams' NFC West rivals, stood in St. Louis' way. Would Arizona take Brockers? Would another suitor swing a trade with the Cards to nab the interior lineman, as the Jacksonville Jaguars had in landing Blackmon with the fifth pick?

Snead, relentlessly working his mental Rolodex of NFL front-office contacts, was chatting up one team's GM on the land line in front of him while reading text messages on his mobile phone. Finally, with the clock ticking, Snead got the information he'd been seeking.

"They're going offense," Snead said of Arizona. "We're good."

[NFL draft: Pick-by-pick analysis and prospect rankings]

Snead and Fisher bumped fists and exhaled in unison. Demoff, sipping from one of the three Diet Mountain Dew cans in his vicinity, let out a small grin.

Fisher stood up and turned to face three dozen people behind him, a collection of scouts, assistant coaches and other team employees. For a few seconds, the room was hushed.

"It's fourth-and-10," the coach finally said, "and we just got a first down, baby!"

The war room erupted. There were high-fives all around.

"Any questions, concerns about this pick?" Fisher asked.

A few people said, "No," while others shook their heads side-to-side.

"That was sweet," Fisher said. "Let's turn in the card."

More than two hours later, Fisher and Snead were still celebrating the outcome of their first draft together – and looking ahead excitedly to Friday night. With the Rams back on the clock as owners of the first pick of the second round, and owners of four of Friday's first 33 selections (33rd, 39th, 45th and 65th overall), the coach and GM believe they can come away with a slew of reinforcements for their talent-deficient roster – and, perhaps, deal down for additional picks from teams seeking to move up to the top of the second round.

[Video: Justin Blackmon surprised by Jaguars | Worst picks]

Given that the Rams made the draft's biggest blockbuster deal more than a month ago, trading the No. 2 overall selection – which the Redskins used to select quarterback Robert Griffin III Thursday night – for Washington's first-round picks in 2012, '13 and '14 and its second-round selection this year, there might as well be an "Open For Business" sign outside the war room.

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