There’s a Big Tear in the Ram Secondary : Defense Hopes to Recover After Losing Irvin to 30-Day Suspension
Tuesday afternoon, LeRoy Irvin was scheduled to meet with members of the Rams’ defensive secondary to pose for a poster entitled “Crunch Bunch,” a promotional shoot sponsored by a potato-chip company.
Irvin never made it, of course, having received word of his 30-day suspension for violating the National Football League’s substance abuse policy. Embarrassed, Irvin called cornerback Clifford Hicks and asked if he’d take his place.
“He didn’t want the negative publicity of him being out and suspended to take away from the whole poster,” Jerry Gray, Irvin’s partner at cornerback and close friend, said.
Hicks replaced Irvin in the photo. Now, can he replace him in the lineup? Wednesday, the Rams pondered life without LeRoy, which has been done more than once during Irvin’s nine-year Ram career.
Irvin had actually cleared out his locker in anticipation of a 1987 trade that never materialized.
Everything had gone so well for the secondary this summer--too well, perhaps. The group had proven to be tenacious, talented and together.
“It seems like, when everything’s going well, something happens,” Gray said.
Irvin, 31, a two-time Pro Bowl player who slipped some the last two seasons, was the reborn leader of a brat-pack secondary that includes Hicks, James Washington, Anthony Newman, Darryl Henley, Michael Stewart and Alfred Jackson.
“LeRoy was a leader on the team,” Henley said. “We really looked up to him. We don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Hicks and Henley, plagued by nagging summer injuries, are now asked to step into Irvin’s spot at right corner--not quite the way either wanted to break into the league.
“Oh God, I was really shocked,” Henley said of Irvin’s suspension. “Probably as shocked as he was, and everyone else around here. It wasn’t like ‘Oh wow, LeRoy, now I get a chance to play.’ It was more like ‘Oh, God, I can’t believe it.’ ”
Neither could Gray, a five-year veteran who’ll be asked to hold the young secondary together in Irvin’s absence.
“It’s something that you wish would never happen to your team,” Gray said. “I don’t know if you’re in that position where you think you’re invincible, but when it happens you have to be as strong as your weakest guy. That’s why we’ve talked with Darryl and A.J. and Clifford to say, ‘Hey, you all have to take up the slack.’ It’s not just LeRoy, it’s our team. He’s a big part of it, but we have to keep going.”
Irvin tested positive for marijuana in a previous summer drug test.
The NFL did not release the substance abused in its announcement Tuesday, but Irvin would have drawn the same 30-day suspension for any substance ranging from alcohol to cocaine because he was a second-time violator.
Irvin has since gone fishing in Mexico and could not be reached for comment, but Gray said Irvin called him after the suspension was announced and apologized for causing a disruption.
“It’s one of those down feelings, but we know we have to keep going,” Gray said. “This may reflect on him as being bad, but we know that if he was in here and we were out there, he’d give his all for us. He’ll do anything for you. So we have to do that for him.”
Ram Coach John Robinson said Hicks and Henley will compete at right corner this week, with a decision on the starter to come later. Hicks sat out last week’s game with a thigh bruise, while Henley is still nursing an ankle sprain suffered in the Tokyo game Aug. 5.
Robinson said Henley, the UCLA rookie, can handle the position.
“He’s a natural cover guy,” Robinson said. “He has whatever that gift is to cover people. Like any rookie, it’s a tough go. I don’t know if he’ll be the starter, but he’ll give a good account of himself.”
Given a promise that the Rams would begin renegotiating his $200,000 contract for this season, tight end Damone Johnson said he would end his 37-day holdout and report to practice today.
The Rams, he said, have agreed to drop daily fines of $1,000 that he incurred during his holdout.
