Orlando Pace
FameRank: 6

"Orlando Lamar Pace" is a former American college and professional American football/football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for thirteen seasons. He played college football for Ohio State University, and was twice recognized as an All-American. He was drafted by the St. Louis Rams first overall in the 1997 NFL Draft, and he played professionally for the Rams for twelve years. Pace started all 16 regular season games eight times in his pro career, and blocked for three straight NFL MVPs (Kurt Warner in 1999, 2001; and Marshall Faulk in 2000). He was the cornerstone of a Rams offensive line that blocked for an offense that compiled more gross yards than any other team during his 12 years in St. Louis (50,770 in 12 seasons), finished second in completion percentage (61.8 percent) and fifth in touchdown passes (289) over that time. Under Pace's protection, the Rams' passing offense compiled more than 3,000 yards in all 12 of his NFL seasons, seven different quarterbacks eclipsed the 3,000-yard mark in a season, including three times surpassing the 4,000-yard mark, and also blocked for seven 1,000-yard rushers. Pace started 154 consecutive games.

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It was one of those situations where David Carr and those guys rolled out the red carpet, ... I enjoyed myself and liked the city and all that. They were ready to get the deal done.

Just being around here, being in meetings and learning and getting coached, I feel a lot better than I did last year about this time.

I think (it will) help him if he can understand the plays and understand the technique. That will probably make him better in the second season.

I kind of pulled back and I think I pulled something.

I feel good, ... We'll see what happens. Once the soreness goes down, hopefully I'll be ready to go.

Probably one of the best games that I was a part of since I've been in the league. Up until then, everybody was talking about their streak and how they were winning. No one was really giving us a chance.

That's the thing about Grant, he's a high-energy guy, a high-motor guy, and I know that going in. I'm just going to have to stay on him the whole game. He's hard-nosed. He's going to go till the whistle. That's the key thing with Grant. He's a big effort guy, and you just have to stay on him. You can't let up on him at all.

He's our leader, and we hope he has a speedy recovery. We expect him to be out there (Sunday). And if he isn't, we're going to be professional and go out and play and try to get a win.

Hopefully I'll be able to finish my career here, ... This is a situation where as a player you're looking for security, St. Louis provided that for me and I'm happy to be here.