Rams’ Everett Era Will Begin at Just the Right Moment

Jim Everett, the hottest thing to hit Orange County since Mrs. Knott baked her first boysenberry pie, has been hiding out in an Anaheim hotel, waiting while final details of his four-year contract with the Rams were ironed out.

However, Ram Coach John Robinson has had a chance to meet his quarterback of the future, face to face.

“He’s a surprisingly big guy,” Robinson said Wednesday morning, smiling. Beaming, actually.

Big? BIG?

The highest point in Anaheim used to be Disneyland’s Matterhorn, but now the loftiest peak is Mt. Everett.

Jim Everett is 6-5 and 220, but in terms of what he could mean to the Anaheim Rams’ franchise, the kid is a modern-day Colossus of Rhodes.

OK, maybe I’m getting carried away here. But it seems to me the Rams have had a quarterback problem for several years. Now, thanks to sheer brilliance, blind luck or both, the Rams have signed a young man who could prove to be the missing link.

“If you picked the elite of quarterbacks coming out of college over the last 10 years, he’d be on the list, the top 10 or 12 guys in that time,” Robinson said. “If you put us in the top seven or eight teams in the league, us and the Raiders are the only ones without that guy, without the kind of quarterback the general public thinks is going to lead you to the Super Bowl.

“We’ve played four quarterbacks in four years, and it’s frustrating. . . . We (coaches and management) were all in general agreement that we’ve got problems facing us for the next few years. All our attempts (to find a quarterback) have been short-term solutions. (Everett) gives us some continuity for the next 10 years.”

The way things were going, I pictured Robinson dragging home late one night in 1994, plopping down wearily in an easy chair and telling his wife, “Can you get me something to drink, dear? I had a hard decade at the office.”

Now, there is hope. Now, in theory at least, the Super Bowl is a realistic goal, at least by next season.

I know, the Rams are 3-0 right now, with excellent prospects of making it to 5-0. But they are playing with a quarterback who is susceptible to injury and other problems associated with old age.

The Rams were eager to get this new kid signed and into a crash course, although that may be a poor choice of words. I won’t say the Rams are eagerly awaiting Everett’s arrival, but if he phones the team office to ask what time Sunday’s game starts, they’ll probably answer, “What time can you get there?”

Actually, Everett won’t be able to suit up until two weeks after he signs. Then . . .

“It’s a matter of how quickly he can assimilate what’s going on,” Robinson said. “I’d hate to put him into a situation where he wasn’t equipped to play.”

On the other hand . . .

“We’re a team that has a chance to win. There’s no reason to hold back,” Robinson said. “You can’t put him in the deep freeze for the next six years.”

Robinson made it clear that he’s not going to jerk Steve Bartkowski the next time he throws a bad pass, and send in the kid. But is it realistic to think that Everett may be playing in a meaningful NFL game before the season is out?

“Hell, yes,” Robinson said. “Have you seen the way quarterbacks are getting hurt? I could see three weeks from now, two of our quarterbacks get hurt and he’s playing.”

How did the Rams manage to snag the rights to this quarterback that about five other teams were desperately bidding to acquire from the Houston Oilers? It’s too complicated to get into here, and somewhat of a mystery. The Rams entered the bidding at the last minute, got their man, and left the other teams muttering and sputtering.

They had to give up a fine player and some good draft choices to Houston, but the Rams didn’t have to give up a Howie Long or a Michael Carter that the Oilers were demanding of the Raiders and the 49ers, respectively.

If the Raiders pull off a move like this, you quickly credit Al Davis. If the 49ers do it, you salute Coach-General Manager Bill Walsh.

With the Rams, you’re not sure. Do you praise the work of the team’s 16-member advisory board, which includes an evangelist, Rosey Grier; a saint, Charles St. George; a county coroner, Brad Gates, and the nation’s first First Daughter, Maureen Reagan?

Probably not, although it was a group effort. John Shaw, the Rams’ vice president in charge of finance, apparently did the actual wheeling and dealing with the Oilers, and Ram owner Georgia Frontiere gave her stamp of approval.

But Robinson is the football man in the organization.

“When it comes down to the football value of a player or a deal, I make the final decision,” Robinson said.

You have to believe the coach is being honest about this, since he says the same thing when asked about Dieter Brock.

Brock, you’ll remember, is from the previous era of Ram quarterbacks, all of whom were either too old, short, slow, fragile or from the Canadian Football League.

The new era begins when Everett’s signing officially is announced today. The new era is still unproven, but as Robinson noted, things are looking up.