James Laurinaitis just finished his second season at linebacker with the St. Louis Rams. Before that, he was a standout at Ohio State and Wayzata High -- where he also gained attention as the son of Joe Laurinaitis, a former pro wrestler who was part of The Road Warriors tag team duo. Laurinaitis, who plans to take Joe to the Super Bowl this year -- the first one for father and son -- recently chatted with the Star Tribune's Michael Rand.Q You played in two BCS title games. Having been on that stage, any words of wisdom you would you give players from the teams set to square off Monday?
A I would say enjoy every bit of the experience. You go through a lot of stuff, but the moments don't come around a lot. They're not guaranteed. You might never be in that situation again. And in the game, do what you've been doing all year.
Q Now that you've had two years of evaluation at the NFL level, what is your impression of the difference from college to pro football?
A Things get a lot more complicated. Financially, you realize the true business of it. I mean, you get to college and you really have no pressure on you. There are four years to prove yourself. Here, it doesn't matter if you come in and just stink, there's nothing stopping a coach -- especially if they're confident in the way they are -- from getting rid of you.
Q Rookie quarterbacks can be a crapshoot in the NFL -- even No. 1 overall picks. But it looks like the Rams are onto something good with Sam Bradford. Can you assess his rookie year and take me through what he brings to the table?
A Sam brought a cool confidence to the group. He's a guy where no stage is too big for him. If you have a guy like that who's competitive by nature, humble and now he's the head of your franchise, it gives you reason to be confident in what your team can do going forward.
Q Do people believe you when you tell them you used to play hockey at Wayzata?
A Guys down here I'm playing with don't really believe it. Football and hockey don't really go together. It's usually football and basketball or football and track. And I'm not good at either of those things. The cool thing is we have a couple of Minnesotans on the Blues -- Erik Johnson and David Backes -- and Erik got me tickets to a game. We actually played against each other in [youth hockey].
Q Do you still skate?
A I haven't skated since my [high school] senior year. I've wanted to a lot of times. We had an alumni game [at Wayzata] a lot of times when I'd be home from bowl practice, but I thought that would be a terrible conversation to have with Coach [Jim] Tressel: Listen, I just tore my knee playing in an alumni hockey game. So I stayed away. Funny thing is, [Rams] coach Steve Spagnuolo is a huge hockey guy. Sam Bradford actually played hockey when he was growing up. We were playing in Denver this year, and they had an outdoor rink by the hotel. He was like, "We should go rent some skates." And I was like, "Yeah, then we'd get caught by coach skating the night before a game."
Q I've wondered about that. Do you have to think twice about a lot of things you might just naturally want to do?
A Well, you have to be smart. You're not going tubing or jet skiing on the lake in Minnesota. You have to be careful. Your body is an asset. If you screw it up, the team has a lot of money invested in you. You stop becoming normal in a lot of ways when you sign that contract.
Q But most people would trade places with you.
A Absolutely.
Q You going to be able to watch the NFL playoffs or is it too soon?
A I will. I'm obsessed with the game of football. I watched the Go Daddy Bowl, the Beef O'Brady's Bowl, whatever. I have a lot of friends playing in the playoffs and I want them to win and keep going. And when I watch games it's not so much as a fan but watching tendencies, how teams are trying to attack defenses. I'm interested to see how my co-workers are doing.
