FAME CAN WAIT : Jim Everett Finds Heaven in Orange County, and He Has No Desire to Leave

In Hollywood, heaven could wait for Warren Beatty.

In Anaheim, heaven is now for Jim Everett, not just another quarterback for the Rams these days, but the first genuine star at the position since Roman Gabriel stood tall in the pocket back in the late 1960s.

So how does Everett handle it? You know, the commercials, late hours, 90-m.p.h. drives down Pacific Coast Highway, Spago, tanning salons?

No problem, really. Everett usually just hops into his Jeep after a hard day’s work in Anaheim and heads home, in relative obscurity, to Newport Beach.

If this were Chicago, he’d probably have a couple of taco commercials by now. In Denver, you’d know where Everett got his hair trimmed. In New York, he might already be the tabloid king, his 25-year-old face spliced and splashed together on back pages with stars he’d never met.

The truth be known, where Everett roams isn’t Chicago or New York or even close to Hollywood, which is probably why the news has been slow to spread.

Fame, like everything else in Orange County, tends to get held up in traffic on the way out of town. Everett’s time may well have come, though not necessarily here.

“That’s the crazy thing,” he said of publicity. “It’s getting more so in other towns. I didn’t even feel comfortable going out on Bourbon Street (in New Orleans), because I didn’t want to talk about the game all night. No, I don’t think (Anaheim) is like L.A. People are not star-struck.” While he was here, remember, Eric Dickerson eventually moved from Irvine to Malibu to get closer to the action.

But the local folks are slowly coming around, and it’s a pace Everett prefers. In Orange County, he can still lead a rather normal life and shop for his own groceries.

“I like to go to hideaway places to get away,” he said. “Where you don’t have to be scrutinized.”

Everett doesn’t sound much like a star, nor does he feel like one.

But in case you haven’t noticed, Everett, the third-year man from Purdue, has quietly worked up a pretty good head of steam. While few were looking, Everett moved ahead of Dan Marino, Joe Montana and John Elway to the head of this year’s class.

His quarterback rating, 105.9, is second in the National Football League only to Washington’s Mark Rypien, a part-time player.

Everett’s rise has been quiet and steady. Like his team, he has risen from the ashes of a 6-9 season in which everything went haywire. Not only was there a strike in the union and strife with Dickerson in 1987, but there was Everett’s own metamorphosis to deal with.

A deep-drop thrower with a big arm in college, Everett was virtually re-molded last year by offensive coordinator Ernie Zampese, who changed him into a 5-step quarterback with a quick release.

Unfortunately, Everett was asked to learn on the run, against live competition, no less.

“We did sort of change him,” Zampese said. “And it was a tough adjustment. We were lucky he was a great, great guy. He’ll try anything you want him to try. He’s not hung up on himself at all.”

And although Everett tripped and stumbled some early last year, something finally clicked shortly after the Dickerson trade, coincidental as it might have been.

A turning point? Everett still points to the St. Louis game last year in which the Rams, barely breathing at 1-7, drove 94 yards in 23 plays and used up the last 11 minutes to beat the Cardinals on the last play. That sparked a 5-game winning streak and renewed hope in an organization.

In fact, in the 11 games Everett played as a Ram before that St. Louis game, he had completed only 49% of his passes with 11 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. The Rams were 3-8 in those games.

Since, the Rams are 12-4. Everett, in that span, has completed 63% of his passes for 3,200 yards and 26 touchdowns, with 11 interceptions.

Everett said he never doubted he would catch on. “It was like finally learning a board game and saying, ‘Yeah, I know the strategies and secrets,’ ” he said. “Before, we were just rolling the dice.”

Zampese suggested that, at least initially, Everett perhaps didn’t understand just how much work was involved in consuming the offense. “His preparation is so much better than last year,” Zampese said. “He’s spent more time doing it. A lot of times you think it’s just like a sandlot game, and you just go out and play. You think you’ll just make something happen, especially if you’ve been successful before. It does take time to realize just how immense the damn job is. “

There were other factors that affected Everett, particularly the acquisition of tight end Pete Holohan from San Diego. Holohan, with 29 catches, has become Everett’s security blanket, a big target with hands of gold.

Some would suggest Everett is too good to be true, a real company man. Dickerson, after he left, called him an “organizational pimp.”

Last Sunday, of course, Dickerson mentioned again that he and Everett were never friends. Everett said, “So what?”

Some wonder what might have happened if they had to share the same backfield. Everett doesn’t.

“It’s a hypothetical question I think is irrelevant,” he said. “It didn’t happen, it doesn’t make a difference. But it’s all irrelevant.”

But if Dickerson had stayed?

“It would have been great,” he said. “I guarantee you we would have still gone after it. That’s my job, to make sure we’re focused on the football field. If someone doesn’t like me, fine, just as long as we get it done on the field. That’s what we’re getting paid to do.”

Ram Notes

Cornerback Cliff Hicks and punter Dale Hatcher probably will be activated today for Sunday’s game against the Eagles in Philadelphia. Both players had been on injured reserve all season. To make room on the roster, wide receiver Michael Young will likely go on injured reserve with a back injury. . . . Linebacker Mel Owens, who has an ankle injury, is still doubtful for Sunday’s game.

JIM EVERETT: PASSING THE GRADE The game-by-game passing statistics of Ram quarterback Jim Everett this season. Everett’s passing rating of 105.9 is second in the National Football League.

OPPONENT ATT COMP YDS TD INT Green Bay 28 19 184 2 0 Detroit 27 17 141 1 1 Raiders 24 13 178 1 0 N.Y. Giants 24 14 236 5 1 Phoenix 33 25 300 1 0 Atlanta 24 15 234 3 1 San Francisco 33 20 199 3 2 Seattle 27 20 311 3 0 New Orleans 34 21 243 0 0 Totals 254 164 2026 19 5