By Marni Dyer

When youngsters talk about their dreams of becoming professional athletes, they basically are describing the life of Rams’ cornerback Dre’ Bly. Bly grew up loving sports, thriving on competition and dreaming of playing professionally. But no child could ever dream such a storybook entrance into the world of professional sports.

Bly was chosen by the St. Louis Rams in the second round of the 1999 NFL Draft, the 41st player picked overall. His extraordinary collegiate career at the University of North Carolina was marked by records including being the only player from the Atlantic Coast Conference to earn three consecutive first-team all-America honors. And his success as a collegian carried through to his professional career.

In his first three years on the Rams, Bly has played in seven postseason games, two Super Bowls, and has earned a Super Bowl ring. The Rams’ success in the past three years can be described as nothing short of spectacular. Bly even admits, “Coming in, I was able to experience a Super Bowl, so I was kind of spoiled.” But spoiled implies undeserved overindulgence and that is not the case with Bly. This instinctive cornerback has earned every right to share in the joy of winning. While clinching the NFC West Division Title against the Carolina Panthers in 1999, Bly scored his first NFL touchdown with impeccable timing while returning an interception 53 yards in the fourth quarter to insure a Rams win. It is a memory for Bly that still cannot be topped.

“For me, being able to play a big part in us clinching the division, when I caught my first interception for a touchdown,” said Bly. “For me to help seal the spot of being the division champs. That’s my biggest memory other than winning the Super Bowl.”

It would be easy to look at Bly’s life and see all of the glory and the success and assume that he is wrapped up in it all. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Bly still stays closely connected to his hometown of Chesapeake, Virginia, while acknowledging the fact that his career brings him a lot of attention and he relishes that. He loves “the excitement that it brings to the world. Everybody loves football. The attention that we get for what we do, it’s unbelievable.”

Bly is trying hard to use his celebrity to return the favor to his hometown. The Dre’ Bly Foundation, is dedicated to encouraging kids to take part in athletics and other community activities. His website www.drebly.com is dedicated to his foundation.

“Growing up in Chesapeake, Virginia, my teachers, coaches and friends were instrumental in helping me to mature into the person and athlete that I am today,” Bly explained, crediting his success to having a dream since a very young age. “I love to compete. I love being out on the field. It’s been a goal, a dream of mine since I was a kid.”

As a child, Bly looked mainly to his parents for guidance. But on the football field, he looked up to someone a little flashier. He admired former all-Pro cornerback Deion Sanders, “because of the glamour and the excitement that he brought to the position.” Still today, Bly tries to model his game after the former cornerback known as “Neon Deion”. Bly has plenty of athletes to model after in the Rams’ locker room as well. He has known wide receiver Torry Holt since college and a close friendship has developed between Bly and cornerback Dexter McCleon, who knew of each other in college but didn’t meet until they got to St. Louis. After spending three years with the same team, and experiencing many memories together, Bly has gotten a chance to grow close to many of his teammates.

In his fourth season, Bly has had to look around the locker room not only for companionship and encouragement but once again, for a role model. This time, rather than Deion Sanders, Bly found it in his own locker room upon the draft day 2001 arrival of seven-time Pro Bowl cornerback Aeneas Williams via trade with the Arizona Cardinals. “One of the guys I look up to is Aeneas,” Bly said. “Just the way he prepares himself. No matter what our record is, he still seems to be focused and doesn’t let it get to him. He still comes to work every day with the idea of trying to get better.”

The start of this season has been different than anything Bly has experienced in this league. In his first three years, Bly had never lost more than three games in a row, with a total of only 11 regular season losses. Now, he had to face true adversity for the first time in his professional career. Yet Bly has not let the skeptics bring him away from his purpose here. “It’s not really hard to keep my focus because I know what we’re capable of doing. We have basically the same guys; we have the core. It’s just a matter of us doing it and just eliminating some of the mistakes we’ve had. But I still have faith that we’ll get this turned in the right direction.”

Not only does Bly want to turn the team around; he wants to keep his own game on track. So far this season, Bly has 31 solo tackles putting him second on the team, a team-leading eight passes defensed and two interceptions. And he’s determined to keep up those impressive numbers.

“I want just to maximize my ability, help the team out as much as I can, making plays and being where I need to be,” said Bly. “I know we got off to an 0-5 start, but I have faith, I know that we can get this ship turned in the right direction.”

Dyer is a Rams Public Relations Intern.