Ram Notebook : Five Are Named to Pro Bowl, but Not Bell
The Rams have no Super Bowl victories in the 1980s but have placed more players in the Pro Bowl during the decade than any other National Football League team. They added five more to the list Wednesday when the team was announced.
Representing the Rams in the Jan. 29 game in Hawaii will be tackle Jackie Slater (fourth time) center Doug Smith (fourth time), cornerback Jerry Gray (third), guard Tom Newberry (first) and wide receiver Henry Ellard (second). Ellard was named to the 1984 team as a punt returner.
Ellard was the least surprising of the Ram choices. He ranks second in the NFC with 80 catches and leads the conference with 1,340 receiving yards.
Despite his numbers, Ellard wasn’t convinced he would make the team.
“I wasn’t sure,” Ellard said. “Anything can happen. It’s almost like the draft to me. Things are said and predicted to happen, but you never know until it happens. I was hoping and wishing.”
Ellard becomes the first Ram to make the Pro Bowl as a receiver since Harold Jackson in 1977.
“Hopefully this will be the start of something new,” Ellard said.
More interesting was the omission of tailback Greg Bell, the league’s fourth-leading rusher with 1,124 yards and a league-leading 17 touchdowns.
The NFC backs chosen were San Francisco’s Roger Craig, Herschel Walker of Dallas, Chicago’s Neal Anderson and John Settle of Atlanta. Anderson and Settle have fewer rushing yards and touchdowns than Bell.
“I probably assumed more than I should have assumed,” Bell said. “Things have been going well.”
Bell, though, said he wasn’t upset.
“It really wasn’t a disappointment, mainly because my sights right now are on trying to get to the Super Bowl,” he said. “This is the first chance I’ve ever had to be on a winning team.”
Quarterback Jim Everett also did not make the squad, despite leading the NFC in touchdown passes (27) and yardage (3,763). The NFC quarterbacks are Minnesota’s Wade Wilson and Philadelphia’s Randall Cunningham.
“There’s a lot of guys who are going to be in Hawaii at the end of January that would love to be in the same positions as me and Jim,” Bell said. “I’ve got the chance to make the playoffs. Now, I’m more excited about getting to Candlestick Park.”
Newberry, in his third season from Wisconsin-La Crosse, thought he had a better season a year ago, when retiring teammate Dennis Harrah was named instead in what most considered a sentimental selection.
“Sometimes you make the Pro Bowl the year after your great season,” Newberry said. “I thought last year I had a real good year and didn’t make it. Who knows? I’ve had people tell me that a lot of times it takes a couple of years in a row for people to recognize you. But I think I played better a year ago.”
Newberry was glad he made it this year. He now has a $100,000 Pro Bowl clause in his contract.
He was sorry, though, that teammate Irv Pankey, an 8-year veteran, was snubbed again.
“One of the reasons I made it was because he was playing so well,” Newberry said of Pankey, his blocking partner at left tackle.
The Pro Bowl team is selected by NFC players and coaches.
The Rams have placed 46 players in the Pro Bowl since 1980. San Francisco ranks second with 43 players selected, followed by the Raiders with 38.
Rice corners Gray: Jerry Rice, the 49ers’ All-Pro receiver, told Bay Area reporters this week that he’s still upset at Gray for a tackle he made in the Oct. 16 game at Anaheim Stadium.
In that game, Rice twisted his ankle when Gray grabbed his facemask and pulled Rice to the ground on a tackle. Gray was assessed a 5-yard penalty on the play, not a 15-yarder, meaning the officials did not feel the act was flagrant.
Still, Rice said he’s going to have a few words with Gray before Sunday’s big game.
“I’m going to tell him it was really not called for,” Rice told reporters. “The first time he did that, I did not think nothing of it. It was back in 1986 on a long play. I don’t know if the guy is doing it on purpose. I don’t like to play like that. If I’m going to hit a person, it’s going to be legal.”
Gray said Wednesday that Rice must be thinking about another play in another galaxy.
“That’s not me,” Gray said. “First, I’d say it was an unfair statement to say, if he said I was trying to hurt him. It’s not fair to me. He didn’t ask me if I was trying to hurt him because I wasn’t. I’m not the type of guy to just flagrantly try to hurt someone.”
Gray said he accidentally grabbed Rice’s facemask while trying to strip the ball.
Ram Notes
Fullback Robert Delpino (turf toe) and tailback Greg Bell (flu) missed Wednesday’s practice. Both are expected back for Sunday’s game against San Francisco. . . . Linebacker Mark Jerue, who has missed 3 games with a knee injury, is listed as probable along with receiver Flipper Anderson. The 49ers report running back Doug DuBose out with a knee injury. Linebacker Riki Ellison (shoulder) is doubtful and safety Ronnie Lott questionable with a hamstring injury.
