Rams Have Fans All Trembly at Wembley

The English proved here Sunday that a meaningless National Football League exhibition game can actually be enjoyed.

For instance, they believe that a touchdown run by reserve Tim Tyrrell is every bit as exciting as one by Eric Dickerson. Or that a Mike Schad block could be executed as gracefully as one thrown by Dennis Harrah.

At perhaps their giggliest stage of football evolution, it seems to make little difference to the English.

“They cheered us during our stretching period,” Ram nose tackle Greg Meisner said. “It really made you want to hold your stretch.”

Which all made for a day of loose hamstrings and unusual excitement at Wembley Stadium, as the Rams came from behind to beat the Denver Broncos, 28-27, to win American Bowl ’87 before a crowd of 72,786.

It was a day when Ram reserves and free agents, usually so much fodder in exhibitions such as these, were treated royally by fans who drew no distinction between stars and subs.

“They didn’t know the difference,” Meisner said. “They were just tickled whenever the ball went in the air.”

Reserve tailback Charles White, in that spirit, made a strong bid for knighthood with his two second-half touchdown runs, the game-winner coming with 28 seconds remaining on a four-yard run up the middle.

Other candidates included Tyrrell, a special teams player who can, according to his coach, expect to receive the ball twice this season, once before and once after Christmas.

In Wembley eyes, though, Tyrrell might as well have been Walter Payton after his one-yard, fourth-quarter touchdown plunge with 6:13 left to put the Rams up, 21-20. The fans didn’t know or care that that it was Tyrrell’s first touchdown since he ran the quarterback option for Northern Illinois in the early 1980s.

“It looked like the fans were having a great time,” Tyrrell said. “Maybe as much fun as we were.”

Or as much fun as Ram backup quarterback Steve Dils, who completed 7 of 14 passes for 105 yards and directed 3 second-half touchdowns.

And forget not where Dils received his energy.

“Any time you have that kind of noise and electricity, it’s easy for you to get going,” he said.

And not to be forgotten from reserve-land is rookie cornerback Clifford Hicks, who, in the second half, returned a kickoff 47 yards and made a spectacular diving interception in the end zone to kill a Denver rally.

The Broncos also had plenty of moments. In fact, it seemed they had the game in hand with 1:53 left when reserve quarterback Gary Kubiak threw 32-yards to Ricky Nattiel to give the Broncos a 27-21 lead.

Penalties, however, did them in. A 15-yard personal foul on the ensuing kickoff gave the Rams the ball at the Denver 49.

Dils drove his team to the Denver eight, the drive stalling on a third-down incompletion. But a holding penalty gave the Rams an automatic first down at the four, paving the way for White’s scoring run.

Still, it was difficult for Denver Coach Dan Reeves to show real pain.

“It’s been a great week in a great city,” he said. “If you could give me two more points, I’d be real happy.”

Yes, the stars, as in Denver quarterback John Elway and Dickerson and Jim Everett of the Rams, did play a part in this game.

But not the most exciting parts. The score at the half, after which most of the elite were seated, had the Rams up by a point, 7-6.

Dickerson was cheered so wildly during his introduction that he has seemingly overcome his fear of terrorist attack and flying and is now vowing to return to England.

He was in the game long enough to rush 6 times for 28 yards and score on a 4-yard run late in the first quarter to give the Rams a 7-0 lead.

Denver’s Elway made a brief appearance in the second half and finished having completed 9 of 15 passes for 106 yards.

There were but a few disappointments on the day. One was the size of the crowd, which totaled almost 10,000 less that America Bowl ’86 last season between the Chicago Bears and Dallas Cowboys.

The other downer, as far as the Rams are concerned, was the experiment involving Welsh rugby kicker, Paul Thorburn, who was signed for this game to see whether he could add a little punch to the Rams’ kickoff game.

Thorburn, if you don’t know by now, kicked a monstrous and legendary 70-yard penalty goal against Scotland in a rugby match two years ago, a long enough boot to pique the interest of Ram owner Georgia Frontiere.

Well, in his two days with the Rams, Thorburn managed to kick Ram tackle Hank Goebel in the seat of the pants with a ball and launch another to the opposition’s 22-yard line.

Thorburn did not make the trip home with the team.

But those are petty grievances when sizing up the day as a whole.

Ram Coach John Robinson almost had to pinch himself before he jumped on the charter flight home.

“It was a very entertaining show,” he said. “It was a great culmination of a great week for both teams. The fans were hospitable, the fans were enthusiastic. It was just great. It was a thrill just to to into the stadium. There’s great legend behind it.”

But more than all that, the Rams got some early insight on some key players, namely:

--Hicks. The third-round pick from Oregon made a strong bid to become the team’s third cornerback. “Hicks was just brilliant,” Robinson said.

Hicks didn’t argue.

“It was a good way to break in,” he said. “I had some first NFL jitters, but it turned out pretty well.”

--Mike Schad. A bust as the team’s No. 1 pick a year ago, Schad has moved from tackle to guard and held his own Sunday, especially on the team’s 9-play, 57-yard touchdown drive which ended early in the fourth quarter on White’s nine-yard run.

--Jim Collins. The inside linebacker played his first game in more than a year after missing all of last season with a shoulder injury. He seemed to suffer no ill effects.

--Donald Evans. The team’s first pick (second round), as expected, got pushed around some at defensive end. Evans is woefully behind after missing the first two weeks of training camp because of a contract dispute.

Robinson will have to wait until Thursday night when Rams play the Seattle Seahawks in the Times Charity Game to discover more about his team.

In the end, though, Sunday’s game seemed a tribute to the fans, who stayed and cheered to the very end.

But did they really know why?

“When something happened, they cheered,” said White, who rushed for 51 yards in 15 carries. I guess you could say that’s knowledgeable. The one thing that made me know I was at a different place was when they would just start singing during the game. And I’ve never seen so many flashbulbs in my life.”

The excitement, which carried onto the field in a way not seen in many exhibitions, lingered on well after the final gun.

“When we ran off the field, everyone was still there,” defensive end Gary Jeter said. “We were out on the bus and they were still clapping. I felt like a performer on a stage who was getting a curtain call. They kept saying, ‘That was a good match.’ Yeah, for preseason, they saw a hell of a game.”

Some Rams can’t wait to get back.

“I enjoyed it,” Harrah said. “I’m upset that I didn’t get to see the Queen. You know I tried to phone her but she never returned my calls. Maybe if she ever gets out to L.A. she can stop by my restaurant. I’ll buy her a slab of ribs.”