RAMS ’90 : Mr. Dependable : Once Again, Slater Will be Cornerstone of Rams’ Line

“Jackie Slater is proof that they were playing football in prehistoric days. I’ve seen the calluses on his feet where he used to have to stop his car like Fred Flintstone.” --Ram quarterback Jim Everett Jackie Slater smiles, nods and says he considers those sorts of remarks a form of tribute. The 14-year veteran offensive tackle often calls himself “a dinosaur” and recalls with great pride the time cornerback Darryl Henley showed him his own signature, an autograph Henley got when he was eight years old.

“Pops.”

“Old Man River.”

“I’m old, but you’re ancient.”

Slater has heard them all. But don’t think for a minute that anybody in a Ram uniform is eagerly awaiting the day when the 36-year-old Slater slips from view into the tar pits of retirement. Especially that tall, good-looking young man who faces the wrath of a legion of antisocial quarterback chasers with the disposition of ax murderers.

During Slater’s recent 28-day holdout, Jim Everett kept saying, “We need Jackie here.” He really meant, “ I need Jackie here.”

“You’re talking to a quarterback who was minus an All-Pro tackle,” Everett said. “It’s obvious I’m going to say we need him back, from a personal safety standpoint alone. But there are a lot of intangibles, too.

“He gives us leadership, experience and personality. He brings the stability of a man who’s been through a lot. He’s still out there fighting and scratching like the rest of us, but there’s this aura around Jackie.”

Slater says there’s nothing all that mystical about it. It’s just that he’s been watching out for the guys who line up behind him for what seems like a lifetime or two and he’s knows what it takes. In college, he was creating holes for Walter Payton. During his first year with the Rams, he was keeping people away from a rookie quarterback named Pat Haden. Now, he’s holding off the charge so players such as Everett, Henry Ellard and Flipper Anderson can make their weekly appearances on those Sunday evening highlight shows.

Slater’s like the tide. There will be highs and lows, but you can depend on him to be there. He might not be the source of any great sensationalism, but that’s just the way Everett and Co. like it.

“I’ve learned that the ups and downs in offensive line play go from one play to the next,” Slater said. “You can get excited about one jubilant moment on one play and then the next play can be one of your most embarrassing moments.

“I try to maintain an even keel and not get too excited about the highs and not too down with the lows. I think that mentality is the cornerstone of the emotional outlook of an offensive lineman who’s looking for stability.”

If you’re looking for consistency, then look up Slater. He was named to his sixth Pro Bowl in seven years after last season.

None of this should imply that Slater’s job is just a routine that somehow has gotten easier over the years, however. Anyone who’s watched a recent NFL game knows something about the size, speed and skill of the current crop of defensive linemen.

Ram Coach John Robinson has seen more than his share of these people in action and, frankly, he’s downright impressed with Slater’s achievements, given his, uh, advanced age. He says he has as much respect for Slater as he’s ever had for an athlete.

“I think you have to look at individual people in terms of their age,” Robinson said. “Jackie’s a person who defies some of the normal things. About five years ago, he started intensifying workouts and becoming really obsessed with his physical well-being, much like Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar) did with the Lakers.

“He might be more vulnerable to age if he were playing in a position where he had to play in space, but he doesn’t, so I think offensive linemen have an advantage there. Sometimes, speed just goes and you just can’t run anymore and that’s what takes a lot of people out of this game. Speed is not not one of the key requirements of his position, though. Balance, savvy, body mass, leg strength to move that body mass in a confined area, those are the key things.

“Age is a factor, of course, but because of his interest in his physical well-being, he’s made it less of a factor.”

If Slater plays 16 games in each of the next two seasons, he’ll finish with 226 appearances. At the moment, he trails only Merlin Olsen (208), Charlie Cowan (206), Jack Youngblood (202) and Joe Scibelli (202) in games played on the Rams’ all-time list. In 1991, he would establish a Ram mark for seasons played with 16.

Slater, however, is much more than just an old-time hanger-on with a chance at setting a couple of longevity records. He remains one of the best offensive tackles in the game.

