Los Angeles Rams

Jeff Fisher calls out the Rams for leaking his extension

Published Dec. 18, 2016 2:59 p.m. ET

Cameron DaSilva

The Los Angeles Rams cut ties with head coach Jeff Fisher last week after an embarrassing 42-14 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. That, paired with the team’s terrible 4-9 record and a serious lack of playoff appearances, led the Rams to part ways with the longtime coach.

The timing was curious, though. Just eight days before he was fired, news leaked that Fisher had signed a contract extension in the offseason. His new deal seemingly took him off the hot seat, but obviously that wasn’t the case.

Fisher didn’t formally acknowledge his extension until after the news got out, and even then the Rams never announced the deal. Needless to say, that frustrated Fisher, which he explained in an interview on "FOX NFL Kickoff" this Sunday.

“It was never my place to announce the extension, so somehow it got out,” Fisher said. “Then that became an issue. None of it was handled appropriately, in my opinion. In this day and age, the successful teams in the National Football League are tight-knit. They work together and they stay quiet. They don’t leak things. And that was a frustration of mine.”

Fisher said he was blindsided by his firing as he wasn’t expecting it at all. The Rams had a short week with the Seahawks being next on the schedule, a Thursday night game just four days after LA’s loss to the Falcons.

“I was a little caught off guard with the short week,” he said.

As far as his critics go, and there are plenty of them, Fisher believes it’s unfair to call him out for losing more games than all but one head coach in NFL history. He’s also won 173 games in his career.

“When you’re losing, people are going to point to the 165 [losses]. OK, when you’re winning, they’re going to point to the fact that you’re top-10, top-11, in all-time history of wins.”