PRO FOOTBALL / Week 2 : Rams Try to Concentrate on the Vikings : Players Must Block Out Strike Issues So They Can Block and Tackle

With a player strike looming overhead like a cloud of acid rain, the Rams play the Minnesota Vikings today at Anaheim Stadium with as many concerns about the potential fallout a walkout could bring to the future of the National Football League and the lives of its players.

With a strike approaching Tuesday, there are picket signs to be made and lines to be crossed and decisions to be made. Does a player stay or does he walk? If he stays, does he ask the neighbor to start his station wagon in the morning?

“I haven’t made up my mind as to what I’m going to do,” Ram running back Mike Guman said. “I don’t think anybody has. Right now, I’m backing the union and what it’s trying to do. But there’s always that reasonable doubt there, too. As an individual, you have to make that decision.”

Yes, the thought of crossing a picket line has crossed Guman’s mind.

“I don’t know how much longer I’m going to be playing this game,” Guman said. “I have to look out for myself and my security and security of my family. It’s a tough decision. I’m behind the union now, but when push comes to shove, I don’t know. I’ll have to make a decision.”

The hope is that the Rams can push decisions and distractions aside just long enough to come together as a team, something that didn’t quite happen in last Sunday’s loss to the Houston Oilers.

And while the burden of a possible strike weighs heavy on minds and shoulders, even the most strike-confused Rams insist they can arouse once more their spirit of competition.

“You can’t say it isn’t a distraction because it is,” Guman said. “Guys are talking about it, it’s right around the corner. You’re talking about people’s lives and our livelihood. But as far as football, I don’t think it has that much effect. We have a game to play, too. We don’t know how many games are going to be canceled so this looms as a very big game for us and everyone in the league.”

After the Rams’ pratfall in the Astrodome, the need for a win seems paramount. Who knows when the next one will come?

With that in mind, Ram Coach John Robinson has fastened on strike blinders this week, refusing to believe that a labor issue could affect the game.

“The strike doesn’t mean anything,” he said. “It does Monday or Tuesday, but we’re trying to win a game. It’s time to play. I refuse to accept that (the strike). If it would affect our performance it would certainly affect Minnesota’s, too.”

This team’s performance suffered enough in Houston, where the Oilers handed the Rams and their newly touted passing game a stunning defeat.

The stun-gun was most often targeted at quarterback Jim Everett, who was shaken by a heavy pass rush and finished the day with 9 completions in 26 attempts for 125 yards and 2 interceptions.

Everett has had little time to think about a strike this week. It’s a certain reputation that concerns him.

The Ram offense misfired most of the day against the Oilers, something Everett said won’t happen again.

Was all that new offense just too much?

“Our game plan changed to the point of doing things we totally understand,” he said. “I’m not saying we’re reverting. We’re just doing things we totally understand as a unit.”

Everett’s shaky opener has made him eager to get back on the field.

“All I’m thinking about is Sunday,” he said, diverting questions about the strike. “I’m serious about that. I’m keyed into the game and after that, anything could happen. The world could end after Sunday. I have opinions on what I think of everything and after our victory Sunday I can certainly talk about them.”

But will victory come that easily? The Vikings, 34-19 winners against the Detroit Lions last week, are a team with playoff aspirations this year. Their opening-day victory was earned despite the absence of quarterback Tommy Kramer, who missed that game and will miss this one with a pinched nerve in the shoulder of his throwing arm.

Kramer’s replacement, Wade Wilson, who had three of his first seven passes intercepted last week, recovered in time to throw three touchdown passes in the comeback victory over the Lions.

The Vikings clearly see this game as a way to see how they stack up against some of the better teams, the Rams presumably still being one of those teams.

“We recognize that the Rams are a very solid club,” Viking Coach Jerry Burns said. “They have very talented people. Our hopes and ambitions are that if we want to be a playoff team, we’ve got to play teams like the Rams eyeball to eyeball. We have to line up and play at their level.”

Ram Notes Linebacker Kevin Greene, one of the few Rams who played well in last week’s loss to Houston, has been bothered by a virus all week and is questionable for today’s game. Greene, who scored the Rams’ only touchdown last week on a 25-yard interception return, was scheduled for another blood test Saturday, after which a decision was to be made on his status . . . Greene’s white blood cell count fell during the week and the team took bone marrow tests. “That’s where white cells come from,” Ram trainer Jim Anderson said. “We wanted to see if there was anything wrong with the production of it, and there wasn’t.” Greene said he picked up the virus while in Houston. “I’m fine,” Greene said. “Everything’s OK.” . . . Wide receiver Ron Brown’s hip bruise (remember last week’s collision with Houston’s Patrick Allen) has been sore all week and it’s still unclear how much he’ll play today. Brown practiced Friday, but not without pain. . . . The last time the teams met, in 1985, the Rams stopped Viking back Darrin Nelson on a dramatic goal-line stand on the game’s last play to preserve a 13-10 win at Anaheim Stadium. . . . Strike or no strike, the Rams have not changed their practice schedule for next week. As usual, they’ll work out lightly on Monday and have Tuesday off. . . . Carl Ekern will start at linebacker today, his first appearance since injuring his right knee on Aug. 13 against Seattle. . . . The Viking quarterback today, Wade Wilson, is 6-5 as a starter in the league. Four of his losses came in 1984, when Minnesota suffered through a 3-13 season.