COMMENTARY : Everett Merely the Latest Ram to Take a Dive

Maybe Dieter Brock wasn’t so bad after all.

At least Dieter had reasons for his dog day afternoon at Soldier Field four years ago. The cold. The wind. Richard Dent.

“I have no excuses,” Jim Everett said.

Sunday, the torch of Ram playoff failures passed from Roman Gabriel to John Hadl to James Harris to Pat Haden to Brock to young Everett. Everett didn’t start the fire, but he didn’t douse it, either--taking time to place his own special stamp on the sorry big-game heritage shared by every Ram quarterback since Bob Waterfield.

Now, Ram fans can gnash their teeth over The Underthrow and The Undertow and the three interceptions and 20 incompletions that kept another Ram team on the porch of the Super Bowl, pinned to the welcome mat.

The Underthrow was a play that simply couldn’t fail, a play that developed so beautifully, so perfectly, so true to the playbook--only to wind up tilting the windmills in Ernie Zampese’s mind.

Everett had the San Francisco defense faked all the way to Oakland, pulling back a handoff on an end-around to Ron Brown and rolling right to find Flipper Anderson counting grass blades near the 49er end zone. This was Jimmy Orr in Super Bowl III all over again. All alone, calling for the football, waiting for the touchdown.

Everett spotted his man, but seemed to mistake Ronnie Lott for just another defensive back and gave the ball a slingshot throw when a mortar shot was required.

Anderson had to break stride and slow down for the ball. Those precious milliseconds mattered mightily as Lott, sprinting in from another county, caught up with Anderson and the football and reached up just in time to flick the ball away.

“The play of the game,” said Ram Coach John Robinson, who watched a potential 10-0 lead melt into eventual 30-3 obliteration at Candlestick Park.

“I was very surprised,” Anderson said. “I was out there by myself and it was, like, no way he could miss me.”

But with the Rams, there’s always a way.

Everett called it “a misjudgment on my part. I probably could’ve put a little more zip on the ball. I thought it was one of those things where Flip was just going to catch the ball and walk into the end zone. I had no idea Ronnie could make that play.”

Flipper agreed with the part about using more zip.

“Yeah, I wish he would have, too,” Anderson said.

The next play, Everett and Anderson misfired again, the Rams wound up punting and Everett had set the tone for a very atonal day.

The Rams’ next two drives ended in Everett interceptions, two turnovers the 49ers turned into touchdowns. By the time Everett threw his third interception, to Lott in the third quarter, the score was 24-3 and the quarterback of the ‘90s yearned for ’89.

For the day, Everett was 16 of 36 for 141 yards. Only six of those completions came in the second half, with the Rams in dire need of an emotional jump start after trudging into intermission trailing, 21-3.

Everett called it his most frustrating day as a pro--”up there with the Minnesota game of last year.” That was another playoff stinker, with Everett throwing four interceptions in a 28-17 loss to the Vikings.

Here’s a vote for Sunday as undisputed champion. Not only did Everett bounce passes to Henry Ellard, ignore passes to secondary receivers and turn 49er safeties into primary receivers, but appearances count, too. And on third and 10 with 3 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter, Everett gave the appearance he was giving up.

On the play, Everett was entrenched in the pocket, surrounded by San Francisco linemen but not yet touched by any of them. Suddenly, Everett takes a dive. He flops on the turf and covers up the football, as if he’s trying to save his body for that multi-year, multimillion dollar contract he’s close to signing.

Either that or some mysterious force brought him down.

The Undertow.

“I’m sure it didn’t look great, trying to play tough football,” Everett admitted. “But sometimes those things happen.

“I was trying to look upfield and I think they rushed three guys. They had everybody covered and I tried to step up to throw. Then, in the corner of my eye, I saw some one coming and I thought he was going to take a shot. I ducked under it.”

And almost underground.

“I thought the guy was going right at me and I tried to duck,” Everett continued. “Someone’s barreling in on you and it’s a split-second decision. I was just trying to get the hell out of the way.”

Everett seemed perplexed by the questioning about the play.

“I don’t think it’s going to make any highlight films, is it?” he said with a grin.

No, it was more symbol than highlight. An embodiment of Ram tradition: When the pressure’s on, the Ram quarterback is going to take a fall.

Everett may represent this franchise’s future, but for the present, he’s merely upholding the Rams’ ignominious past.

“This is when you’ve got to do it,” Everett said. “You’re playing the best. . . . I feel I’m improving in this league, but I’m not the best yet. Joe Montana is. I think he proved that today.”

Put it this way: Everett had one less interception than Montana had incompletions. Bay Area Joe passed 30 times against the Rams. Only four hit Candlestick soil before the hands of San Francisco receivers.

Quarterback of the ‘90s?

“The ‘90s are here,” Everett said. “Joe’s creeping into the ‘90s. Things change, but it looks like he’s going to be here a while.”

It was a hard day in the classroom for Everett and afterward, someone asked if he had any pointers to pass along to John Elway, the next quarterback to oppose Red And Gold Menace.

Everett laughed. And laughed. For quite a while.

Finally, Everett suggested, “He’s definitely going to have to mix it up. (Tailback) Bobby Humphrey gives him something to work with. As long as he mixes it up, he’ll have a shot.”

And if, perchance, you have Vance Johnson isolated in the 49er secondary, with not a breathing soul around him, throw long, John.

Really long.