After former Bibb County High School standout
Zac Stacy rushed for 973 yards as a rookie for St. Louis in 2013, the Rams used a third-round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft on Auburn running back
Tre Mason, who made the All-Rookie team last season. Then St. Louis used the 10[SUP]
th[/SUP] pick in the 2015 NFL Draft on another SEC running back, Georgia's Todd Gurley.
That prompted Stacy to
tweet a one-word reaction: "Yikes." A couple of days later, he was a New York Jet.
But in connecting the dots from one to the other, a lot gets left out, Stacy and St. Louis officials told Sports Illustrated's Don Banks, who explored Stacy's reaction and the aftermath in his story "
Yikes: Zac Stacy looks back on his infamous draft day tweet."
Stacy said he wasn't bitter about the pick of Gurley, although he knew it pushed him farther down the depth chart.
"A lot of people from the outside looking in really didn't get what I meant,"
Stacy told Banks. "I had no bad times with the Rams. I enjoyed the time I was there, and I enjoyed the organization. But as far as my career and my opportunity to play there, I think it was just limited with them drafting a running back. That's just the bottom line. It's astounding how people portrayed me. But I was really just trying to be funny."
Kevin Demoff, the Rams' chief operating officer, said reports that Stacy's agent demanded the running back be traded weren't true. He said practically as soon as St. Louis drafted Gurley, the team started receiving inquiries about Stacy. The Rams sent Stacy to the New York Jets
for a seventh-round draft pick. The Jets traded for Stacy instead of using a draft choice on a running back.
"We thought the idea of bringing Zac in for that kind of investment would be very beneficial and increase the competition at that position," New York general manager
Mike Maccagnan said. "He's had success in the league. Two years ago, he was close to a 1,000-yard back. This past season, his production wasn't quite as high, but we do think he's a good-caliber running back."
The Jets aren't devoid of running backs. They have Chris Ivory and Bilal Powell returning and signed Stevan Ridley and Daryl Richardson as free agents.
"There's always competition everywhere, but I think the move to the Jets was what's best for me,"
Stacy said on Wednesday. "Coming into a system that obviously has competition going in, but has good opportunities as well. Thought it was a best fit for me to move to Jersey. At the end of the day, it was the best decision for me. With the situation, like I said, this was the best, ideal situation for me in terms of opportunity. With the situation in St. Louis, I felt my opportunities were limited."
Demoff said the Rams were glad to be able to send Stacy to a place where he'll have an opportunity to compete for playing time.
"Going into the draft, when you're preparing to draft a running back, you're trying to think how it affects your offense,"
Demoff told Sports Illustrated. "And Zac was the player it probably most affected. He's been such a terrific member of our team and was a great contributor as a rookie and a strong member of our community. Coach (Jeff) Fisher's first thought was, 'I want to make sure Zac gets to a good place.'
