FITTING IN : Once Called an Enigma, Bell Tries to Put Pieces Together
Greg Bell will always be remembered by some as the pocket change in the three-team trade involving Eric Dickerson last Halloween.
It’s a fact of life. The Rams traded Dickerson to the Indianapolis Colts and received, in order of importance, three No 1. picks, two second-rounders and Greg Bell from the Buffalo Bills. It’s always and Greg Bell.
Bell is trying to change that, as well as a few other notions about his lack of durability and his work ethic.
“It hurts when the press tries to get into a person’s heart,” Bell said of some stories written about him. “A guy would be a fool to come out here two times a day if he doesn’t want to be there. It’s the most foolish thing a guy could say.”
No one’s saying it this year. Bell, in fact, is the Rams’ leading rusher through four exhibition games with 118 yards in 27 carries. He said he came to training camp to prove he could withstand the punishment of two-a-day practices and also, to raise some eyebrows.
“I have opened some eyes,” Bell said.
Two of which belong to Coach John Robinson, who once had termed Bell “an enigma,” a player whose intent and devotion weren’t always clear. The only trouble Bell is causing now is where to find room for him on the 45-player roster.
Bell, a first-round draft choice from Notre Dame in 1984, has always been a unique talent. He rushed for 1,100 yards as a rookie in Buffalo, and in 1985, he led the Bills in rushing with 883 yards and in receiving with 576.
The problems began in 1986, when a groin injury limited Bell to 90 carries. Questions about the seriousness of the injury lingered into 1987, culminating with his trade to the Rams.
Bell landed in Anaheim, hoping to start anew, but wound up back on the injured-reserve list Nov. 15 after suffering a hairline break of a bone in his left shoulder.
Bell came out of it stamped “damaged goods.”
“I was more upset by the bad luck that seems to follow me wherever I go,” Bell said. “I’d never had shoulder or back problems. It’s an area that’s probably my strongest. I left Buffalo hurt and came here on a bad note. Bam, I went down. It’s not any better when you don’t know anybody on the team. . . . You know they’re thinking, ‘He’s a high-priced player, now look what he’s doing.’ ”
What Bell was doing was a lot of sideline standing. He was lonely and hurt. He settled in Torrance and said he initially made more friends on the Raiders than the Rams.
“I didn’t know anything about L.A.,” Bell said. “I never followed L.A. as a kid. Buffalo never played L.A.”
Bell was sure the rumors about his “attitude” were making the rounds. Those claims, he says, have always been unfounded.
“There’s no price you can pay someone to walk out there on the field,” Bell said. “Look at Darryl Stingley. You can’t put a price on his head.”
Stingley, of course, is the former New England Patriots wide receiver who was paralyzed after being hit by the Raiders’ Jack Tatum in 1978.
So Bell’s first year as a Ram was a miserable one.
There was frustration at every turn. Initially, he thought he would get a chance to replace Dickerson. Instead, he was hurt and watched as Charles White stepped in and led the National Football League in rushing.
Even before he was hurt, though, Bell discovered that he had to learn to run the John Robinson way.
“Here, they want you to keep your shoulders north and south,” Bell said. “In Buffalo, we ran a lot of traps, so our bodies were turned to the side a lot. A lot of the system in Buffalo is geared outside. Here, we can power people. (Robinson) wants big explosions into the hole. There’s adjustments with that, I can see it in the films.”
Bell knows too, that his role this year is limited by numbers. The Rams already have two first-round picks at his position, White and rookie Gaston Green.
But while Green has been brought along slowly, Bell has stepped in as the team’s tailback in pass situations. He’s a proven receiver, catching a 32-yard touchdown pass for the Rams last year in the first game he started.
“I’m pretty optimistic,” Bell said. “It doesn’t bother me, the talks of trade. Being waived bothers me more. Would it kill me? No. You’ve seen me play. Being picked up is the last thing I’m going to worry about.”
Bell also knows his chances of unseating White as the starting tailback are slim.
“Need I answer that?” he asked. “No, I don’t see it. But I can’t say that I haven’t been running like No. 1. Coming in here, I have more carries than any man in this backfield.”
Ram Notes
It turns out that the solution to guard Tom Newberry’s holdout was only a phone call away. After weeks without conversation, Jay Zygmunt, Ram general counsel, called Newberry’s agent Tuesday and worked out a plan that will have Newberry back at practice today, ending the player’s 34-day holdout. The plan is to work out the details of a contract renegotiation later.
Newberry is in the third year of his original four-year contract. In the off-season, the Rams offered to renegotiate the deal, but irritated Newberry when they demanded he extend the contract two years.
The Ron Brown-to-Tampa-Bay trade fell through Tuesday morning. “We brought him in with the idea that we were going to check each other out,” Buccaneer Coach Ray Perkins told the Tampa Tribune. “There were reservations on both sides. I called him this morning and told him that. I know I had some reservations. If there are reservations on that kind of thing, you shouldn’t do it.”
The Rams reduced their roster to 60 by releasing running back Jon Francis and safety Frank Wattelet, putting defensive end Mike Piel (neck) and tailback Keith Jones (ankle) on injured reserve, and moving Newberry to the did-not-report list. When Newberry returns today, the team will have a two-week roster exemption to account for his roster spot if Newberry doesn’t play Friday night against the San Diego Chargers.
