NFL PLAYERS STRIKE: THE AFTERMATH : Rams : Dissension and Confusion Reign in Anaheim

The striking Rams walked back into camp Thursday. Then, almost as quickly, they walked back out. Then later, some players walked back in.

In the hours from sunrise to sunset, there were enough meetings, confusion, dissension, chaos and story-line changes for an entire season.

First, there was quarterback Jim Everett, team leader and union fence straddler, who skipped a morning meeting of striking players and reported to camp, thinking for sure that his teammates would soon follow.

They did, but walked back out soon after, leaving Everett in the lurch because he stayed.

Then there was Coach John Robinson’s infamous list of 13 Ram players, all of whom are eligible for Sunday’s game because he submitted their names, without player approval, to the league office before Wednesday’s 10 a.m. reporting deadline. Robinson had claimed that all were ready to report Thursday.

That was not the case.

Initially, 12 of the 13 players on the list voted to stay out with the remaining Rams. Later, after a meeting with Robinson and team captains, it was decided that some of the younger players should have the option of coming to camp today and playing in Sunday’s game against Atlanta.

“The strike is over, let’s not fool ourselves,” Ram guard and captain Dennis Harrah said. “This is a chance for a few guys to make money.”

Officially coming back along with Everett Thursday were wide receiver Michael Young, rookie linebackers Sam Anno and Larry Kelm, cornerback Mickey Sutton, offensive tackle Duval Love and running back Tim Tyrrell. This group will receive regular pay.

Everett, who was ready to cross the picket line Tuesday, arrived instead on Thursday. When he decided to stay, he may have angered some of his teammates.

“The hard feelings will be there,” Everett said. “But at least they’ll know that when it’s time to make a decision, I’ll make a decision.”

Harrah, who has developed a close friendship with Everett, seemed affected by the decision, though he wouldn’t admit as much for reporters.

“I will not touch that question,” Harrah said. “It’s just too close to the nucleus of what we’ve got here.”

Others, though, conveyed just how much Everett’s return affected the team.

“Especially because he’s one of our leaders,” linebacker Mark Jerue said of Everett. “It’s eating Dennis up. He’s his best buddy.”

Everett thought that his arrival would be lost in the news that the Rams would later report as a team.

The Rams did indeed, by majority-rule procedure, vote on Thursday morning to return en masse to camp. The team emerged from the meeting in Anaheim at 10:50 a.m., then drove in a caravan back to Rams Park, horns honking all the way.

The team marched back into camp, chanting in unison, “Here Come the Rams! Here Come the Rams!”

They stormed their old locker rooms, cursed non-union players who had overtaken their stalls, then were summoned to the cafeteria for a meeting with Robinson.

There, they heard what teams around the league were hearing from management: Only players who had reported by the 10 a.m. Wednesday deadline would be paid for this week’s games. Others, if they wished to stay, would receive a pro-rated per diem this week, $700 for veterans and $450 for rookies.

At 11:30 a.m., the team walked back out of camp and across the street for an impromptu meeting in a parking lot.

At that point, the Rams had a real problem. A day earlier, Robinson had submitted to the Management Council his list of 13 names, players that he claimed had told them before 10 a.m. Wednesday that they would return to camp Thursday, making them eligible for Sunday’s game and eligible for full pay.

Robinson claimed Wednesday to have gotten the names from an undisclosed source. As it turns out, he drew up the list himself, knowing that management would not back down from its Wednesday reporting deadline.

“They were put on that list by me,” Robinson admitted.

He did it to greatly increase his team’s chances of winning Sunday.

Included on the list were running back Eric Dickerson, quarterback Everett, receiver Ron Brown and linebacker Mel Owens.

In at least one sense, the strategy backfired, because most players on the list were incensed. In fact, 6 of the 13 players named had actually voted the previous day to stay on strike.

Dickerson, who made his first strike appearance Thursday, was highly irritated.

“I wanted to know how I got on that list,” Dickerson said. “From my understanding, John made up a list of players he felt could help the team to win. We didn’t like that at all. Some players feel like John stabbed them in the back. As for the coach, we could have some problems.”

Inadvertently, Robinson had seemingly fractured the team into another piece.

In their parking lot meeting, 12 Ram players had to make the difficult choice of returning--and getting paid in full--or staying out with the team.

At 1 p.m., after another majority-rule vote, the Rams decided to stay out until Monday, when they would report again as a team.

“We’ll be in whenever they’ll let us work,” Harrah said of management. “I’m ready to work.”

As a formality, the main body of the Rams will report to work today to hear officially again that players who did not report (or say they would report) by Wednesday will not be paid. Then, the Rams will leave.

Contrary to some reports, Dickerson, who has removed himself almost entirely from the strike scene, said he would not return without his teammates.

“I’m not going to play this week,” Dickerson said. “We’re still together as a team for one more round. Me, I can’t take a chance on coming in and playing with the (non-union) offensive line we have. These guys will try to make a reputation off me. I have a big reputation.”

Dickerson, though, suggested that players such as Kelm, Anno, Young, Sutton and Love might want to cross and get pay checks this week.

Said Young: “I went home and was making plans for the weekend when I got a call from Dennis. He said that he met with the other captains (Carl Ekern and Jackie Slater) and they decided that the players on that list should have the option of going in without any hard feelings by any of the other players. It didn’t make their position any different.”

Still, the Rams, not surprisingly, seem a team splintered.

Thursday afternoon, near the club’s security gate, linebacker Mel Owens and Everett engaged in a brief and heated discussion.

“We’re all out there on the line,” Owens barked at Everett at one point. “We’re doing this as a team.”

During one television interview with Everett, strikebreaker Shawn Miller’s voice could clearly be overheard shouting, “Scab,” at Everett. It was a sharp dig at the quarterback, who had certainly taken his shots at Miller for crossing the picket line.

When the team returns Monday, it will be asked to recover from deep emotional wounds inflicted by teammate on teammate, and coach on players.

“The repercussions of this strike are worse than in 1982,” tight end David Hill said. “Then, we just lost money. The division of teams, it will take us a long time to overcome.”

Robinson, though, said he won’t stand for dissention.

“I don’t think there’s any room for disunity for any club that pretends to want to compete,” he said. “Disunity is fatal. If a club choses that, they are no longer a team.”

As the sun set, Harrah and Everett actually exchanged a few words before leaving Rams Park.

The healing process, though, may be a long one. “I feel like I’ve just lost $100,000 and have got a black eye,” Harrah said of the strike “I’ve got just a little bit of dignity left. I’m holding onto my dignity. I hope my creditors will take my dignity, because I sure don’t have the $100,000 anymore.”

Ram Notes Coach John Robinson said Jim Everett will not start against the Atlanta Falcons Sunday. The starter will be Steve Dils.