It Took Him a Year to Get Feet Wet : Rams: Everett-to-Anderson has become one of the NFL’s most explosive combinations.
Henry Ellard seemed to hang in the air, twisting his body to snare a ball thrown behind him for a 26-yard gain that revived a third-quarter scoring drive. Then he made a textbook sideline catch, dragging the toes of both shoes across the sideline, for a first down on the Giant 14-yard line that set up the game-tying field goal.
In all, Ellard had eight receptions during the Rams’ victory over New York Sunday, at least two of them spectacular. He gained 125 yards and the Rams needed every one of them.
Flipper Anderson found a gaping hole in a poorly executed zone defense and scored a touchdown right before halftime. Then he outran single coverage and scored the game-winning touchdown in overtime. Two catches. Fifty yards. Without them both, the Rams are on vacation this week.
So guess who had the biggest crowd around his locker after the game?
Flipper Anderson, media superstar.
Who would have guessed?
Probably not his grandmother, who nicknamed him Flipper as a baby because he sounded like a dolphin when he cried. And probably not Terry Donahue, the UCLA coach who didn’t seem to have much regard for the long pass, even though he had Troy Aikman to throw it and Anderson to catch it.
And certainly not anyone who saw Anderson on the street. He’s listed at 6 feet but is probably about two inches shorter and can’t weigh more than 175.
Even Ram Coach John Robinson admitted recently that Anderson “came out of nowhere this year.”
This Flipper hit prime-time with a real splash, too. He’s only in his second year in the NFL, but already has gained elite status. Don’t bother Anderson with the down-and-dirty-across-the-middle stuff. He’s strictly a home-run hitter. You know, a league-leading 26-yards-per-catch, 78-yard touchdown jaunts and seven touchdowns in only 48 receptions.
Just the game-breakers, please.
Flipper set an NFL single-game record with 336 yards receiving against New Orleans. He stole the show and stole the ball as he raced through the end zone and up the tunnel out of Giants Stadium after his sideline streak meant sudden death for the Giants.
Clearly, Flipper is on a roll.
And it’s even kind of hard to say that Anderson is playing in the shadow of Pro Bowl player Ellard when he has a battery of klieg lights shining in his face.
There are reasons, though, for Anderson’s flash to stardom. Some are quite logical. And one is a little mystical.
RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME, RIGHT TEAM
When Aaron Cox, teammate and best friend, pulled a hamstring in training camp, Anderson was elevated to a starting role. It’s a spot he has never relinquished.
“It was unfortunate that Aaron was hurt, but that happens in football,” Anderson said. “I got my opportunity and I never looked back.”
The 1989 Rams are a dream team for Anderson. He couldn’t find a situation better suited to showcase his talents.
Ellard is slicing through the hearts of defenses, routinely making incredible catches in clutch situations. Tight end Pete Holohan is a sure bet for at least 10 yards if a team dares to cover him with a linebacker. And running back Robert Delpino is so proficient a pass catcher that the Rams use him as a wide receiver in some formations.
And then there’s quarterback Jim Everett, whose ability to put the ball in his receivers’ hands has put the Rams in Sunday’s NFC championship game in San Francisco.
The wealth of talented receivers means that Anderson is bound to face some man-to-man coverage. He is blessed with great speed and has good hands and he’s going to get open some times.
“When it comes down to a foot race, well, I’m going to win most of those,” Anderson says.
When he does, Everett often completes his end of the deal.
It’s really pretty simple.
“It all works because of the entire passing package,” Robinson said.
That is not to say Anderson’s success is merely a result of good fortune. He has discovered that a little dedication can add up to a lot of playing time.
Last year, he was a rookie who had trouble concentrating during practice. He spent more time thinking about running between car dealerships and clothing stores than running pass routes.
“I think a lot of rookies probably go through something like that,” Anderson said. “You know, you go through college having no money at all, then you have all these big checks coming in. You think about what you’re going to do after practice because you have a lot of free time on your hands. I think that became a factor last year.
“But I never doubted my talents. I just had to apply myself.”
So, after the season, Anderson decided to adopt a Spartan mind-set about the business of playing football.
