Rough on the Corners : It’s a Tough Position Back There, but Rams’ Irvin and Green Handle It Well
After Ram cornerback LeRoy Irvin had made his second interception late in last Sunday’s game at Tampa, a TV closeup showed him leaning down and rolling the ball toward the sideline, where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were standing.
“I rolled the ball to Jimmy Raye,” Irvin said, referring to the Rams’ former offensive coordinator. “I figured he was trying to pick on me.”
Cocky? Sure. Arrogant? Absolutely. Irvin agreed.
“After the game I apologized to (Raye),” Irvin said. “It’s not really a nice thing to do. In an exciting game, your emotions have a tendency to take over, sometimes. It’s not my style at all.”
But he also wants it understood that you won’t find any wimps playing cornerback in the National Football League--not for long, anyway.
“We’re the last of the one-on-one gunslingers,” Irvin said. “We go head up, man to man, and whoever wins the draw, wins. They say it’s the toughest position in football, but I wouldn’t trade it for any other.”
Irvin is the Rams’ right cornerback--the other cornerback in a defense that has Gary Green on the left side. Green was All-Pro during his seven seasons in Kansas City, where the unbeaten Rams will play Sunday. Even Irvin, a starter for only three years, understands why opponents might prefer to test him rather than challenge Green’s credentials.
“Hey, bring ‘em on,” he has said.
So on they came, until Irvin returned an interception for the winning touchdown at Tampa. Now opponents don’t know which guy to pick on.
“I love to be in that situation, when they count on me to make the plays that win the game,” Irvin said. “I want the recognition, and I won’t get it if they don’t throw my way.
“Atlanta came to town (three weeks ago) and started coming after me. I was surprised but I was glad. After most games in the locker room you guys are talking to everybody else, and I just played another good game. I didn’t make any spectacular plays. They didn’t beat me, but I wouldn’t get any publicity.
“Tell ‘em to come my way.”
The Chiefs probably will on Sunday. They rank 25th in the league in rushing but eighth in passing.
Coach John Mackovic of the Chiefs admits: “When you turn on the film projector (to scout opponents), I look for passing opportunities first.”
Green said it doesn’t make much difference.
“We’re so good at stopping the run (second in the league) that people who aren’t really passing teams end up passing against us, anyway,” he said. “We take away that phase of the game, then we can throw all our toys at ‘em.”
The Rams’ toys are blitzes, stunts and combination pass defenses designed to confuse the quarterback. Last season, unable to put consistent pressure on the passer, they played a passive pass defense that ranked 24th. This year, they are playing far more aggressively, assaulting quarterbacks and intimidating receivers.
As a result, they rank eighth against the pass, and their 12 interceptions in 6 games are only 5 fewer than they had all last season.
Green is able to play more the way he did in Kansas City, when he was voted into the Pro Bowl three times. For cornerbacks, especially, it’s a lot more fun.
“Definitely,” Green said. “You’re more in a position to get beat, as well, but I feel I’m having one of my best years, and I think it’s all due to the scheme that we’re running.”
Green’s philosophy is more analytical than Irvin’s macho approach.
“You have to be a competitive person to play cornerback,” Green said. “(The intent is) to have close quarters with the wide receiver, especially early, to make the quarterback bring the ball back down and look to the second or third receivers.”
Green has three interceptions, Irvin the two in Tampa. But now, in California, with a winning team, Green’s ability is starting to show.
“I was in Kansas City seven years and thought I was playing All-Pro ball the last six,” Green said. “A lot of times that goes with the success of the team.”
Sunday’s game will be overshadowed in Kansas City by the second World Series game between the Royals and St. Louis Cardinals in the same sports complex that night, but Green said that’s nothing new.
“It’s a Royals’ town,” he said. “The years I was there our worst season was 2 and 12 and our best was 9 and 7. They haven’t been in the playoffs since ’71. They might play well for a couple of games, but as soon as a good team came in they’d pack it in.”
And besides the losing, there were the rules, especially when Mackovic arrived in ’83.
“Ties and coats on the road any time we left our rooms,” Green said. “A $100 fine if you set your helmet on the ground in practice. A thousand dollars if you sat on it.
“I know there still are a lot of unhappy players there. I was one of them.”
Ram Notes Bill Bain will return to limited action at Kansas City Sunday. Bain, who didn’t play at Tampa because of assorted ailments, won’t start but will share time at left offensive tackle with Irv Pankey. . . . Coach John Robinson said that wide receiver Ron Brown will return kickoffs in tandem with Charles White. The Olympic relay gold medalist said he isn’t completely recovered from pancreatitis. “But I do feel my speed coming back,” he added. “I’m looking forward to being back there.” At 185, he is still about seven pounds under his playing weight.