McGee Knows Way Around the Block : Rams: Unheralded fullback isn’t exceptional at any one thing, but he does everything well.

You either never saw or didn’t care about the greatest play Buford McGee made this season. On a team that can light up a scoreboard with various Bells and Flippers, McGee stands out like carpet lint.

Still, if McGee hadn’t stuck out his arm against the Philadelphia Eagles a few weeks back, the Rams might not have won the wild-card game that launched them toward Sunday’s NFC title game against San Francisco.

What everyone remembers about Philadelphia was tailback Greg Bell’s 54-yard, fourth-quarter run to break a team’s back. The Eagles had cut the Rams’ lead to 14-7 when Bell broke free down the left sideline to the Eagles’ 10, from which he scored two plays later on a run to clinch the victory.

McGee, the fullback and lead blocker on the long run, brushed away Eagle safety Wes Hopkins with a forearm block.

“I just clipped him,” McGee said. “It didn’t seem like much, but it was big. Big . Because it was just enough to get (Bell) off to the races. It didn’t seem like much, but if I’d have run past him, he would have tackled Greg.”

Bell gets 54 yards for the play. McGee gets . . .

“Nothing,” he says, laughing. “Good adjustment.”

Let’s just say the inscriptions are always obscure in a Buford McGee trophy case.

TO BUFORD MCGEE,

FOR HIS ANGLE BLOCK ON A TRAP PLAY

NOV. 15, 1986.

NICE CHOP, BU.

Headlines didn’t screech when the Rams acquired him from the San Diego Chargers in 1987 for Barry Redden, but McGee was a steal.

In six NFL seasons, his first three with the Chargers, McGee has never gained more than 63 yards rushing in a game. His 53 yards receiving against Dallas this season were a career high. McGee finished the season with 37 catches for 303 yards. An off season for some fullbacks; career bests for McGee.

The Rams would be lost without him. The fullbacks keep coming--Robert Delpino in 1988, Cleveland Gary this year--but it’s McGee who keeps starting.

“Someone has to do the dirty work,” McGee says. “Third-and-five, need a first down? I’ll do that. Need a little block? I’ll do that. Need someone to bite and kick? I’ll do that. It’s not a glory position, but that’s not what I’m called on to do.”

Don’t think for a minute that McGee wouldn’t rather be a star. He was an all-state quarterback at Durant High in Durant, Miss., and moved on to the University of Mississippi, where he led Ole Miss in rushing his senior season.

The first time McGee touched the ball in college, he scored. He was a freshman. John Fourcade, who now plays for the New Orleans Saints, was his quarterback.

But McGee realized long ago that versatility was more dependable than fame.

“My role calls for a lot of things to be done,” he said. “I do three or four things. I don’t think I do any one better.”

Just when you’re not looking, though, the Rams can hit you with their McGee changeup.

“If we would let him run the football more, you’d see he’s not a bad runner,” offensive coordinator Ernie Zampese said. “He’s not the guy you put back there and give him the ball 20 times a game. He can’t do that. But he knows the offense.”

In last week’s victory over the New York Giants, McGee struck twice. His 13-yard run to the Giants’ 25 helped set up Mike Lansford’s game-tying field goal with 3:01 remaining.

McGee also ran 14 yards on a draw in the closing seconds of regulation, getting all he could before dashing out of bounds with 14 seconds left. Quarterback Jim Everett wasn’t as wise on a long scramble from his 48 on the ensuing play, allowing time to expire before the Rams could get the field goal unit on the field.

What kind of player is McGee?

“In society, I’d be a handyman,” he said. “One of those guys you’d call in the newspaper if you needed your house painted. Of a door fixed. Or plumbing. That kind of person.”

McGee resembles more that kind of person than a fullback. He’s 6-feet tall and 210 pounds, but his body looks as if it’s been hanging in the closet for months. It droops at the shoulders, and his legs are thin and bowed slightly.

He doesn’t lift weights, yet one of his prime responsibilities is taking on linebackers who could bench-press Buford McGee with one arm.

“Technique outweighs strength,” McGee says. “They can be strong and not know how to use it.”

What McGee uses most often is his head. He was acquired from San Diego at the behest of Zampese, who had coached McGee when both were Chargers. McGee acts as Zampese’s on-the-field playbook, an extension of the coach’s mind.

“He’s a sharp guy and a tough guy,” Zampese said.

McGee learned long ago the value of getting the most out of what he had.

“I’m very consistent,” McGee said. “And I don’t screw up. I take the most pride in not making mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes, but I do very seldom. It’s not bragging, but very seldom do I screw up. Ever.”

McGee considers himself and Zampese football clones, which has made for a quite a partnership. Both are quiet, studious types who take great pride in a job well done. They don’t need to read about themselves in the newspapers.

“Here’s a guy who could be a head coach anywhere he wants,” McGee says of Zampese. “And he always turns jobs down. He’s in his own little world, doing his own little thing. But he gets respect for what he does, and his peers respect him. Fans may not realize how important my job is. I’m not catching the deep ball and scoring touchdowns. But the people inside know what’s going on.”

But what about a guy’s ego? How long can one man carve out another man’s dreams?

“He has to,” Zampese says of role playing. “He either does it or he doesn’t play. Guys will pout sometimes, but as long as they’re performing, you don’t mind that. It’s always easier to be that kind of role guy when you win. When you lose, it’s really hard to do. But if a guy pouts, and just doesn’t want to do it, then he’s not going to play. We’ll get rid of him and he can go play someplace else.”

McGee isn’t complaining, even as the Rams draft one running back after another.

“When I first got in the league, I used to walk around and be worried about a lot of things,” McGee said. “Then one day, Charlie Joiner pulled me aside and said, ‘You’ve got talent, and the way to stick around a long time is to never worry about something you have no control of.’ ”

So McGee doesn’t.

“If they’re going to get rid of you, they’re going to get rid of you,” he says. “Why should you worry? They’re still going to get rid of you.”

But that kind of talk is for another day. McGee has managed to scratch, kick, and block his way into the NFC championship game.

“I don’t think it’s hit me yet,” he said. “You know, just how big a game this really is. I’ve never even been close. When I was in college, I never even came close. In San Diego, we didn’t come close to winning anything.

“This is really great. I think when I get there, I’ll realize what kind of game we’re in. I always wanted to know what it felt like to play in a big game. This is probably going to be one of the largest moments of my life.”