THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- More than six years ago, the high school football coach of punter Johnny Hekker gave Los Angeles Rams special teams coordinator John Fassel a heads-up.
"He can compete at the quarterback spot, too," Tom Bainter, who coached Hekker at Bothell High School just north of Seattle, recalled telling Fassel when he made a trip to see Hekker and the Rams in St. Louis. "We were all joking. But a part of me was more serious."
Fassel already had an inkling about Hekker's multifaceted skill set when the Rams signed him as an undrafted free agent from Oregon State in 2012.