10 Years of Catch-Up For a Dream Backfield

The Dream Backfield is still successful, but Charles White, Kevin Williams, Kenny Moore and Raymond Williams have gone their separate ways and rarely see each other.

They probably won’t get together again until next September, when the San Fernando High Class of ’76 holds its 10-year reunion.

They’ll have a lot of catching up to do. And they’ll have some interesting stories to tell their classmates.

Kevin Williams is in Canada this week, negotiating with the Ottawa Rough Riders of the Canadian Football League.

If he signs, he’d be playing in his third professional football league.

He has bounced around, but Williams says he has no regrets.

“I’m very fortunate,” he said by phone from Ottawa. “Football’s been good to me. . . .

“I’m enjoying myself.”

A wide receiver at USC, Williams ranks 10th on the Trojans’ all-time receiving list. A game-breaker the way he was in high school, he set an NCAA record for highest percentage of passes caught for touchdowns, scoring 24 touchdowns on only 68 receptions.

He played in two Rose Bowls and, including those, averaged 19.1 yards per reception.

A former state 100-yard dash champion at San Fernando, he hadn’t lost any of his speed when he arrived at USC. He was a member of the Trojans’ 400-meter relay teams that won NCAA championships in 1978, 1979 and 1980.

In 1981, he was a seventh-round draft choice of the New Orleans Saints, but he never caught a pass in the National Football League.

The Saints released him before the 1981 season. A month later, he was signed by the Baltimore Colts, who used him as a kickoff returner.

After being cut by the Colts in 1982, he was the first player to sign with the Los Angeles Express of the United States Football League. The Express traded him to the Denver Gold after 10 games of the 1983 season. Williams enjoyed his best pro season in 1984, averaging 22.5 yards on 27 receptions and scoring four touchdowns.

But the Gold released him last spring, freeing him to sign with the San Antonio Gunslingers. When the financially floundering Gunslingers were forced to waive their entire roster after the season, Williams became a free agent again.

He signed with the Rams and was reunited with White and former USC Coach John Robinson in training camp, but the Rams released him last month.

Even if things don’t work out in Ottawa, he said, a couple of USFL teams are still interested.

“I still have a little bit of speed,” he said. “I might have lost a step, or maybe a half-step, but no more.”

Former San Fernando Coach Bill Marsh had always considered Kenny Moore the best athlete among his talented foursome, but Moore, surprisingly, had the least success after high school.

“I personally was disappointed to see him go to USC,” Marsh said.

Moore knew he probably wouldn’t be given a chance to play quarterback at USC--he completed only about 35% of his passes at San Fernando--but he had always wanted to go to school there.

His older brother, Manfred, played football for the Trojans and ex-San Fernando star Anthony Davis, a former USC tailback, was one of his idols.

Moore was used strictly as a defensive back at USC. And in four seasons he rarely started.

The two safeties playing in front of him, Ronnie Lott and Dennis Smith, were All-Americans and became first-round NFL draft choices.

But Moore, speaking by phone from his home in San Francisco, said he has never second-guessed his decision to go to USC.

“I was happy being there because I was with the best people in the country,” he said.

He had a brief tryout with the Dallas Cowboys in 1981, but when he was released, he didn’t try to catch on with any other teams.

“I decided that instead of prolonging things--I didn’t see much future for myself--I would go out and get a real 9-to-5,” he said. “And it worked out.”

He said he makes more than $35,000 a year installing computerized telephone equipment.

“I’m up in the $20-an-hour range,” he said, “so I’m feeling pretty good.”

Raymond Williams may have been the forgotten man in San Fernando’s backfield--the other three backs were co-City Players of the Year--but he says he never felt left out.

“I kind of liked playing defense in high school,” he said.

Marsh said Raymond Williams wasn’t any less talented than the other three, “but we were more or less a right-handed team--we ran to the right most of the time--and he was the right halfback, so most of his plays went to the left.”

