Eric Left Door Open; Rams Get Good Draft
Even in absentia Eric Dickerson has managed once again to transform a mediocre Ram team into an instantly competitive one. All it took was a single sentence, a sentence so simple in nature but so memorable in effect that the Rams should commission a painting in Dickerson’s memory.
In it would be a group of reporters huddled loosely around Dickerson on an overcast October afternoon. Since-retired tight end David Hill, a Dickerson buddy, would be pictured near his side, shaking his head in disbelief. Dickerson, eyes fixed earnestly ahead, not a hint of smile on his face, would be gesturing to the reporters. The painting’s title:
“Let him run 47 Gap.”
And there you have it, ladies and gentlemen, great moments in Ram history. It was then and there, angered by the suggestion that Coach John Robinson run Dickerson’s favorite play, that Ram management decided to dispose of its weekly meal ticket and tinker with the franchise’s future.
By Halloween Dickerson was gone, part of a three-way package deal that sent him to the Indianapolis Colts and Cornelius Bennett to the Buffalo Bills. In return, the Rams received enough draft picks to restock a lineup that finished 6-9 last year showing considerable signs of wear and tear. This was also the same lineup heretofore betrayed by the team’s first choices in the two previous years--offensive lineman Mike Schad and defensive end-turned-fullback Donald Evans.
On Sunday, nearly six months after Dickerson’s departure, the Rams were able finally to begin opening their presents. And nice gifts they were, too.
The Rams found UCLA running back Gaston Green unexpectedly available midway through the first round and snatched him faster than you can say, “Ironhead.” That was with the 14th pick, which would have been Buffalo’s had Dickerson kept his feelings to himself. But he couldn’t and suddenly the Rams have an heir obvious to the legacy of Dickerson and 1987 National Football League rushing leader Charles White.
At draft’s beginning, University of Pittsburgh’s Craig “Ironhead” Heyward was considered the Ram running back of choice. As best as anyone could tell, the Rams absolutely, positively were going to select him with their first of two No. 1 picks . . . unless Green was still there. He was, courtesy of a collection of unpredictable choices by the New York Giants and the Phoenix Cardinals.
“The scenarios, frankly, didn’t have Gaston Green in there much,” said Robinson of the Ram pre-draft strategy.
The Rams figured Green would be gone by then. So did Green, who wouldn’t have minded a phone call from the Giants but wanted no part of the three teams that followed: Dallas, Phoenix and Philadelphia.
“As I was waiting for that moment,” Green said, “my heart was almost beating out of my chest.”
Green provides the Rams with everything they could have wanted: a local hero, a running back, Robinson said, with the best breakaway speed of any tested, an agreeable disposition and a wonderful safety net should White falter.
The Rams considered, in fact, may have pressed the Giants for, a swap that would have allowed them to move up from that 14th pick, the one they used on Green, to No. 10. and Miami receiver Michael Irvin. The Giants reportedly declined the offer, to which the Rams should be forever grateful.
With their next pick, No. 21 overall, the Rams chose Arizona State’s Aaron Cox. This was a donation from the Colts, who previously owned the pick before acquiring The Great Goggled One. All the speedy Cox can do is run great patterns, catch the ball over the middle and stay away from the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials--everything Ron Brown couldn’t do.
So far, all was fitting into place for the Rams. “That’s what we had hoped for, running back and wide receiver,” Robinson said.
The second round was equally pleasureable. And why shouldn’t it have been, what with three selections: Nos. 36, 47 and 48--the last one compliments of Dickerson and his employers, the Colts.
Oregon safety/cornerback Anthony Newman should ease the pain of Nolan Cromwell’s eventual departure or retirement. Newman also could convert to cornerback should the LeRoy Irvin salary saga recur.
Whatever the position, assistance awaits; former Oregon teammate Cliff Hicks, a cornerback when healthy, is a Ram veteran of one year.
“I feel like I can get some notes from Cliff,” Newman said.
We call them, Cliff Notes.
Using a pick they received from San Diego, the Rams later took UCLA wide receiver Willie Anderson, who does almost everything Cox does, but faster. Robinson swears that only one other receiver in the entire draft (Tennessee’s Anthony Miller) runs long patterns as well as Anderson. Also, he has a great nickname, “Flipper.” Don’t ask.
And by the way, Robinson said, “Picking Willie Anderson doesn’t have anything to do with Ron Brown.”
Uh, huh.
After Anderson, came Purdue linebacker Fred Strickland, who broke the Pacific 10 hold on the Rams. Strickland gives the Rams depth at position where you almost always need it, especially if they decide to try a five-linebacker alignment.
If I were the Rams I wouldn’t waste another minute. Send a candygram, a bouquet of roses, a copy of that memorable team video, Ram . . . anything, but show Dickerson your appreciation. He deserves it.