Ram Notebook : When You’re Hurt, It Doesn’t Pay to Be a Hero

Dennis Harrah and Russ Bolinger learned a similar lesson.

“When you’re hurt, don’t be a hero,” Bolinger said. “Get the (bleep) out of there.”

Harrah, anxious to return after missing two games, re-tore a thigh muscle in practice this week and will miss the next four games while on injured reserve. Last Sunday, Bolinger, his replacement at right guard, broke his left arm on the second of the two opening kickoffs against Atlanta.

The first kickoff by the Falcons went out of bounds, so they had to re-kick. Both times Bolinger was blocking Tim Tyrrell, a running back.

“On the first one, I hit the guy pretty good and my arm went numb, all the way from the shoulder down,” Bolinger said. “Then on the second one I had no control and I wasn’t braced for the blow. I just threw my arm into his chest and all his weight came into the arm.”

That’s the one that broke the arm, but Bolinger still didn’t come off the field.

“I got up and took one play (on offense), then I felt my arm slip and I knew it was broken,” he said.

And Bolinger was out for the season.

Fair game: Minnesota Vikings Coach Bud Grant, an avid outdoorsman, told Ram beat reporters on the phone that he’d bagged two geese before coming to work one day this week.

Ram Coach John Robinson was asked if he could top that.

“Last year (before he moved from Pasadena to Fullerton), I could have said I got a Pinto and a Mustang,” Robinson said. “Now my drive’s too short.”

Clear the track: Wide receiver Ron Brown, who has missed three games, will be back in uniform against the Minnesota Vikings at Anaheim on Sunday.

“I feel good,” he said after receiving medical clearance that he had recovered from pancreatitis.

Brown’s ailment was diagnosed after the opening game when he still lacked his speed and energy several weeks after arthroscopic knee surgery.

“It was frustrating for me,” the Olympic gold medalist said. “I thought I was out of shape, and I’m never out of shape. I didn’t know what was wrong. I didn’t want to make excuses, (but) I was flat, always flat.”

When Brown was hospitalized, the Rams traded with the Chargers for Bobby Duckworth, who has caught touchdown passes in the last two games.

“I’m glad,” Brown said. “I’m behind the Rams. I’m not behind individuals.”

Brown said he lost “12 or 13 pounds” during his illness and has regained about 4. He played at 193 to 195 last season.

“I’m faster when I’m heavier,” he said.

What, me worry?: Robinson told a story about quarterback Dieter Brock:

“In the Seattle game he threw an interception, came off the field and said, ‘Don’t worry about it.’ I thought, ‘Hey, that’s my line.’ ”

One year at a time: Dennis Harrison will have a new contract when he makes his debut at defensive end with the Rams Sunday.

Harrison, in his option year, had just ended his holdout when the Rams got him in trade from the Philadelphia Eagles eight days ago. His agreement with the Rams is for only this season, plus an option.

“There just wasn’t time to haggle,” said Al Mifflin, Harrison’s Nashville agent. “Time’s a’wastin’.

“We both thought it would be best to get him on the field, let him perform and then we’ll see after the season. Everybody’s happy.”

Mifflin dealt with Ram executives Jay Zygmunt and Jack Faulkner and also talked to Robinson.

“I couldn’t have been treated nicer,” he said. “The Rams didn’t treat me like somebody coming out to take money from them. They treated me like I was just there to do business.

“I’m sure next year I’ll be a little tougher, and they will, too.”

A source indicated Harrison will earn about the same salary he would have with the Eagles--about $200,000--but stands to pick up a bonus if the Rams reach the playoffs.

Young on hold: There’s only an outside chance that the Rams will see former Express quarterback Steve Young playing for Tampa Bay when they go to Florida next weekend, though the Bucs could be 0-5 by then (they play the 4-0 Bears this week).

“They are looking at Steve as a long-term franchise project,” Young’s lawyer, Leigh Steinberg, said, “someone who would start for the next 10 years.”

That must be comforting to Steve DeBerg. Young, who signed Sept. 9, currently is DeBerg’s backup.