Rookie Larry Kelm Is There to Pick Up the Pieces for Rams

Rookie linebacker Larry Kelm was introduced to the Ram starting lineup Thursday evening by accident:

--An accident to Carl Ekern.

--An accident to Mark Jerue.

By the time the Rams left Anaheim Stadium with a 23-14 exhibitiion victory over the Seattle Seahawks, Kelm had an interception (which helped produce a touchdown), two tackles, two assists and an unlikely place on Monday’s depth chart--first team.

“You prepare for these things on all these two-a-day (practices),” Kelm said. “You just learn and learn, and when your chance comes, you’ve got to take advantage of it. You don’t get too many chances as a rookie.”

Given the choice, the Rams would have preferred a longer internship for Kelm. A fourth-round pick from Texas A&M;, he was expected to wait patiently as Ekern began his 11th season as the Ram left inside linebacker. Kelm could look forward to a year of special-team chores and little else.

Sure enough, there was Kelm on the kickoff team . . . the punt return team . . . the kickoff return team . . . the punt team. Had the Rams asked him to serve soft drinks during halftime, Kelm would have asked, “Diet or regular?”

You do these things as a rookie.

Midway through the first quarter, the Rams asked him to do one other little favor, mainly join the first-team defense.

On the Seahawks’ second possession, the one they would use to gain their only lead of the evening, Ekern hyper-extended his right knee. OK, said the Rams, who promptly moved Jerue to Ekern’s position and inserted Jim Collins at right inside linebacker.

An inconvenience, nothing more.

But then, almost without notice, Jerue limped gingerly off the field. Ram trainers stretched him across a makeshift table and began examining his left knee. An announcement came later: Torn ligaments and an appointment with surgeons at Centinela Hospital Medical Center this morning. Jerue isn’t expected to return until at least October.

Meanwhile, Kelm found himself with the Rams’ No. 1 defense, or what was left of it. He wasted little time making impressions.

The most noticeable play came early in the second period. The Seahawks, leading, 7-3, were preparing to begin a drive at their 35. Quarterback Dave Krieg, who earlier had thrown a 37-yard touchdown pass to Steve Largent, dropped back, this time in search of wide receiver Byron Walker.

Kelm’s job was fairly simple: Drop back into zone coverage. This he did, and Krieg seemingly directed his pass at Kelm, not Walker. Not one to decline gifts, Kelm gathered the ball in and then, well, dropped quickly to the ground.

“Play-action pass,” Kelm said later. “(Krieg) was kind of looking that way, and I was drifting along. Maybe he just never saw me.”

Nine plays and 46 yards later, the Rams scored on Mike Guman’s one-yard run and led, 10-7. Thank-you notes can be sent to Kelm.

“Larry’s a great young player,” Collins said. “He stepped in and did a good job. I tried to talk to him, to help him out, but it’s not like he needed it. He stepped in there and acted like he knew what was going on . . . and I think he does.”

Afterward, Kelm acted as if he had just returned from a trip to the grocery store, rather than playing nearly a full half at first-team linebacker. Asked if he was nervous when Ram coaches summoned him onto the field, Kelm said, “Oh, no, not really.”

Actually, Kelm said, he considered the evening a smashing success. “I missed some tackles that I need to work on, but other than that. . . . “

Said Ram Coach John Robinson: “Someone’s got to be ready to step forward when somebody’s hurt.”

Introducing Larry Kelm, newest someone.