Ram Notebook : Newberry Makes the Leap From Obscurity Into the Spotlight
Tom Newberry spent the early days of last week in relative obscurity, doing all the chores expected of a second-string rookie guard.
He gladly accepted his role as the butt of every veteran’s joke, the punch-line who wore a helmet.
The only rookie on the Rams’ 45-man active roster, Newberry, at 6-1 and 280 pounds, wasn’t easy to miss. Somehow, though, reporters usually did.
But everything changed last week, when Newberry became Wednesday’s child.
It began that evening with a phone call from Hudson Houck, the line coach, who told Newberry that the Rams were trading All-Pro guard Kent Hill to Houston in a deal that would give the Rams the rights to quarterback Jim Everett.
Houck told Newberry to look over the playbook again. It seemed he would now be the Rams’ starting left guard. Newberry could hardly believe it.
“I went through my playbook that night,” Newberry said. “I figured when you get a chance like this, you don’t want to blow it.”
The next day, when the trade was made, reporters surrounded All-Pro guard Dennis Harrah for the scoop on Newberry.
Harrah belittled the rookie for being as wide as he is tall but has since earmarked him for greatness.
“He’s excellent,” Harrah said. “He’s a 10 as far as not getting too excited and keeping his poise. This kid is going to be an All-Pro in three years and I’m not just saying that either.”
Reporters ran over to Newberry with the news. Again, Newberry could hardly believe it.
“That’s just a Dennis Harrah prediction,” said Newberry, sounding as if Harrah had been wrong before. “I let that quickly pass by me.”
But he started against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday and was a part of the line that prevented quarterback Steve Bartkowski from being sacked.
Bartkowski, who notices such things, proclaimed afterward that Newberry would be a great player in the NFL.
Newberry made only one assignment error against the Colts, blocking the wrong man.
But other than that, it was just an ordinary week. On the day he was named a starter, he was officially engaged to marry his college girlfriend, Elizabeth Mellen. Later in the day, he agreed to buy a house in Huntington Beach.
Funny, but the NFL seemed such a long way from Wisconsin La Crosse, where Newberry had played his college ball.
Newberry wasn’t even the first lineman taken by the Rams in the draft. They saved their No. 1 pick for tackle Mike Schad, who is on injured reserve. Newberry was taken in the second round.
Newberry’s chances of cracking the Ram lineup seemed slim, though. Both guards, Harrah and Hill, were regulars at the Pro Bowl.
“I had hoped to be playing by next year,” Newberry said. “After I met with the coaches, I figured I would be in a backup role, doing a lot of special teams work.”
But Newberry’s improvement made the Hill trade a little easier to make.
Besides his physical abilities, the Rams like Newberry because he seems impervious to outside pressure.
Newberry swears that he wasn’t nervous for his first NFL start Sunday.
“I’m good at putting everything out of my mind,” he said. “I don’t think about anything else when I walk out to play a game. I don’t worry about what anyone else thinks.”
Newberry is the second rookie to start for Coach John Robinson since he took over the Rams in 1983. The first was Eric Dickerson.
“I’m happy with the way I came into the starting spot,” Newberry said. “It’s a lot better than if a guy got hurt. I guess it says something about me. It’s not like they had to put me in there.”
In the meantime, Newberry does the best he can. Maybe next week will be better.
Quarterback Jim Everett currently is holed up in an Anaheim motel, awaiting word from his agent about his future with the Rams.
Marvin Demoff, who represents Everett, met again Tuesday with Ram Vice President John Shaw. They had met for two hours Monday.
Still, a contract has not been signed.
“I think things will work out in the next couple of days,” Everett said Tuesday.
The actual signing seemed a formality after last week’s trade that sent Hill, defensive end William Fuller and three draft choices to the Houston Oilers for the rights to Everett, the former Purdue star.
Ram Notes Colt Coach Rod Dowhower, after reviewing game film Monday, saw no need for the team to request an NFL review on the play that knocked quarterback Jack Trudeau out of Sunday’s game. Trudeau twisted his knee when he was sacked by Ram linebacker Mel Owens with 50 seconds left in the third quarter. Colt owner Robert Irsay thought there was malicious intent by Owens, but Dowhower disagreed: “If Trudeau had not been indecisive, he would not have been sacked,” Dowhower said. . . . Ram linebacker Carl Ekern may miss this week’s game against Philadelphia because of a pulled groin muscle.
Quarterback Dieter Brock, recovering from knee surgery, is scheduled to leave injured reserve next Monday, although there’s some question whether he will. Brock aggravated a back injury two weeks ago during throwing drills. He was examined by a physiotherapist last Friday and came away with a few new exercises. He’ll try to practice this week. On the impending arrival of quarterback Jim Everett, Brock was realistic. “It seems like somebody’s got to go.” When Everett signs, the Rams will have five quarterbacks--Brock, Everett, Steve Dils, Steve Bartkowski and Hugh Millen. And that’s not even counting Doug Flutie, to whom the Rams have negotiating rights. Everett will get a two-week roster exemption when he signs, and Robinson says he’ll use all that time to decide what to do with the others.
