<
        >

          NFL Nation

          Korey Toomer grateful for opportunity

          • Nick Wagoner, ESPN Staff WriterOct 30, 2014, 05:00 PM ET
            Close
              Nick Wagoner is an NFL reporter at ESPN. Nick has covered the San Francisco 49ers and the NFL at ESPN since 2016, having previously covered the St. Louis Rams for 12 years, including three years (2013 to 2015) at ESPN. In his 10 years with the company, Nick has led ESPN's coverage of the Niners' 2019 Super Bowl run, Colin Kaepernick's protest, the Rams making Michael Sam the first openly gay player drafted to the NFL, Sam's subsequent pursuit of a roster spot and the team's relocation and stadium saga. You can follow Nick via Twitter @nwagoner
            Follow on X

          EARTH CITY, Mo. -- Korey Toomer is only in his third season in the NFL, but he's had an up close and personal look at the business side of the league almost from Day 1.

          So a two-week whirlwind in which Toomer was out of work then signed to the St. Louis Rams practice then promoted to the active roster doesn't really faze him. It's actually business as usual in the NFL, a lesson he picked up right away.

          "I’m ready to help this team," Toomer said. "I have been around the loop as you guys know so I’m ready to come out and just play and show that I can play this game. That’s the business, and you’ve got to learn to adapt to it."

          Toomer seems to have adapted just fine, despite bouncing around to various teams and practice squads. Since entering the league as a fifth-round pick of Seattle in the 2012 draft, Toomer has spent time on the Seahawks active roster and practice squad before being released on Aug. 30 and then signing with the Dallas Cowboys on Sept. 1. He was with Dallas until Oct. 17 and then arrived in St. Louis to join the practice squad.

          Through all of that time, Toomer appeared in just one NFL game earlier this season for Dallas.

          For the Rams, the 6-foot-2, 234-pound linebacker is expected to contribute on special teams. With injuries mounting at other positions, another linebacker might seem a bit extraneous, but the Rams could clearly use special teams help after allowing Knile Davis' 99-yard touchdown return last week.

          In addition, Toomer became a hot commodity earlier this week when other teams began looking to add to their active rosters.

          "For some reason, Korey became available," coach Jeff Fisher said. "We got him to the practice squad, and early this week, there was a great deal of interest in Korey. We just had him on the field for a week. We saw some really good things last week as he prepared, got Jake [Long] prepared to play the game. We feel like he’s got a potential and a future here at the linebacker position. We’ve been shorthanded there, so we brought him up."

          Toomer said Wednesday that he had other options as all practice squad players do but elected to stay in St. Louis because of his early impressions of Fisher.

          "I had other offers to go elsewhere, but I decided to give these guys a chance just based off of how Fish is," Toomer said. "I know how he is and these coaches and atmosphere; this organization is a good place for me to be."