A LOOK AT THIS WEEK’S RAM AND RAIDER OPPONENTS : Colts Aren’t Only Ones to Benefit From Bickett

The storybook life of millionaire linebacker Duane Bickett continues to skip along, so much so, that you sometimes wonder if it’s actually true. But much to the delight of the Indianapolis Colts and the city’s nonprofit Noble Centers for Retarded Citizens, it is. Oh, is it ever.

You want local-boy-makes-good tales? Try these:

Irony No. 1--Only three colleges--Cal State Fullerton, University of Pacific and, oddly enough, USC--recruited Bickett during his senior year at Glendale High. And USC stumbled onto him by sheer accident.

“A high school coach sent us some film of another player,” said then-USC assistant coach Artie Gigantino, who now serves on John Robinson’s Ram staff. “I’ll never forget this, it was a Lompoc High School coach, a guy by the name of Mike Warren. And he said, ‘You know, you ought to look at this other guy from Glendale, a tight end, Duane Bickett.”’

So Gigantino looked “and we loved him.” Then he checked his recruiting lists of the top tight end prospects and Bickett’s name was nowhere to be found. A few days later, Gigantino attended a Glendale basketball game to watch Bickett in action. “And he was just elbowing people and playing like a mad man,” Gigantino said.

A recommendation was made to Robinson, who was the USC head coach at the time: offer Bickett a scholarship.

“The rest,” Gigantino said, “is history.”

Well, not quite. You should also know, said Bickett, that thanks to an academic problem the year before, USC was looking for recruits with impressive grade-point averages, preferably higher than pi. And rumor was that USC planned to throw the ball more often, which also suited Bickett’s skills.

Convenient twists of fate they were, but ones that Bickett took full advantage of. And isn’t that the key to storybook endings, anyway?

“When you look at it, you can say, ‘Yeah, I do feel lucky about things,”’ he said. “But a lot of it has to do with hard work. I practiced and worked as hard as I could. I beat the odds, if you can say that.”

Irony No. 2--Shortly before the start of spring practice in 1982, Bickett received a message: “Coach Robinson wants to see you.”

Bickett was stunned. Had he done something wrong? he wondered. Better yet, had he done something right? He found out soon enough as Robinson wasted little time explaining the situation.

“You can play defense and get a lot of playing time or continue to play tight end and redshirt,” he said.

Bickett was speechless. He considered himself a good pass receiver and a better-than-average special teams player. But linebacker? This would take some time to sort out.

“Listen,” Robinson continued, “you’re going to be an All-American linebacker and you’re going to be a real successful pro linebacker.”

At this point, Bickett’s mind kicked into gear. He said he remembers thinking, ‘ . . . I haven’t even played a down at SC and he’s saying this.’

“I did think (Robinson) was full of it a little bit,” Bickett said.

Not true, said Robinson, who insists that the sales job was sincere.

“I really believed he was going to be really good,” he said.

He was. By the end of his senior season, Bickett was a first-team All-American selection and the Pacific 10 defensive player of the year. Not long after that, the Colts came calling.

Irony No. 3--Bickett wasn’t the fastest player at the National Football League scouting combine meetings in 1985. Nor was he the quickest person or the highest jumper. His were skills that didn’t translate well to stopwatches or tape measures.

Thus, you can imagine Bickett’s surprise and dread when the Colts selected him as the fifth player overall. Sitting in agent Leigh Steinberg’s home that day, Bickett could only wince as the announcement was made. After all, this was a franchise that had a history of pinching pennies when it came to first-round choices. Also, they hadn’t had a winning season since 1977.

And then there was Indianapolis itself--a nice town, but in marked contrast to Southern California, where Bickett had been born and reared.

Also in attendance that day was Gigantino, who excused himself from Steinberg’s “celebration” to use the phone. He was calling the Colts and then-head coach Rod Dowhower. So insistent was Gigantino that Dowhower was summoned from the team’s draft headquarters.

“Congratulations, Rod, you made a great choice,” Gigantino said. “A great pick.”

For someone who wasn’t in a hurry to play in Indianapolis, Bickett certainly made a quick impression. If there was an NFL All-Rookie team to be made in 1985, Bickett was on it. Two seasons later, he was selected to the Pro Bowl. And last year, he led the Colts in tackles.

“Duane has made immense progress,” Colt linebacker coach Rick Venturi recently told John Bansch of The Indianapolis Star. “He was an awfully good player when he came into the league. He’s now a pro’s pro.”

Said Bickett: “People know me. I mean, I’m not the Lawrence Taylor type of guy that everybody would know. But playing on a team like Indianapolis in years past, it was hard to get the same recognition as those on teams that do a lot of winning. You learn not to worry about that.

“I think I’ve grown to like where I am,” he said. “I’m happy with the situation here. I like my teammates. I think we’ve got a good coaching staff and I have a nice contract.”

“Nice” is a tame word to describe the 4-year, $4.83-million contract extension Bickett signed during last year’s training camp. The deal placed him among the league’s elite in salary and stature, but, according to Gigantino, didn’t place him on an egotistical pedestal.

“He’s a joy to coach, a good guy and remains a good friend . . . except that he’s a millionaire,” Gigantino said. “He drives a Corvette and I still drive a Thunderbird.”

Bickett also shares the wealth. His most visible project is his work with the aforementioned Noble Center for Retarded Citizens. For every tackle and interception, Bickett donates to the center. At last count, the total was about $34,000.

“I just did a United Way (commercial),” he said. “We did it with the Noble people and we spent a whole day doing this deal, from morning to late afternoon. With the mentally challenged people you learn that, hey, there’s not a lot of difference, that they’re people just like us.

“It was funny because (Colt general manager) Jimmy Irsay and I were the most edgy of all the people doing it. We were sweating and moaning and groaning about it. Meanwhile, (the Noble people) did everything perfect. It opens up your consciousness.”

Bickett’s involvement also includes visiting the center, serving as a centerpiece for its annual fund-raising brochure and attending numerous social events on behalf of the organization.

“To me, he’s just an outstanding human being,” said Irv Pincha, president of the center. “He has a real commitment to our organization and also to the community. We are really fortunate to have a guy like him involved.”

Of course, Pincha and the rest of folks at the center won’t be the only ones watching with interest as the Colts play the Rams Sunday at Anaheim Stadium. Visiting dignitaries are making the trip all the way from Sydney, Australia, to watch Bickett. Then again, they have good reason to--they’re Bickett’s parents.

Bickett’s father works for an Australian cotton firm and doesn’t get much of an opportunity to watch his son play, what with the Colts rarely making the country’s game of the week. So rather than take a chance on Australian television, the Bicketts are making the 14-hour plane flight. In all, 30 friends and relatives will be at the game.

And all things considered, it seems like the least they could do for the former no-name tight end from Glendale. After all, he would do the same for them.