NFL STRIKE : The Rams : No Picket Line for 28 in Anaheim

Some National Football League strikers spent their Wednesday smashing bus windows, tossing eggs, wielding shotguns and shouting obscenities at non-union players crossing picket lines.

But while emotions burned elsewhere, the Rams slept.

Oh, they’ll get around to picketing, this morning perhaps.

Still, the fears of 28 non-union players who were whisked into Rams Park were never realized. Contingency plans devised to move the new players peacefully through picket lines were never needed.

Team officials and NFL security officers stationed themselves near the facility’s front gate and waited. And waited. The media waited. But the real Rams never came.

Just before noon, security guard Bert Muench radioed Dick Beam, the team’s director of operations.

“No players in the Gemco parking lot,” Muench reported.

No players anywhere.

“I’m not going to ask why they’re not here,” said non-union kicker Don Shafer. “It is awkward to be here, and the less I have to see of them the better.”

Linebacker Carl Ekern has promised that the Rams will be out in force this morning at 8:30. The team’s player representative said the Rams never intended to start picketing until non-union players started practicing.

Indeed, Wednesday for the new Rams was a day for physical examinations, meetings and helmet fittings. The team, though, did hold a light workout late in the afternoon for quarterbacks and receivers.

“Instead of having guys hanging around all day to see when guys would show up, we figured we’d come in Thursday, when they were back on a regular schedule,” Ekern said. “And that’s when we’ll be here.”

Ekern said the absence of pickets in no way suggested a lack of union support. He said that had the Rams assembled a team earlier in the week, picket lines would have gone up accordingly.

Ekern, though, was privately hoping that the strike might be settled Wednesday, ending the need for pickets, at all.

“We’re out on strike,” he said. “What else can we do but wait and see what happens in negotiations. Everyone’s encouraged that Gene (Upshaw) and (Jack) Donlan are meeting. I don’t know what else we could do.”

Ram Notes

Of the 28 non-union players currently signed, only four were with the Rams in training camp. They are wide receivers Steve Marks and Stacey Mobley, running back Alonzo Williams and safety Reggie Richardson. . . . Former Ram punter John Misko (1982-’84) is expected to sign Friday. . . . If the Rams had to play tomorrow, they’d have only one offensive lineman, center Tom Taylor (Georgia Tech). Presumably, help is on the way. . . . Ram special teams coach, Artie Gigantino, after viewing his new team, replied, “This is really happening, isn’t it?” A question put to Coach John Robinson: Where does the strength of your team lie? “Out on the street,” he said. . . . “This is like a time warp,” Robinson continued. “Any second a guy could come around the corner and say it’s (the strike) over and we’d tell all these guys to get out of here.” . . . One of Robinson’s sources, known only as ‘the mystery man,’ told him the strike would be settled soon. “I stopped to get gas and the guy at the station said he thought it would end by 9 p.m. (Wednesday),” Robinson said. “At least they’re talking. We’re hopeful something might happen.” . . . Also working out Wednesday with the team was former UCLA quarterback Bernard Quarles. . . . The new Rams by position breakdown: one quarterback; two tight ends; six wide receivers; four running backs; one center; four defensive lineman; four linebackers; five defensive backs and one kicker.