A Tale of Two Debuts: Rookie Green With Rams, Dorsett With Broncos

Gaston Green wore jersey No. 33 at Gardena High School.

Why? Because Tony Dorsett wore 33.

In practice, Green scooted along the line of scrimmage before exploding with a burst of speed into the secondary.

Why? Because Tony Dorsett ran that way.

When Ram Coach John Robinson used a first-round pick to draft Green from UCLA, the first thing he said was how much Green reminded him of Tony Dorsett.

The least surprising revelation of the year:

“Tony Dorsett is one of my favorite running backs,” Green said.

Tonight, the two tailbacks will pass one another in football’s revolving door when the Rams play the Denver Broncos in an exhibition game at Anaheim Stadium.

Green, 22, is coming. Dorsett, 34, is going.

Dorsett, making his first appearance with the Broncos after 11 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, is as excited about this game as he is about, oh, Tom Landry’s hat.

“If I had my choice, you’d know how much time I’d like to have,” Dorsett said with all the dread of an 11-year veteran facing another exhibition.

Three plays and out?

“If that,” he said, laughing.

Green--and the name fits here--can’t wait to get started. He missed the team’s exhibition opener last Saturday with a bruised left thigh. Tonight will be his Ram debut, the triumphant return to the stadium of his greatest college achievement--266 yards rushing against Brigham Young University in the 1986 Freedom Bowl.

All those memories tonight, plus Tony Dorsett.

“I’m going to try to see if I can get his autograph,” Green said.

Green has watched Dorsett run a thousand times over the years.

“Our running styles are similar-- the way he accelerates and can break a long touchdown from anywhere on the field,” Green said.

Dorsett has never seen Green play.

“From my understanding, he’s a pretty good runner,” Dorsett said. “From the rumor mill, his ability to withstand a pounding is a question mark. I don’t know whether that’s accurate. That’s just what’s been told to me. Everything I hear about his ability, he should do an outstanding job.”

Green and Dorsett are players on opposite ends of their careers, literally miles apart on the field.

Dorsett has rushed for 12,036 yards, fourth high in the National Football League. Green has yet to gain his first. Green has everything to prove; Dorsett nothing.

“I proved I could play in the NFL many years ago,” Dorsett said. “I’m hungrier. I’m excited about playing football again. It’s a new challenge, it’s refreshing, this change. I haven’t been this happy in five or six years. But I don’t have to prove anything. Everyone knows I can play football. I guess the big question in everyone’s mind is how much more can I play.”

The Cowboys, who replaced Dorsett with Herschel Walker in the backfield last season, weren’t so sure. On June 3, they traded him to Denver for a conditional fifth-round draft choice, which says something in itself.

Those crazy Denver fans, of course, lined the streets when Dorsett came to town.

Wrong. In fact, in a Rocky Mountain News poll asking fans whom they’d prefer in a trade, George Rogers or Dorsett, Rogers won easily.

“I lost in a landslide,” Dorsett said.

Yet, he is making an impression. The talk of Bronco camp is how little Dorsett has changed. There are rumors of 4.38-second times in the 40-yard dash and no loss of quickness and acceleration.

“I can’t see a whole lot of difference,” said Bronco Coach Dan Reeves, Dorsett’s offensive coordinator in Dallas until 1981. “The biggest difference is going to be things you don’t notice, like how quickly do you get over soreness compared to when you were young.

“I haven’t been with him for seven years, but I don’t see any loss of quickness or speed. He seems to have all those things he had when he came into the league.”

The same speed at age 34?

“I think there’s definitely people that are unusual,” Reeves said. “And I think he’s an unusual person, because no question, you should see some difference in his quickness and speed. But really, to the naked eye, it’s not noticeable.”

In some ways, Green and Dorsett represent some of the same things to their teams. Hope, for instance.

The Rams look to Green for the speed and excitement lost when Eric Dickerson was traded to the Indianapolis Colts.

The Broncos look to Dorsett as perhaps the missing piece in a puzzle that has kept them from winning the last two Super Bowls. Dorsett, at last, could be the breakaway runner Denver has been searching for.

And like the Rams with Green, the Broncos don’t expect Dorsett to do it all. The Rams have quarterback Jim Everett and tailback Charles White to lessen the burden. Denver has John Elway and a fleet of speedy wide receivers.

“It’s like a tailor-made situation for me,” Dorsett said.

Ram Notes

Speaking of green, as in money, Gaston Green signed a four-year contract Tuesday morning worth $1.825 million in present value, which means that none of the money is deferred. Green will receive an $825,000 signing bonus and base salaries of $175,000, $200,000, $210,000 and $240,000, plus an additional $175,000 reporting bonus in the fourth year. As a condition of the contract, Green will donate $500 for each Ram victory to local charity, set up scholarship funds at Gardena High School and UCLA, his alma maters, and help finance the reconstruction of Cedar Hill Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles.

As expected, the Rams released holdout tight end Greg Baty on Tuesday. . . . Linebacker Jim Collins underwent successful arthroscopic surgery to remove a bone spur in his right knee. The team announced that Collins will be out for about four weeks. . . . Tony Slaton will start for Mike Schad at left guard tonight. Jim Everett may play as much as a half tonight, with Steve Dils making his 1988 debut after that.