While Owens Away, Greene Making Hay

Mel Owens, wild and wacky outside linebacker that he is, stayed out of the Ram training camp last year and threatened to move to Saudi Arabia until his contract problems were resolved.

This year he’s out of camp again and, Coach John Robinson figures, is probably headed for Afghanistan.

Well, if Owens is, he’ll have to read about Kevin Greene in the Daily Yak.

Greene is the man taking over for Owens at linebacker while Owens is away.

Greene is the man everyone is talking about at Ram camp--a big, burly, old-fashioned linebacker who sort of gets that glazed look in his eye when he runs onto the field.

Greene is the man who is lurking over Owens’ shoulder, a guy who psychs himself up for games by listening to old war songs.

Greene is a linebacker who shows no fear or respect for any player. He didn’t so much as blink an eye a few weeks ago when he decked 38-year-old San Diego Chargers receiver Charlie Joiner after Joiner wandered into Greene Acres during a scrimmage.

“He’s an athlete just like everyone else,” Greene said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re old or young. It was just a lucky little hit. I gave him a shot--he was in the middle of his stride. It looked pretty good.”

But good ol’ Charlie Joiner?

“I don’t care who it is,” Greene said.

Greene is fast becoming a favorite of Robinson’s. In only his second season, the former Auburn player has the type of personality a coach could only love.

“He certainly is a talent,” Robinson said. “He’s a very aggressive player. It’s very instinctive in him.”

He doesn’t roam the field as much as he stalks it. He plays with the disposition of a bear that’s been roused from sleep.

“I like that image,” Greene said during a recent break at camp. “A wild, radical-type player. It’s a good image to have.”

Greene, 6 feet 3 inches and 238 pounds, also knows that the time to act is now. With Owens out, this is like Greene’s big break on Broadway.

“After camp started, I knew Mel might not show up,” Greene said. “Mel’s a great athlete, and when he comes in I’m not going to bicker if I become a reserve. But I’ve had a chance.”

It’s the break every young player hopes for. Every kid who read about Wally Pipp and Lou Gehrig knows how it works sometimes.

Last year, Greene’s teammate, George Andrews, went down with a season-ending knee injury at linebacker and was replaced by little-known Mike Wilcher, who wound up leading the team in quarterback sacks.

And if Owens’ holdout really gets long and ugly, Robinson can see Greene stepping in as Wilcher did.

“If he was asked to do that, he could,” Robinson said. “We’re really counting on him helping our pass rush.”

Greene, the son of a career Army man, says that he and football were made for each other. He moved from base to base as a child, with stops in West Germany and Kansas, Washington and Alabama.

The discipline of army life prepared him well for football.

“I know how to take orders and I know how to give them,” he said.

Greene is a lieutenant in the National Guard. He has sewn his bars on the inside of one thigh pad. On the other pad he has stitched the wings he earned at paratrooper school.

It prepares him for battle.

“You have to be a different type of personality,” Greene said of playing linebacker. “You have to have a different mentality.”

Kind of like Mel Owens.

The Rams looked at three cornerbacks during Wednesday’s practice, and Thursday signed one of them, Tim Collier. Collier most recently played with the San Francisco 49ers, who cut him at the end of last season.

The Rams are hoping that Collier can solve some of their problems at cornerback, problems that began early in camp when they lost Gary Green for the season with a bulging disk in his neck.

“Collier is a cover guy,” Robinson said. “His skill fits exactly what our needs are. Like everyone else who hasn’t been active, he’s not in great shape.” Collier, 6 feet and 176 pounds, was a ninth-round draft choice from East Texas State in 1976. He played four seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs and two with the St. Louis Cardinals before going to the 49ers in 1982.

He started 10 games for San Francisco in 1983 and had 35 tackles and 3 interceptions.

Ram Notes Former USFL linebacker Howard Carson and his agent will be in town today to meet with John Shaw, Ram vice president of finance. Carson played with the Rams from 1981 to 1983 before jumping to the Los Angeles Express. John Marchiano, Carson’s agent, said that Shaw told him earlier that the Rams weren’t interested in signing the linebacker, but Marchiano thinks things might change. The Rams hold the rights to Carson. . . . The Rams released seven players--safeties Mike Pleasant and Reggie Richardson, center Dave Toub, nose tackle George Pickel, defensive end Elston Ridgle, running back Chul Schwanke and cornerback Mark McNeil. . . . Jonathan Sutton, former cornerback for the USFL’s Baltimore Stars, was given a tryout Wednesday, but the Rams decided not to sign him. . . . The Rams are not ruling out the possibility of signing former 49er safety Dwight Hicks, who worked out Wednesday, with Collier and former Saint Rodney Lewis. No word yet on whether running back Eric Dickerson, who hurt his toe in Tuesday’s practice, will play Monday night against the 49ers.