Kevin Dotson Defines Rams Brotherhood Between the Trenches

These individuals walk a very thin line of schematic planning, courage, and violent intent. They are the force that makes football great; their work determines the difference between success and failure, their work often goes underappreciated by casual fans, and their moments of glory occur when their bodies hit others and then the ground.

Playing on the line is, without a doubt, the most dangerous thing an athlete can do in team sports, and yet the players on the Rams love to not just do it but do it for and with each other.

The men in the trenches often develop a natural brotherhood between the offensive and defensive players, unseen between other opposing position groups due to the punishment they are tasked on inflicting on each other to make each other better. They define iron sharpening iron, and while these warriors, who would do this even if money wasn't involved as they did in their youth, prepare for war every Sunday, according to Kevin Dotson, it's all love in Los Angeles and full out hate for the opposing sideline.

“I think we're really tied in with our D-line and we talk to them so much that we see our deficiencies," stated Dotson. "We ask them, ‘how would you game plan me?’ or ‘What do you do if we're going against each other in a real game, how do you see me?’ That's the thing that we really like to do with our defensive line and our linebackers. Do they see any cues that we are giving off? Do they see a weakness of ours that they like to go at? We just kind of go off that throwing ideas off of each other?”

This constant communication, which Dotson stated occurs at all moments of the day, has expedited the development process of many members of the team, especially a defensive line that set an NFL record for single-game playoff sacks last season despite the core being made up of second-year players and rookies.

And it's paid dividends again with both the offensive and defensive line looking much better and playing more in tune with each other throughout camp.