PRO FOOTBALL ’87 : Rams : Ekern Says Strike Can Be Averted

Ram linebacker Carl Ekern, who’s lived through one National Football League players strike already, said Wednesday that there’s still time to avoid another.

Ekern, the team’s player representative to the NFL Players Assn., returned to Rams Park after a Tuesday meeting in Washington at which the NFLPA set an official strike date of Sept. 22.

“I’m always optimistic,” Ekern said. “It’s very reasonable to believe we can accomplish what we want.”

Ekern said he is encouraged because the latest proposal by NFL Management, while unacceptable, at least addresses the issues that need to be bargained, including free agency.

The new proposal calls for some liberalization of the league’s present free agency system, which now requires such heavy compensation for free agents that even interested teams don’t bid for players.

“It falls way short of what we’d have to end up with,” Ekern said of the latest proposal. “But at least it appears to be an attempt to put forth some of the issues we’ve talked about. At least it’s there on paper.”

The players would strike after the second week of the season. For the Rams, it would be two days after their Sept. 20 home opener against the Minnesota Vikings.

Ekern met with the team Wednesday to inform them of the latest strike news and to at least start addressing the possibility of a players’ walkout.

“It ranges from preparing yourself financially to finding a place to work out,” Ekern said. “I have to let them know how I can get a hold of them and how they can get a hold of me. It could get overwhelming if you don’t cover your bases.”

How’s this for a week? Ram running back Mike Guman was: (1) placed on waivers Monday; (2) recalled by the team Tuesday; (3) back on the practice field Wednesday and (4) will be in the starting lineup for the Rams against the Houston Oilers on Sunday.

The Rams put the the seven-year veteran Guman on waivers, gambling that no other team would claim him, which gave the Rams a day to fiddle with their roster. No other team took Guman, so he returned Wednesday, his ego a bit bruised.

“Once I got practicing I felt OK,” Guman said. “But I can’t say that it didn’t affect me. If I did, I’d be lying.”

Guman said he realizes the strategy involved in his release and subsequent return.

“I know why they did it,” Guman said. “But it’s like eating a huge piece of humble pie. An no one wants to do that . . . It’s almost like they’re saying they don’t really need you. No one wants to hear that.”

Houston Coach Jerry Glanville may not have his Oilers winning, but at least he has them laughing.

A Glanville sampler:

Oiler quarterback Warren Moon missed Tuesday’s practice to attend a meeting of player representatives in Washington.

It left the team with one quarterback, Cody Carlson.

“The quarterback we had to simulate your quarterback, (Jim) Everett was our wide receivers coach (Milt Jackson),” Glanville said. “He’s real tall and thin like Everett, but he’s 42 years old. We did a good job chasing Milt around. I don’t know if we’ll do as good with Everett.”

So how’s Milt?

“Today, he’s in the training room,” Glanville said.

Glanville, on Sunday’s game between the Rams and Oilers at Houston’s Astrodome, the stadium with one of the worst artificial surfaces anywhere.

“It’s getting worse,” he said. “We have seams now we can lose our wide receivers in. If you’re small, you can actually disappear in our turf.”

The Oilers, of course, share the field with the baseball Astros.

“We think our pitcher’s mound may knock down your runner maybe on two or three plays,” Glanville said.

Ram Notes Gordon Hudson, the former All-American tight end at Brigham Young University, was in town Wednesday for a tryout. He’s one of several players the Rams will look at in the next few weeks, Coach John Robinson said. Hudson, recently released by the Seattle Seahawks, had major knee surgery during his senior year in college and sat out an entire season before joining the Los Angeles Express of the United States Football League in 1985. Hudson started four games for the Seahawks in 1986, catching 13 passes for 131 yards . . . Running back Charles White’s arraignment date for misdemeanor charges of being under the influence of a controlled substance has been rescheduled from Sept. 23 to Oct. 26. . . . The Oilers still haven’t signed No. 1 pick Alonzo Highsmith, the fullback from the University of Miami (Fla.). Highsmith and his agent, Robert Fraley, met with Houston General Manager Ladd Herzeg for 1 hour 45 minutes Wednesday, but they were unable to reach an agreement. . . . Oiler running back Mike Rozier will start against the Rams Sunday, despite being fined recently for missing practice. The former Heisman Trophy winner met with Glanville for 20 minutes last Sunday and afterward told Houston reporters, “I’ve got no comment, but everything’s cool. I’ll be here Sunday.” According to the Houston Chronicle, Rozier confirmed he was given a spot drug test by the club, which he passed last Friday. Rozier was fined $1,000 last month when he arrived late for an Aug. 13 exhibition game against Kansas City. . . . Ram linebacker Carl Ekern practiced Wednesday and will play Sunday, fewer than four weeks after arthroscopic knee surgery. It hasn’t been determined whether Ekern will start.