Ex-Giant Carpenter Fits Rams’ Plans : As a Starter or Reserve, Veteran Should Aid Two-Back Offense

The Rams’ plan for increased use of a two-back offense this season hit a snag when Barry Redden failed to report to mini-camp in the spring.

They suspected that Redden hadn’t heard he had been promoted from the role of Eric Dickerson’s understudy because they didn’t know where Redden was. But on the chance that Redden had entered a monastery, having taken a vow of silence long ago, they looked for a potential replacement.

Enter Rob Carpenter, a veteran fullback from the New York Giants who hadn’t reported to the Giants’ mini-camp because, like Redden, he saw no future in his situation.

But unlike Redden, Carpenter says, “I had a lot of say.”

Carpenter, 31, was two things Redden wasn’t: a free agent and expendable. Little Joe Morris had become the Giants’ primary ball carrier last season, and so many other younger players were coming in “that I would have been the fourth or fifth back in playing time,” Carpenter said.

Free agents in the National Football League don’t have a lot of influence on their futures, except when their team wants to trade them. Then they can exploit a subtle league rule that states a player can’t be traded unless he is under contract, and so it is to his advantage not to sign until his old team agrees to trade him to a certain team--say, the Rams.

Carpenter exploited the rule, and came to the Rams June 13 in exchange for a sixth-round draft choice in 1987.

“I’ve been in the league 10 years and it’s the first time I’ve had any control in a situation,” Carpenter said.

Carpenter has no idea what will happen after Redden reports Saturday, as he has promised, with the majority of veterans.

“I can understand his situation,” Carpenter said. “I was with the Oilers playing behind Earl Campbell (for 4 1/2 seasons). If you stay that way too long you’ll always be looked on as a backup.”

Carpenter has never rushed for more than 822 yards in a season, although he did net 113 against the Rams in Coach John Robinson’s NFL debut in ’84. But Robinson likes the type of player Carpenter personifies--basically sound, versatile, with a good work ethic.

“Most championship teams are full of those guys. The foundation of your team is built on guys like Carpenter, (Mike) Guman, Carl Ekern,” Robinson said.

At the same time, Carpenter doesn’t seem to mind being hired initially as Redden’s stand-in. He has spent his last five summers at Pace College in Pleasantville in Upstate New York. .

How pleasant was Pleasantville?

“Not at all,” Carpenter said as he talked with reporters in the dormitory courtyard of the Rams’ Cal State Fullerton camp. “It’s a lot different from this. These rooms are more like apartments, and there was nobody else around. This is more like real life.”

There are other differences, as well.

“I’ve never been around a running back coach, and that’s what John Robinson is,” Carpenter said. “Everything is structured to the running game. I’m in the Twilight Zone learning the offense so far. The numbering and terminology are all different from anything I’ve seen anywhere.”

But if some would call Robinson’s approach boring, Carpenter said, “It’s not boring when you win. It’s only boring when you lose.”

Carpenter expects to notice the greatest difference of all when he starts practicing with the veterans next week. Although the Giants reached the playoffs as a wild-card team with a 10-6 record last season, “they still have a lot of holes,” Carpenter said. “They don’t have the strengths that this team has . . . that offensive line.”

For the 6-foot, 1-inch, 230-pound Carpenter, it never came out right with the Giants. When he was the primary runner, they lacked a strong line.

“Being asked to be the No. 1 runner on the Giants behind a line that didn’t have one All-Pro was a tough assignment,” he said.

Then, when the line improved, the emphasis shifted to Morris, “from a total fullback offense to a total halfback offense,” Carpenter said. “The only time I carried the ball was when we were backed up in our own end just trying to get some positive yardage so we could punt. It was a role that wasn’t very gratifying personally.”

Lest anyone conclude that Carpenter is not team-oriented, he added: “If they think I can be a starter, fine. If they want me to do something else, fine. I just want to be a contributor. I’m a versatile player. I can help in a lot of ways.

“Joe Morris had a great season (in ‘85). I took personal satisfaction in tutoring him along for two or three years. I was the one who told ‘em to put him in there. I knew my role would be more limited. They kept me back there to do most of the dirty work.”

Carpenter said he wouldn’t mind that as much with the Rams because he believes they have more Super Bowl potential than his former team.

“This is the team that’s gonna do it,” he said. “They have the offensive line, they have the best runner in the game, top-notch special teams and I know what their defense is because I’ve played against it. What more do you need?”

Ram Notes About 20 veterans, including starters Ron Brown and Irv Pankey, were among the 60 players at practice Wednesday, although veterans aren’t required to report until Saturday. Brown agreed to come in early for extra work--his first full NFL training camp since the Olympics delayed his arrival in 1984 and he underwent pre-camp knee surgery in 1985. He spent a lot of time working on an option sweep with Charles White, who was playing Eric Dickerson’s position. Pankey, the left offensive tackle, said: “I’ve been coming in early every year except the year I tore my Achilles. Maybe there’s a little superstition involved, but I like to have three or four days to get my timing down”. . . The Rams will bus to La Jolla to scrimmage the Chargers this afternoon, and a few players will be taking their last ride with the Rams coming home. “We’ll start paring down a little bit,” Coach John Robinson said. . . . Robinson said after Wednesday’s practices that he continues to be impressed with reserve nose tackle Alvin Wright. “He’s had Tony Slaton blocking on him and has been doing very well,” said Robinson, who once cautioned Wright to take it easy after he hit White hard.