Former Rams Great Gets Real About Frustrations with Postseason Failings

We get it. Really we do.

Dec 14, 2008; St. Louis, MO, USA; Seattle Seahawks running back Julius Jones (22) is tackled by Rams safety Oshiomogho Atogwe (21) and St. Louis Rams linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa (50) during the first half at the Edward Jones Dome. Mandatory Credit: Photo by Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports / Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports

In a new episode of The Rams' D'Marco Farr interview series "Rams Iconic," former St. Louis Rams-era linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa unpacked his run with the franchise, from 2003-08. He was selected with the No. 43 pick in the second round of the 2003 NFL Draft out of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where he was a two-time All-WAC Team selection (including a 2002 First Team honor).

Tinoisamoa got candid when talk turned to the Rams' limited postseason success during his six-year tenure with the franchise. The Rams lost in the Divisional Round of the 2003 and '04 playoffs, and missed the cut entirely during the next four seasons. After L.A. went a combined 5-27 from 2007-08, Tinoisamoa managed to jump ship, wrapping up his career with the Chicago Bears from 2009-10.

"It was very frustrating" not finding much postseason success with the Rams, Tinoisamoa said. "I mean, I'm not going to say we won a lot in Hawaii, but we had some success. In high school we had some success. Even in high school [Vista High School] I had success."

"What does Saban say? 'Never waste a failure?' So I know it wasn't a failure in a sense that... we weren't doing very well record-wise, we were catching a lot of Ls, so I was just trying to do the best with what I had," Tinoisamoa noted. "I felt like people were still showing up for the games, my family's still watching, I'm still Samoan, I'm still a husband, I'm still a father, I knew what [our] reputation was. At a young age, growing up in certain places, it's all you really have. So for me, even though we didn't have the success that I wanted to, I still treated it as, I'm trying to obtain it."

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