When you watch and cover sports for a long time, the business side of things is always evident. That is an inescapable fact.

Business can be very cold. But, it really doesn’t have to be. Yet, it was as frigid as ever on the 10th day of September when the Rams kicked linebacker Chris Draft out the door.

On the surface, it shouldn’t have been a surprise. After all, he turned 33 in February, and this offseason has seen franchise icons like Orlando Pace and Torry Holt being told their services weren’t needed anymore.

Chris Draft was different. He wasn’t a great player, but he helped other players become better, on and off the field. He also helped countless people in the community with his tireless efforts to make this town a better place.

Certainly, the Rams had every right to move on without Draft. But, was it really necessary to have him go through training camp, make the 53-man roster, and then ask him to take a $380,000 pay cut that would have saved the team a mere $765,000 against the salary cap?

Maybe Draft would have been more accommodating had the team approached him months ago. After all, they have known for a while that there would be cap issues this season.

That’s why they released and re-signed long snapper Chris Massey in mid-June in order to save $285,000 in cap room. In the cut to 53, the Rams kept safety David Roach on the roster, a guy who missed numerous tackles in the offseason, and cut safety Todd Johnson at a cap savings of $640,000. They kept two extra offensive linemen making the lowest minimum ($310,000), while having just three running backs and four receivers on the opening-day roster.

When the Rams traded cornerback Tye Hill nine days before they sliced Draft off the roster, coach Steve Spagnuolo said he told his team, “I just asked them to support the personnel decisions.”

When Draft was released, the organization was as tight as a clam. No one would even go on the record or discuss why the move was made. It was if everyone was a programmed robot.

Consider general manager Billy Devaney’s comments in a press release: “These decisions are never easy. We thank Chris for his many contributions on and off the field. We are continually evaluating our roster and like every move we make we believe this is in the best interest of our team at this time.”

As if reading from the same script, when addressing the media after practice that day, Spagnuolo said, “None of these moves are easy. It is a tough business in a lot of ways. We have got a lot of respect and appreciation for Chris Draft and what he did both on and off the field here. Every decision that is made here is a team decision, so we’re going forward, but we do wish Chris a lot of luck.”

Can you feel the icicles? Spagnuolo went right to the script again when he was asked if the decision was based on performance as opposed to the salary cap. He said, “I’m not going there. We made the decision and I will repeat, we love Chris and we wish him a lot of luck. But we made a decision which we thought was the best interest for the team.”

When defensive coordinator Ken Flajole was asked how Draft was playing, he robotically said, “I’m not going to go there with that one guys. We’ll answer anything you want, but I’m going to defer to the head coach on the Chris Draft thing.”

It was as if they were talking about some scrub, rather than someone who represented the Rams in the community as well as anyone ever has when there isn’t much respect for the organization. And played good football.

“He’s helped me a ton,” said linebacker David Vobora, who became the starter on the strong side. “I definitely credit a lot of what I know, how I approach the game, how I approach practice, to him. So this opportunity is definitely big for me. I thank him for a lot of the stuff that he’s helped me with.”

Quinton Culberson, who made the original 53-man roster and then was cut the next day, was re-signed following Draft’s release.

Said Culberson, “If you needed help, he would go out on a limb for you. He was more than willing to do something for one of his teammates.”

And the Rams couldn’t figure out a way to treat him better?

Said Draft, “I just really could not look at myself in the mirror if I agreed to do that; if I freely gave up that money.

“I felt I had to take a stand for what I’ve done, what I’m doing (in the community). It’s a business decision; they feel like they have to do it. The unfortunate thing is when it's business for them, it is all too personal to me."

Since Spagnuolo was named coach, he has preached about “four pillars,” “team-first,” “core values” and picking “the best 53.”

Chris Draft epitomized those virtues, and the Rams certainly didn’t become a better team the day they released him.

So it was, on a hot day in September that felt very cold, Spagnuolo’s words sounded very hollow.