Rams ’88 PREVIEW SECTION : Q & A: LeRoy Irvin : A Revealing Conversation With the Cornerback Who, Against All Odds, Has Remained a Ram

When we left LeRoy Irvin last November, he was cleaning out his locker at Rams Park, waiting to hear where he’d be shipped next. He’d gone from cornerback, first-rate, to trade bait. It was a done deal. Irvin, following in the gloomy shadow of Eric Dickerson, had leapfrogged over lines of contract diplomacy and seemingly played his last game as a Los Angeles Ram.

Coach John Robinson suspended Irvin Nov. 4 for “conduct detrimental to the team.” He told players at a team meeting that week that Irvin would never play for him again. Robinson had watched all summer as Irvin, unhappy with his contract renegotiation, nursed a bruised ego and a sore hamstring. Robinson watched as Minnesota receiver Hassan Jones ran by Irvin to catch a game-winning pass in Week 2. Robinson listened when Irvin called in sick with the flu just days after Dickerson was traded.

Surprisingly, Irvin returned after his suspension and the trading deadline passed and he played out the season. Then he said goodby again after the most lopsided loss in team history--a 48-0 beating by the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park.

Irvin had seemingly burned every Ram bridge, crossed every coach, perturbed every player. Irvin even fired his agent, Ernie Wright.

Yet here he is in 1988, still a Ram, starting his ninth season. Irvin, who will turn 31 this month, shocked many in July when he signed a three-year, $1.65 million contract extension through 1990. Do you believe in miracles?

Now, Irvin is trying to forget his lost season and recapture the form that led him to back-to-back Pro Bowl appearances in 1985 and ’86. During a recent break in training camp, Irvin sat down and discussed his strange 1987 season, his face-to-face encounters with Ram Vice President John Shaw and his future as--can you believe it?--a Ram.

Question: I think everyone is surprised, shocked perhaps, that you’re with the Rams this year. How surprised are you?

Answer: I’m really surprised I’m here, because last year when the season was over I just knew for some reason I was going to be in a different uniform this year. I didn’t think I was going to be able to play for the Rams anymore after last year. John Shaw told me he wasn’t going to trade me, but I didn’t know what to believe. Deep down, I wanted to be here, I spent a lot of time here. I made a lot of friends in Orange County. I didn’t want to be traded, but I had a gut feeling that I had played my last game in a Ram uniform.

Q: Why were you able to work something out?

A: My agent, Charles Chin, told me, “Look, you’re underpaid, but you’re not that underpaid. The Rams are not going to trade you. You have two choices, you can sit out and lose all the money and slip into oblivion, or work out something that for both sides is a win-win situation.”

Q: Are you finally happy?

A: I’m happy in the sense that I don’t want to go through another year like last year. I lost a lot of respect. Monetarily, I might have gained, but the way people around the league, coaches, fans, looked at LeRoy Irvin, I lost. It took me eight years to build the reputation of being the kind of guy I was, and it took me just one year to drop out of sight. I lost so much last year. I don’t want to go through another year like that.”

Q: How close were you to permanently alienating your coaches and teammates?

A: I didn’t know who was on my side, if John Shaw liked me or if John Robinson liked me or the players liked me. One thing I did know was that (defensive coordinator) Fritz Shurmur liked me. In the end, Fritz was one of the big reasons why I wanted to come back and play. Fritz brought me up through my career, I respect him a lot, and the things he said to me were genuine. That’s when I said I wanted to play for the Rams, let’s work out something in the off-season. Then when he changed the defense, I was really excited about that. It lets me come back here and take back what I lost.

Q: Will you look back in 10 years and regret the problems you caused in 1987?

A: It doesn’t have to be 10 years from now, I’m sick at myself for what I did last year. I had a chance to go three times straight to the Pro Bowl. Now, it’s like pre-1985, when I had to battle just to be considered one of the top guys again. I lost far more than I ever could gain. I had to do what I had to do. But I look back on it as being a mistake, a mistake in strategy.

Q: John Shaw is often portrayed as a villain, a bottom-line negotiator with little compassion. Yet, you’ve always said how much you liked Shaw as a person. How can this be?

A: I think it’s like a game and he’s a receiver, but he’s also a friend of mine. When the bell sounds, we have to go at each other--that’s business. I try to get as much as I can. His job is to keep me for as low as he can. I think when the game’s over, I can go shake John’s hand. To me, he’s a nice guy, he’s never done anything wrong to me and he’s always respected my ability. I was always able to call him and talk to him. He always calls me back when I call.

He’s a good guy, (he) even said, “Hey, when we go out on the road, let’s go out and have a drink sometime.” He always left the door open. The way I view it, he’s the receiver and I’m the defensive back. It’s me against him. I think he’s the best in the business at what he does. I consider myself one of the best at what I do. When I had all my problems with the Rams, I never once disliked John Shaw or John Robinson as people. I never said anything bad about Mrs. Frontiere. I kept it in perspective.

Q: Shaw doesn’t speak to the press about player negotiations. So why do you think he’s so good?

