Rams’ White and Johnson Unprotected : They Are Among 619 NFL Players Free to Sign With Other Clubs

Running back Charles White, the leading rusher in the National Football League in 1987, safety Johnnie Johnson and linebackers Carl Ekern and Jim Collins are among 19 players the Rams listed Thursday as unconditional free agents.

Until April 1, unconditional free agents can sign with another team without that team being required to provide compensation to the player’s original team. A player who is not picked up by another team by April 1 automatically returns to the team.

White, 31, gained 1,374 yards in 1987 but was suspended that season for drug abuse and in 1988 for alcohol abuse. He was used sparingly last season as Greg Bell handled the bulk of the rushing for the Rams.

Johnson, 32, has been a starter during most of his nine-year NFL career.

Ekern, 34, has played 13 seasons with the Rams and has also been a starter most of the time.

Collins, 30, missed most of last season because of injuries.

Other players on the Rams’ list of unconditional free agents are tight ends Jon Embree and Eric Sievers; running backs Mike Guman, Buford McGee, Tim Tyrrell and Keith Jones; quarterback Mark Herrmann; linebackers Mark Jerue and Mike McDonald; defensive ends Gary Jeter and Fred Stokes; nose tackle Greg Meisner; offensive tackle Mike Schad; cornerback Mickey Sutton, and wide receiver Michael Young.

Said Johnson: “This is my one opportunity to market Johnnie Johnson and see what he’s worth. I can’t tell you how thrilled I am. . . . I feel sorry for the players on each team who can’t (test the market).”

Said White: “I really don’t understand. They do what they have to do. But I’m not looking to go anywhere as of right now. As of right now, (I’m) still a Ram.”

Said Ram Coach John Robinson, who is attending scouting combine meetings in Indianapolis: “You had to try to look at your team in a lot of different ways. We used a lot of different criteria to make the judgment.”

Robinson also said that he didn’t expect “an awful lot of (player movement) for the first period of time.”

The Raiders listed 25 players as unconditional free agents, including tight end Todd Christensen, cornerback Mike Haynes and wide receiver James Lofton.

The others are kicker Chris Bahr; quarterback Vince Evans; defensive back Ron Fellows; centers Mike Freeman and Dwight Wheeler; guard Charley Hannah; offensive tackles Newt Harrell, Steve Wright and Chris Riehm; defensive back Zeph Lee; linebackers Jamie Kimmel, Linden King, Rod Martin, Milt McColl and Reggie McKenzie; tight ends Charles Henry, Andy Parker and Eric Snelson; running backs Chris McLemore, Steve Strachan and Reggie Ware, and wide receiver Chris Woods.

Elsewhere, there were numerous big names left unprotected--619 players in all. About three-quarters of them are over 30.

Among the younger players unprotected are Sam Kenney, a San Francisco linebacker singled out for praise by 49er Coach Bill Walsh during Super Bowl week, and Mike Ariey, a young offensive lineman with the New York Giants who spent all of last season on injured reserve.

Also among those unprotected:

--Timmy Smith of the Washington Redskins, who rushed for a Super Bowl-record 205 yards as a rookie a year ago but was overweight and out of favor last season.

--Such past stars as Denver’s Tony Dorsett, Washington’s Russ Grimm, Cleveland tight end Ozzie Newsome and nose tackle Bob Golic, Cincinnati’s Cris Collinsworth and Reggie Williams, and Dallas’ Randy White.

--Players who are injury risks, such as one-time All-Pro center Dwight Stephenson of Miami, whose career is in jeopardy because of a knee injury that caused him to miss all of last season; nose tackle Jim Burt of the Giants, who has chronic back problems, and linebacker Bob Crable of the Jets, who underwent reconstructive knee surgery last season.

Each team protected 37 players, including some whose contracts have technically expired. Any other team offering these players a contract would be required to give the old team right of first refusal and, if it overcomes that barrier, to compensate the old team with draft choices.

The players from this group who have played out their contracts are conditional free agents, numbering 254. Only two conditional free agents have moved to other teams the past 10 years.