In the NFL Draft, a Few Extra Pounds Cost Duval Love Several Rounds : Ram Lineman’s Fatburger Diet Went to Waist

Duval Love probably isn’t the first guy to get in trouble reading Playboy magazine, but he might have been one of the few who wasn’t paying attention to the pictures.

In the summer before his senior season at UCLA Love admired his name on Playboy’s annual preseason All-America team. That cinched it, he figured. He must be pretty darn good.

Love’s off-season training regimen began to deteriorate. Soon, his head wasn’t the only thing getting big. His already considerable frame--6-feet 3-inches and 265 pounds of it--was expanding, too. Bloating, even.

It didn’t take long for Love to put on 20 pounds. After all, this is a man whose idea of a diet was going to his favorite Westwood fast-food spot and ordering five Fatburgers and a diet soft drink.

He still can’t understand why his Bruin teammates made fun of him for it and nicknamed him “Fatburger.” (“All because I didn’t like dorm food,” he laments.)

That summer binge, that little lapse into over-confidence cost Love more than the price of some new slacks, however. It cost him a chance at a lot of money . . . and maybe a chance at the dream of playing professional football altogether.

Love, an offensive tackle, was projected as a third-, possibly even second-round NFL draft pick before his senior season. By the end of it, The Sporting News figured he would go in the seventh round.

The Rams, whose offensive line is loaded with veterans in their prime, picked him on the 10th round.

“I guess I let all that preseason hype go to my head,” Love said, relaxing in his room at Ram camp after a workout. “I reported to camp at 285, or more, and our first game of the season, against San Diego State, was by far the worst game of my college career.”

Love whipped himself into reasonable shape by the time Pacific 10 action started and managed to make the All-Conference team. But he didn’t make a lot of points with the pro scouts.

Hudson Houck, the Rams’ offensive line coach, admited Love didn’t have a good senior season, but he also knew Love was too good of an athlete to be in the 10th round. The Rams didn’t need offensive linemen, but Coach John Robinson, with some prodding from longtime aide Houck, picked him anyway.

“He’s an awfully good athlete with an absolutely great attitude,” said Houck, who tried to recruit Love for Robinson at USC when the already-massive Love was dominating both lines of scrimmage at Fountain Valley High School.

“He can carry enough weight to play in this league (Love is at 270 now), he’s quick and he has tremendous work habits.”

Houck forgot to add “and he’s not going to make this team unless a couple people get hurt.”

After a recent scrimmage against the Cowboys, Robinson talked at length about the play of rookie defensive linemen Booker Reese and Hal Stephens. But when asked about Love, who made a crushing block to spring A.J. Jones for a touchdown, Robinson said, “The offensive linemen did a good job, but truthfully, I wasn’t watching them very closely.”

And why should he? The Rams plan to carry eight offensive linemen and six--tackles Bill Bain, Irv Pankey and Jackie Slater, guards Dennis Harrah and Kent Hill and center Doug Smith--were all starters at times last year. One of the other spots will be a backup center (Tony Slaton and Joe Shearin are battling for that position).

Love is left to do battle for the remaining spot with seven-year veteran Russ Bolinger (who played last season with the USFL’s Memphis Showboats), three-year veteran Gary Kowalski (who’s 6-6 and 283) and two-year vet Dan McQuaid (who’s 6-7, 278).

It doesn’t look promising.

Obviously, if Love had been drafted higher, by a team that needed help on the offensive line, he’d be a great deal better off. He knows that, but he’s a long way from quitting.

“If I could do it all over, I’d change what happened,” Love said. “I never reached my stride last year and didn’t do what you have to do to be a top pick. But it’s all over now and I have to live with it.

“I’m human and I have to learn by my mistakes.”

He’s working harder than ever to overcome that fateful error in judgment and he has certainly impressed the Ram coaches. Love figures to stick with team for a while and he hopes he’ll play enough preseason games to earn a job--with the Rams or possibly another team.

“Duval has enough talent and size to play in this league in the right situation, with the right team, under the right circumstances,” Houck said.

Translation: The Rams currently are not the right team.

“They’re only going to carry eight guys and the guys here are real, real good,” Love said. “Sure, it’s tough to keep your spirits up all the time. But you have to try and stay positive and play the best you can. Who knows, if I play hard in the preseason maybe some other team will pick me up. You never know what might happen.

“Coach Robinson told me not to look ahead, so I’m going hard every day, learning as much as I can from Coach Houck and players like Bill Bain while I compete against them and keeping a positive attitude.”

Oh yeah, and he’s staying away from the Fatburgers, too.