Rams’ Michael Young Avoids the Fast Life With Deceptive Speed

From the San Joaquin Valley, which brought you Buck Owens, Merle Haggard and Henry Ellard, comes the next great pickin’ and singin’ and pass-catchin’ sensation: Michael Young.

Maybe the raves should wait for the reviews, but the Ram offense is begging for a star to take it into the air age. Jim Everett isn’t ready, and Ellard is in limbo, so why not a country kid from Visalia who’s willing to scrape by on a near-minimum wage of $70,000 and not complain?

Young, a second-year pro from UCLA playing part time, caught three passes, one for a touchdown, in the 26-14 loss at Atlanta last Sunday, a bright performance by Ram standards.

“We’re struggling in that area,” Coach John Robinson conceded. “Ron Brown is playing with a broken hand. Mike Young performed well, and we do have to get him in the game more.”

One way would be to start him ahead of veteran Bobby Duckworth against the Detroit Lions at Anaheim Stadium Sunday, a thought that may have occurred to Robinson before it did to Young, when Duckworth dropped the only pass thrown to him at Atlanta.

“I’ve got a lot of letters from people asking why I’m not playing more,” Young said. “(But) I’m very happy with my part in the offense. I think Coach Robinson is a great judge of knowing when somebody is ready. Sometimes you can hurt a player by sticking him in there when he’s not quite ready. I feel that I’m ready, but I’m going to let the coaches make that decision.”

In the uneasy atmosphere of contemporary sports, Young’s is an unusual attitude. Maybe that’s because he hasn’t built his life around football.

He really wanted to play major league baseball. At one time, homesick in the city, he thought he wanted to be a farmer. But first, he’ll want to sing you a little song because now he wants to be a country music star.

“In Los Angeles, people sort of laugh because they think it’s just a bunch of hicks,” Young said. “I feel funny even talking about it. It seems anybody who’s a professional athlete is making a rock video. But this is something I’ve wanted to do since long before professional football.”

Pro football almost didn’t happen for Young.

“If God meant me to be something, it was to be a baseball player,” he said. “I believe I’m a much better baseball prospect.”

Young played both sports at UCLA, and the Mets drafted him after his junior year, when he played left field, hit .311, with 4 home runs, and stole 21 bases in 22 attempts.

“I told the (football) coaching staff I was going to quit football and pursue baseball. In football, I have good speed. In baseball, I had great speed. That’s the thing most scouts liked. I could track down a lot of baseballs in the alley. But after talking to a lot of people I decided I didn’t want to have that kind of life style . . . all the traveling, and you can burn up so many years in the minor leagues.”

So, Young chose football, where usually a crunch follows a catch.

“That’s something you worry about the night before a game . . . coming across the middle,” he said. “Most of my routes are coming across the middle and finding areas between people. In the game, personally, I forget about it. All I want to do is catch the ball, and I totally forget there are people around me until I get hit.”

Young does a couple of other things coaches like. He runs precise routes and catches the ball. Unfortunately, he is perceived as slow.

“I get a little tired of hearing that I’m just a ‘possession, white wide receiver,’ ” he said. “I’m not a world-class sprinter, but I have plenty of speed to play in this game. That’s a stereotype for all white wide receivers. But at least a possession wide receiver is better than a guy that doesn’t catch the ball.”

Young’s scoring catch in Atlanta, which gave the Rams a temporary 7-3 lead, was the highlight of his brief career. He has only 22 other receptions as a pro.

“It was funny, because when I caught the ball I slid and hit the goal post and thought, ‘Oh, my, I’m out of bounds.’ But I looked up, and the guy was signaling a touchdown.

“That was an exciting time for me. I’ve had about five big plays called back since I’ve been here.”

The most memorable was in the NFC title game at Chicago last January. A long gain was disallowed when officials ruled that Young had stepped out of bounds on his route. Replays showed that Bear cornerback Mike Richardson had pushed him out.

“To be honest, that was a good play on his part,” Young says. “I probably should have got around him cleaner. He shouldn’t have been close enough to shove me. But I think more people remember me being pushed out of bounds than if I’d caught it.”

Young caught only 55 passes in four years at UCLA, but the Rams, apparently sensing some potential, drafted him in the sixth round last year, somewhat to his disappointment.

“I was looking forward to getting out of the Los Angeles area. Especially, West Los Angeles is too fast for me.”

He also needed to be convinced he was good enough.

“Homer Smith and Tom Hayes, the offensive and defensive coordinators (at UCLA), kept telling me, ‘Mike, you’re going to make it. You’re going to be a good player.’ ”

Young came to believe them but never did resign himself to big-city living. He so longed for the smell of alfalfa, and skies that are blue all the way to the horizon, that he even talked about becoming a farmer when his playing days were over.

“Farming is definitely not in the picture anymore,” he said. “I was just so fed up with the city life that the only thing I could think about was going home, and the only thing you can really do at home and live the life style that I’d like to live is to farm. But now the farming industry has so many questions involved in it that it’s a lot more hassle than it’s worth.”

He and his wife Jill have found a comfortable compromise, settling in Irvine.

“I’ve really come to love Orange County,” Young said. “I’d like to stay here.”

After the season, he intends to pursue his musical dream. Last winter, he took a demo tape to Nashville and was encouraged by comments from some people on the “Hee Haw” television show.

“It’s not like getting into acting or rock music, where the crowd is a little faster,” Young says. “I met Loretta Lynn and Mickey Gilley and Merle Haggard, and they’re really down to earth. It’s more of a family-type atmosphere, and I’d like to be a part of that.”

He may even convert some of the Rams, whose musical taste runs to ear-shattering dimensions. If not, they can still coexist, as long as Young catches enough passes.

“Everybody says, ‘Wouldn’t you rather be in a pass-oriented offense?’ and I really wouldn’t,” he said. “I’ve never been in a pass offense. At UCLA we never threw the ball a lot. Even in high school we didn’t. I’m very happy in an offense like this. I don’t know any better.

“One thing, now there’s a lot of attention on the wide receiver spots, and if things don’t go right, it’s easy to say, ‘Well, if Henry were here . . .’ ”

Ram Notes

Holdout receiver Henry Ellard, in town to visit his teammates on Wednesday, made a swing by the Rams’ offices in Los Angeles on Thursday to meet with John Shaw, the team’s vice-president/finance. “It was just a nice conversation,” Ellard said. Ellard said the two met for about 45 minutes but that little was resolved. Ellard confirmed, though, that Shaw is now dealing directly with him and not with Ellard’s agent, Mike Blatt. Shaw and Blatt haven’t exactly grown to be friends during negotiations. Ellard returned to Fresno later in the day but may return to watch Sunday’s game. “I’m hoping something will happen soon,” Ellard said. . . . Though most are assuming it, Coach John Robinson still isn’t saying whether Michael Young will start at wide receiver in place of Bobby Duckworth Sunday against Detroit. Robinson will only say that Young “will play more.” Robinson may not make a decision until Sunday. . . . Eric Dickerson left Thursday’s practice early because of the flu. . . . Guard Dennis Harrah missed Wednesday’s practice because of a hip flexor injury but returned Thursday.