Still, Williams was not overlooked by college recruiters.

He signed with Washington State and, in his final two seasons, was the Cougars’ No. 2 rusher behind Tali Ena, picking up 833 yards as a junior and senior.

Drafted by the Detroit Lions in the 12th round of the NFL draft in 1980, he played one season with the Lions before injuring his left knee in a pickup basketball game.

He reinjured the knee in training camp in 1981 and spent the entire season on the Lions’ injured reserve list.

When he failed to pass a physical given by the Lions in 1982, he filed for worker’s compensation.

Since then, he has been living in Cheney, Wash., off the $250-a-week worker’s compensation checks and the rent money he makes from two duplexes he bought while still under contract to the Lions.

He says the knee is fine--he plays basketball these days without a brace--and he has considered trying out again with a professional team.

But if he passes a physical, the worker’s compensation checks will stop coming in “and I might have to go out and get a job,” he says, laughing.

Charles White, of course, has been the most successful member of The Dream Backfield.

He may have been only the No. 2 rusher on his high school team, but he is the No. 1 rusher in USC history. In four years, he ran for 5,598 yards--the second most ever in a collegiate career--and in 1979 he won the Heisman Trophy.

But in the five years since White left USC as a first-round draft pick with a lucrative contract from the Cleveland Browns, he has been dragged down by injuries and a long, continuous struggle with cocaine addiction.

In July, 1982, he underwent a month-long program at the CareUnit rehabilitation center in Orange and subsequently took part in the Browns’ Inner Circle, an after-care program for players with drug or alcohol dependencies.

White had his problems on the field, too.

In four seasons with the Browns--he missed the 1983 season with a broken ankle--he gained only 942 yards on 276 carries. For White, that would have been a disastrous season at USC.

Last season, he carried the ball only 24 times for 62 yards. The Browns released him in June.

Today, White says he feels as healthy as ever and says he has been off drugs for more than three years. And his career, which seemed to be nearing its end, has turned around since he signed with the Rams last summer.

He gained 144 yards on a Ram-record 36 carries last Sunday in a 17-6 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Dream Backfield: Their Lives Since 1975

Name Achievements Raymond Williams The No. 2 rusher at Washington State in 1978 and 1979. Gained 833 yards in final two seasons. Twelfth-round draft choice of Detroit Lions in 1980; played one season. Lives in Washington. Kevin Williams Tenth on USC’s all-time receiving list. Made 68 receptions for 24 touchdowns in 4-year career. Set NCAA record for highest percentage of passes caught for touchdowns. Member of three NCAA champion 400-meter relay teams. Drafted in 7th-round by New Orleans Saints in 1981. First player signed by Los Angeles Express in 1982. In best pro season, caught 27 passes for Denver of USFL in 1984. Released by Rams last month. Kenny Moore Part-time starter at safety for USC. Played behind All-Americans Dennis Smith and Ronnie Lott. Had brief tryout with Dallas Cowboys in 1981. Installs computerized telephone equipment in San Francisco Bay Area, making about $20 an hour. Charles White 1979 Heisman Trophy winner. No. 2 ground-gainer in college football history behind Tony Dorsett. MVP of 1979 and 1980 Rose Bowls. No. 1 rusher in USC history with 5,598 yards. First-round draft choice of Cleveland Browns in 1980. Rushed for 942 yards in four seasons in Cleveland. Signed with Rams last summer. Ran for 144 yards Sunday.

The Valley Top 10

Selected by sportswriters of The Times

Rank Team League Record 1 Canyon Golden 1-0 2 Hart Foothill 0-1 3 San Fernando Valley 4-A 0-0 4 Kennedy Valley 4-A 0-0 5 Alemany Del Rey 1-0 6 Granada Hills Valley 4-A 0-0 7 Westlake Marmonte 1-0 8 Notre Dame Del Rey 1-0 9 Thousand Oaks Marmonte 1-0 10 Crespi Del Rey 1-0