A: He’s one of the best at using his leverage. He doesn’t want to give away any of his positions in the press. That takes away from his effectiveness with players. The less he says the better. He goes home every night, he has his job, but he doesn’t have to worry about what goes on at Rams camp. If he’s talking to the press about what’s going on, it’s like giving fuel to the player to hold out longer. He likes it that way.

Q: Did you have to apologize to the team after last year?

A: I talked to guys individually. After first being part of building this team and then being a part of destroying this team, I looked at my teammates and said, “Wow, I let you guys down.”

Of course, most of those guys are gone--Reggie Doss, David Hill, Eric, Nolan (Cromwell) and down the line. A lot of real close friends aren’t playing anymore. Actually, I didn’t think talking would do it. I think it was going out and showing good work ethics. I wanted to relay the message on the practice field. It was not saying I’m sorry about last year, give me a break, accept me back.

Q: This team is changing quickly. With all the draft choices acquired in the Dickerson trade, you guys could have a lot of rookies on the roster. Is that good or bad?

A: You need a blend of new and old. New guys have to be able to know what it’s going to be like. When I first came in, I looked to Jack Youngblood, Larry Brooks, Pat Thomas and Rod Perry. Those guys gave me sense of security. I knew before a game that Youngblood was going to say: “Don’t worry about the mule, just load the wagon.” I knew Brooks would say, “Turn the dogs loose, the hunt is on.” Now I’m a veteran. I feel I have to portray the image that I’m not worried before a game, that everything is fine. You know, take it easy, don’t worry about it, guys. Just turn the dogs loose. I have to portray that image, even if I have butterflies. I can’t let the younger guys see me shaking or nervous. I think that’s where the blend comes in.

Q: Can you get back to the Pro Bowl this year?

A: That’s one of my goals. But last year I was out for myself. This defense was built on we and us , we and us walking down a dark alley, and we’ll fight anyone, anywhere, anytime. I’m not sitting here and saying I don’t want to go to the Pro Bowl next year because I do. That would signal that I contributed all I could contribute. But my main goal is championship level. I want to be on a championship team. When I was in Canton (Ohio), I noticed most the great players had one thing in common: They were all champions. It’s more important to be a champion than to go to the Pro Bowl.

Q: How does it feel to be a Ye Old Ram?

A: I woke up one morning and somebody said I was a veteran. I didn’t like it when Robinson came up to me and said, “LeRoy, I want you to take a day off.” I was going, “No, no, I’m not old yet. Give me a day off next year.” I kind of wanted to be young for a couple of more years. But they’re starting to view me as an older, senior member. I’m just starting to grow accustomed to it.

Q: Who’s the toughest receiver in the league to cover?

A: I would say (Jerry) Rice. His records speak for themselves. He’s beaten a lot of cornerbacks. There are a lot of good ones that give you problems, but Rice has to be on the top of everyone’s list. He’ll go after any ball, anywhere and come down with it. Most receivers won’t do some of those things, give up their body to make catches.

Q: What did it mean when John Robinson made you, of all people, a team captain for an exhibition game this summer?

A: He turned on another light in me. I was one reason he didn’t have five winning seasons in a row. I know it has to eat on him sometimes. I was one of the reasons why he didn’t, but he was able to say, “LeRoy, you’re back, I’m glad you’re back, and I’m glad you’re an example for other players. You’re a captain.” It was getting respect back from the coaches, the organization. It was was a symbolic thing.

Q: How much longer do you want to play?

A: I think I can play until 33 or 34. I’m an exception to the 30-year-old rule. I have the same speed and I’m smarter than before. It all depends on the injury factor. The league is young. It’s not so much a guy at 30 can’t play, it’s are they (management) willing to pay them the salaries opposed to 22- and 23-year-olds. Edwin Moses is still world class at 33. He’s still the best in the world. I may be able to hold off the younger guys two or three more years, but will management let me do that, let me make money I make and still play?

Q: The cornerback position seems to have changed a lot since you came into the league. With a more liberal bump-and-run rule back then, it seems like wide receivers and cornerbacks almost had to be bigger and stronger.

A: The receivers were a little bigger then. Now, corners are smaller, quicker, faster. They’re required to play the run less and less. This team, though, likes you to be a complete corner. I think I can play the run, pass, zone, as good as any corner. You have to be a great athlete, but you also have to have have the mentality, like myself. I’m the last of the one-on-one gunslingers. It’s me against that guy. That’s the attitude a corner has to have. It’s me and you. It’s nasty, similar to how Lester Hayes played. Corners are getting smaller, but they still have to have the old-school mentality to be a success.

Q: Finally, we know you used to fancy yourself as a gas station man, a commoner who didn’t mind changing his own oil. So why did you sell your service station?

A: I kept thinking I would be traded. That’s why I put the business up for sale. If I was traded, there’s no way in the world I could run my gas station from out of town. I figured being a sole proprietor was not for me. So, I am not a gas station man. From now on, I’m just going to go to the station and put my own gas in my car. Later, I want to get in public relations, maybe try some acting, or maybe try to be a coach and work with the colleges. But the main thing I want to do is concentrate on football, get things back on track.