Ram Notebook : No One Panics Despite a Tight End Shortage

Want to be a tight end?

Do you enjoy the opportunity to meet new people and then hit them?

Can you catch a football?

Well, you may be just what the Rams are looking for--basically a breathing human who can run 15 yards without his body, or agent, impeding his progress.

Wednesday, as the Rams took the practice field at Cal State Fullerton, they did so without a tight end.

The last of that species, rookie Gary Knudson from Arizona State, strained his lower back Tuesday and will miss Monday night’s exhibition game against the Phoenix Cardinals.

Pete Holohan will miss the next week or so with a bad knee. Rookies Vernon Kirk and Richard Ashe are both out with ankle injuries--Ashe for a week, Kirk indefinitely.

The projected starter at tight end, Damone Johnson, has yet to step foot in camp. He and his agent, Mike Dixon, want the Rams to renegotiate the second year of Johnson’s two-year contract.

That means the game against Phoenix may offer a lesson in creative formations--three wide receivers, fullbacks lining up at tight end.

Still, Ram Coach John Robinson seemed less than in a panic.

“We’ll find a tight end somewhere,” he said. “We’ve put an ad in the paper.”

Robinson joked that Eric McKee, a free agent from USC who walked out of camp early because of limited play, would have been, “first string and second string,” had he remained.

Meanwhile, Johnson, whose 42 receptions ranked fourth on the team last season, believes that he is worth more than the $200,000 he is due to be paid in his present contract.

Johnson is being fined $1,000 for each day he doesn’t report.

“We’re in communication with his agent,” Robinson said.

“The problem becomes that Damone is under contract and is bound to be here. The question becomes one of legitimizing the holdout by renegotiating the contract. It’s not the way to go for any organization, football or whatever.”

Offensive linemen have also become scarce at the Rams’ camp. Robert Cox and Duval Love have yet to sign and are not in camp. Tom Newberry, Tony Slaton and Warren Wheat have all missed practice time because of injuries. With the new 80-player limit on rosters, practice has sometimes become a task without sufficient big bodies.

The same is true for the Rams’ next opponent. “We’ve already experienced that,” said Gene Stallings, Phoenix Cardinals coach. “We’ve had to (reduce) our usual practice schedule because of it.”

Robinson said he expects defensive end Bill Hawkins, the team’s No. 1 draft choice from Miami, to sign soon.

Given the number of unsigned players, Robinson tempered his remarks, tongue in cheek.

“I think we’re close on Hawkins. Maybe next month,” he said.

Actually, Robinson believes Hawkins will be signed and ready to go in time for the Cardinal game.

Things were less funny in the case of fullback Cleveland Gary, the Rams’ other first-round draft choice, who signed a contract to play baseball with the Miami Miracle of the Class A Florida State League in 1990.

Gary, a third baseman, played baseball briefly with the University of Miami last season. He had two hits and two strikeouts in seven at-bats, and no fielding chances.

Said Willie Gary, his agent: “It’s no leverage situation. We’re still saying that he’s ready to go to L.A. and play football.”