National Football League

Rams release long snapper

Published Aug. 23, 2011 3:52 a.m. ET

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The longest tenured St. Louis Rams player, long snapper Chris Massey, was cut Monday.

The 32-year-old Massey was a seventh-round draft pick in 2002. He lost out to rookie Jake McQuaide, signed as an undrafted free agent out of Ohio State.

''It was a good battle,'' coach Steve Spagnuolo said. ''But in fairness to Chris if this was the way we were going, we didn't want to string it out.''

McQuaide made a pre-draft visit to St. Louis and connected with special teams coach Tom McMahon. Plus, releasing Massey saved a bit of cap space.

''I wasn't here to waste my time,'' McQuaide said. ''He told me 'If you come here you're going to get half the reps.'''

McQuaide said Massey told him he'd been released and wished him good luck.

Massey appeared in 135 regular-season games with the Rams and had developed a close relationship with kicker Josh Brown and punter Donnie Jones.

''Emotionally, he's hurt,'' Jones said. ''The Rams were his heart and soul. Personally, I think he's got another five or six years in him.''

The departure leaves running back Steven Jackson, a first-round draft pick in 2004, as the senior Ram.

''Coach McMahon made the call, they made the decision they wanted to go with the younger guy,'' Jones said. ''It's the tough part of the business. You just have to deal with it and move on.''

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