How Is Ram Off-Season Going? Passably, Thank You : Robinson Filling In the Gaps
Coach John Robinson of the Rams brought down the house at a banquet in front of 1,800 people recently.
After a lavish introduction by his host, he added: “And I’m also the dumb s.o.b. that gave the ball to Crutchfield.”
Ah, 37 Gap, the play that will live in infamy: NFC wild-card game against the Giants, trailing, 16-10, in the middle of the fourth quarter, second and goal at the four. Eric Dickerson fakes a sweep left and Jeff Kemp hands the ball to Dwayne Crutchfield. Giant end Leonard Marshall isn’t fooled--isn’t blocked, either, for that matter--and throws Crutchfield for a three-yard loss. End of the road for the Rams in ’84.
Dickerson had rushed for an NFL-record 2,105 yards, but the Rams didn’t think he could gain four more in three tries? Come on.
The play is the standing joke of the Ram banquet circuit, and all Robinson can do is to grin and bear it.
But the laughter stops at the gates of Rams Park in Anaheim. The Rams, avoiding the pass as if it were diseased, somehow managed a 10-6 record while running fewer plays (899) than any team in the league. But Robinson is determined to get the Rams’ offense off the ground.
He has shaken up his offensive coaching staff, moved from Pasadena to Fullerton to stay on top of the job, and usually is in his office by 8 a.m. No more nonsense with the offense.
The basketball hoops between the field and clubhouse have been removed, and the blacktop has been painted in football yard lines for walk-through practices. Hey, this is serious.
“We’ve come in eighth in the league twice,” Robinson said, rating his first two seasons by the Rams’ draft position (21st) each succeeding year. “It’s time for us to get better, to make a move.
“Offensively, the biggest thing that’s lacking right now is a highly effective passing game. The running game is established, and the ethic of the football team is established. The team tries hard. So I have to be more specifically involved. That demanded that I change some people.”
He removed assistant Jimmy Raye’s title of offensive coordinator and took charge of the offense himself. Rather than accept the demotion, Raye went to Tampa Bay, title intact.
In addition, quarterback coach Bob Baker will move to the Detroit Lions to rejoin Darryl Rogers, his former boss at Arizona State.
Robinson has hired a former USC aide, Norval Turner, 32, and veteran NFL assistant Lew Erber, 50, as replacements, but will coach the quarterbacks himself.
“Most of my input will be through the quarterbacks,” he said. “We’re going to stay away from titles.”
It may be only February, about five months away from training camp, but twice a week Robinson and his new assistants have their four quarterbacks on the field throwing at targets or to one another. They may get to throw to real receivers starting in April.
Robinson has said that he won’t have a quarterback contest, but a selection process has begun anyway. If Vince Ferragamo’s hand is well, it shouldn’t be much of a contest.
The other contestants are Kemp, Steve Dils and Scott Tinsley, who was on injured reserve last year.
They may be joined next month by Deiter Brock, a Canadian Football League veteran originally from Jacksonville State. Brock’s agent indicated that Brock would sign with the Rams. Brock, 33, won the Schenley Award as the CFL’s best player in 1980 and ’81 and will become a free agent March 1.
Robinson, whose passion is the running game, is showing uncommon interest in passing. On a cool morning, he comes off the field sweating after giving the quarterbacks a live target on some pass routes-- short routes--and standing in as a cornerback for a defensive look.
“We have to have a style of offense that is distinctly our team,” Robinson said. “Obviously, the quarterback is a big part of that.”
Dils, a free agent, turned down an offer from Portland of the United States Football League to re-sign with the Rams.
Kemp also believes he has a future with the club, even with a healthy Ferragamo around.
“From where we’re starting, I think it’s all even,” Kemp said. “All of us have things to adjust to. After going over films of the season, I see a lot of things I could improve on.
“With experience, my (defensive) reading will improve, (and) my speed of delivery--making up my mind where the ball’s going to go and getting it off quickly.”
Robinson’s other ideas for the offense involve the receivers. Ron Brown, the Olympic relay gold medalist who backed up Drew Hill, will be a starting wide receiver, along with Henry Ellard.
Brown caught only 23 passes last season, Ellard 34. Worse, tight end Mike Barber, slowed by summer knee surgery, caught only seven, 48 fewer than in ’83.
“We’ve got to give him a chance to do that again,” Robinson said.
Barber and James McDonald will play the roving back position. David Hill, a strong blocker who caught 31 passes, will become a fixture at tight end.
Robinson has thought all of this through since the end of the season. By moving from the Pasadena home he rented from USC the last two years, he is more than half an hour closer to work.
“If I’m going to be involved in as much detail as it looks like I’ll be, it’s going to be an hour or so more (on the job) every day,” he said.
Robinson also plans to call most of the plays. Raye did that last season.
“I stood next to Jimmy but was involved in only about 20% of the calls,” Robinson said. “I’ll be calling about 80%.”
He probably will put Turner and Erber in the press box and bring assistant Bruce Snyder down to the sideline with headphones to keep Robinson informed of defensive alignments. They aren’t likely to call 37 Gap on second and goal again.
Robinson mused: “Interestingly, the guy that bitches when you aren’t in a two-back (offense) is the guy who bitches when you give the ball to the other guy.
“It wasn’t so much the call as it was the alignment of the defense. They went to six down linemen. We had worked on that play all week and had run it a couple of times in that game for good yardage.
“So when Jimmy said, ‘Let’s try it,’ I said, ‘Sure, let’s try it.’ ”
Ram Notes The Rams are raising their ticket prices--the best seats from $18 to $21, others from $13 to $15 and $8 to $10. Two years ago, the top tickets went from $15 to $18. . . . Jeff Kemp and wife Stacy are new parents. Kyle Jeffrey was born Feb. 10 at 8 pounds 8 ounces. . . . Reserve defensive back Michael Pleasant is expected to be released from Riverside Community Hospital next week. Pleasant suffered second-degree burns on his hands and left arm after colliding with a wrong-way driver on a freeway Feb. 11. . . . The Parker-Hanifan Corp. of Orange County has double-matched with $5,000 the $2,500 kicker Mike Lansford pledged to the American Cancer Society in the name of Kirk Collins, the Ram cornerback who died a year ago. Lansford gave $100 for each of his field goals. In addition, the Ram defensive backs and secondary coach Steve Shafer each are donating $100 for each of the team’s 17 interceptions. Safety Johnnie Johnson said: “It’s something I and LeRoy Irvin are going to do the rest of our careers.” Johnson also is working on two cancer fund-raising events, the Ram Booster Club’s celebrity golf and tennis classic April 8 at Yorba Linda Country Club, and a basketball game against the Raiders May 17 at Cal State Fullerton. . . . Lansford will marry Miss Anaheim, Theresa Nellesen, June 1.
1984 NFC STATISTICS TEAM OFFENSE
Team Yards Rush Pass 1. San Francisco 6366 2465 3901 2. St. Louis 6345 2088 4257 3. Green Bay 5449 2019 3430 4. Chicago 5437 2965 2472 5. Washington 5350 2274 3076 6. Tampa Bay 5321 1776 3545 7. Dallas 5320 1714 3606 8. Detroit 5318 2017 3301 9. New York 5292 1660 3632 10. Atlanta 5044 1994 3050 11. New Orleans 5008 2171 2837 12. Los Angeles Rams 5006 2864 2142 13. Minnesota 4716 1844 2872 14. Philadelphia 4698 1338 3360