Bradford's Mom Happy with Saffold Pick

Yes you heard it right, one of the happiest people when the Rams selected Saffold was Sam Bradford’s mother. Here is the link to the article.

No one at Rams Park was happier with the team’s second-round draft choice Friday than Martha Bradford.That’s because her son, Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford, was the Rams’ first-round pick Thursday, No. 1 overall. As Mrs. Bradford figured it, by taking Indiana tackle Rodger Saffold at the top of Round 2, the Rams had just hired 6 feet, 5 inches and 316 pounds of protection for her boy.Sam Bradford had addressed local reporters earlier Friday. He, his mother and his father, Kent, were still in the building when the Rams grabbed Saffold at No. 33 overall.
“I went in to Sam — he was in there visiting with (offensive coordinator) Pat (Shurmur) — and I said, ‘I expected you to run down the hallway and thank us,'” coach Steve Spagnuolo said. “And he goes, ‘I’m real excited about it, Coach. But my mother’s more excited about it.'”

The excitement meter also was registering high numbers in Bedford, Ohio, where nearly two dozen of Saffold’s family members had gathered. Saffold said that after not being tapped in the first round, he was hoping for a quick resolution Friday.”Oh, man, it was a long night,” Saffold said. “Your heart’s racing the entire time. I’m just glad that St. Louis called first today, because I don’t know how much longer I could’ve taken it.”That call, Saffold said, came “2 minutes and 13 seconds before they had to make a decision. I definitely pay attention to detail, especially when it comes to something as important as this.
“The Rams drafted Jason Smith, a tackle from Baylor, with the No. 2 overall choice last year. So, Bradford will begin his Rams career with at least a couple of young bodyguards available to him.”It wasn’t structured that way,” Spagnuolo said, “but it fell nice.”Because he wasn’t widely recruited out of Bedford High, Saffold conceded that he arrived at Indiana “with a chip on my shoulder.” He was to redshirt as a freshman, but that plan lasted just one game.”We lost our first game, and I told myself I didn’t want to sit on the sideline and watch my team lose,” Saffold said. “That next week, I had the greatest practice I ever had and they finally gave me the chance to play in a game. “And from then on, I’ve just taken pride in always making make sure that I’m doing the best I can to protect my quarterback.”Saffold wound up starting 41 of 42 games for the Hoosiers, all at left tackle. He earned second-team All-Big Ten Conference honors as a senior.
The Rams plan to audition Saffold at both tackle and guard.”We like our linemen to be versatile,” Spagnuolo said. “He has some flexibility as a guard and a tackle. Very athletic, big guy, nasty guy — got a little mean streak in him. … You talk about guys pulling and the zone blocking that we do, we thought he looked good in those particular areas. “We said that we’d build this thing from the inside-out and that linemen were important. We just add him to that fold.”Former guard Tom Nutten, a starter on the Rams’ Super Bowl-championship team in 1999, tutored Saffold on the intricacies of guard play in the weeks leading up to the NFL scouting combine in February.”I’m more comfortable at left tackle, but I really get excited when I have to do challenges,” Saffold said. “So playing guard would be true excitement for me.”He’s open to moving to the other side of the line at tackle, too.”Right tackle would be just fine,” Saffold said. “Switching up from left tackle to right tackle, it’s just like po-tay-toe, po-tah-toe. Anchoring down that right side is just as important a job as left tackle is.”
Rams general manager Billy Devaney explained that the Rams had a first-round grade on Saffold, which gave them leverage when fielding calls from other teams seeking to trade for the 33rd spot.”We thought the best thing for us was just hold our water and take the best player that was on the board at that time,” Devaney said.Whatever position he winds up playing on the line, Saffold stressed that he looks forward to helping to keep Bradford, the team’s new “franchise quarterback,” on his feet.”Just the thought of blocking for him, that’s a huge honor in itself,” Saffold said.Martha Bradford certainly would agree.