“Me and Aaron worked out three times a week during the off-season, running and lifting weights,” he said. “I took it upon myself to work harder.”
And when training camp started, he started paying closer attention in meetings and film sessions.
“I remember seeing an interview with Flipper on TV a couple of weeks back and he was talking about a two-deep zone,” Everett said. “I can’t imagine him saying anything like that last year.”
Robinson has been impressed with this sudden infusion of maturity. It seems that Anderson has made the transition from slightly flaky rookie to role model in just one season.
“I think what Flipper’s done can be a real catalyst for the other young players on this team,” Robinson said. “He’s learned what it takes to make it. He didn’t know his first year, but this year, he’s learned to work and his talent has been unleashed.”
MAYBE IT’S MAGIC
Even Robinson will admit that there’s something less tangible than X’s and O’s involved here. Some things you can’t draw on a chalkboard.
“If you look at any of the big-time combinations, like say (Joe) Montana to (Jerry) Rice, you see the same kind of uncanny rapport between thrower and catcher,” Robinson said.
With all that’s going on out there, how does Jim Everett know just when to lob a bomb out there for Flipper to sprint under?
Everett says it’s more a matter of positive thinking and confidence than anything else.
“It’s trust,” Everett said, smiling. “I just know that everything I throw to Flipper, he’s going to catch.”
Ask Anderson about it and you get that same Cheshire Cat grin. Two guys sharing a secret.
“It’s just a confidence thing,” he said. “Being in the same situations, week in and week out, you just know you can go up and make the catch.
“It’s like a basketball player who gets hot and everything he puts up goes in. If Jim throws it up, I just feel like there’s no way I won’t come down with it.”
Everett-to-Anderson has developed into a potent weapon in the Ram arsenal and the playbook has undergone some revisions as a result.
“We have a lot of deep routes in our system now and (offensive coordinator Ernie) Zampese has a lot of confidence in our ability to throw the ball down the field,” Anderson said. “We do that better than a lot of teams in the NFL and we take pride in it.
“I only get a couple balls thrown at me a game and they’re both probably going to be deep. So I’ve got to make the most out of them.”
He has done that often enough to force some opponents to reconsider their defensive schemes. “If you’re going to blitz us, you’re going to probably get hurt,” Robinson said. “Philadelphia talked about what they were going to do us and every time they blitzed, they rang up points on the scoreboard for us. The Giants tried it just a couple of times and paid a big price both times.”
Anderson has made a difference on this team. But then he’s used to being an impact player.
‘OOOOH, I COULD THROW’
Willie (Flipper) Anderson was a quarterback in Pop Warner League football and a quarterback for three years at Paulsboro High School in New Jersey.
He played receiver as a junior and realized his chances of continuing his football career would be greatly improved if he concentrated on catching footballs, not throwing them.
“Just coming up, you know, they usually have the best athlete playing quarterback and I was always a pretty good athlete,” Anderson said. “My junior year, I played receiver, but then my senior year, I was thrust back into the quarterback position.
“I had no intentions of playing quarterback in college, but not because I wasn’t good enough-- oooh, I could throw. . . . No, it was just that I wasn’t big enough and I didn’t feel like dealing with the pressures of playing quarterback.”
At UCLA, Anderson led the team in receiving both his junior and senior seasons. He had 44 catches for 851 yards and six touchdowns and was an honorable mention All-Pac-10 selection as a senior.
Surprisingly, Anderson isn’t one of those who believe the passing game was unfairly neglected at UCLA in 1987.
“We had a lot of weapons,” he said. “We threw deep, but Gaston Green was being pushed for the Heisman and I don’t think anyone knew how good Troy could be in the beginning of the year.”
Green, who was drafted in the first round in 1988, is a fixture on the Ram bench.
And second-round pick Flipper Anderson is a regular on Sunday night highlight shows.
Who would have guessed?
CAREER STATISTICS
Season Games Rec. Yards Avg. Long TD 1988 17 13 348 26.8 56 0 1989 18 48 1,273 26.5 78 7 Totals: 35 61 1,621 26.6 78 7