“I feel very fortunate, blessed, to still be playing and competent at my age,” he said. “The most gratifying and rewarding thing is to not only still be playing, but to still be making a big contribution to the success of the team.”

Slater acknowledges that his position--a job, he says, that is akin to “having a fight in a closet”--has allowed him to continue to thrive in a young man’s game. But he also believes that God, with considerable help in the faith-and-guidance department provided by his wife, Annie, has blessed him.

“The biggest factor in my longevity is that God has chosen to bless me with this opportunity,” he said. “You can talk about the hard work and good coaching and all the other variables, such as staying away from injuries. But first and foremost, I’ve been blessed by God to do something I love.”

Center Doug Smith, who has played with Slater for 13 seasons, knows first-hand that the hard work part of the formula has been a pivotal factor in Slater’s continuing success. And he maintains that it isn’t just luck that Slater has remained relatively healthy throughout his career.

“Jackie realized a long time ago that when you get into your 30s, you have to work twice as hard to get half as much out of it,” Smith said. “He’s put in the time it takes, in terms of diet, work in the weight room and doing the preventative-type things.

“If you’re a young lineman coming in here and you don’t watch what Jackie does, you’re not a very smart young lineman.”

Smith is acutely aware of the fact that an offensive lineman’s labor is often unnoticed . . . unless an official throws his flag and your number is announced along with a holding penalty. But he says Slater helps the team in ways even an offensive line coach can’t describe.

“It’s an intangible, you can’t measure it,” he said. “You know it’s there, you know it’s a positive, but you can’t measure what it counts for in the wins and losses columns. But obviously, Jackie is a major contributor to this team and it’s more than just blocking his man 99% of the time.”

Slater, an offensive captain since 1983, acknowledges his role as a leader is confined to the example he sets. He’s never been the rah-rah type.

“I don’t see myself as being a leader by running my mouth,” he said. “I just try to be a professional, in every sense of the word, to work as hard as I can and cover all the angles that need to be covered. I’ve never been a guy to have a whole lot to say about anything.”

Smith laughs out loud at the notion that Slater is the quiet type, though.

“Are you kidding? Jackie’s a great story-teller, especially talking about being brought up in the south with all those guys with two names like Billy-Bob. Most of those stories come out on game day, when we’re sitting in the locker room. He does an exceptional job of keeping this team loose.”

After 14 years of trench warfare, motivating others would seem an easy task when compared to motivating one’s self. Slater remembers well the struggles of reaching the Super Bowl in 1979, his first year as a starter, and he’ll never forget the images of the locker room after the Steelers beat the Rams that day.

The desire for personal, or even team, glory isn’t what keeps Slater in shoulder pads, though.

“I’m still playing because I love the game and I’m capable of doing it and doing it well,” he said. “I’m excited that I can still compete. I would like to attain some of the minute personal goals I’ve set, like playing this year and next to get to 16 seasons, but more important, I absolutely love the game, and that’s a big, big plus.”

T he fact that his son, 5-year-old Matthew, is old enough now to be No. 78’s No. 1 fan also helps Slater forget he’s 36 and maybe a little too old for this sort of thing.

“To see his excitement now that he is cognizant of how special a job I have, it’s a big kick in the pants,” Slater said. “Yeah, that’s a real joy in my life.”

There wasn’t a lot of happiness in the Slater household for a month this summer when Jackie was holding out in hopes of getting his contract re-negotiated. He came back after 28 days without a new contract, but he did get an oral agreement on a deal for 1991 that he says he is satisfactory.

“It was a very difficult time,” he said, “and it was especially tough seeing guys much younger than me, some with no NFL experience, making a whole lot more money even though I’m still playing at a level that may have warranted top pay more.

“It was tough, but I feel that it was the right thing to do and I don’t have any regrets, other than I missed a whole lot of work.”

Slater said he’s on track to be “where I need to be” by Sept. 9 for the regular-season opener in Green Bay. And no one in the Ram organization ever doubted Jackie Slater’s dedication.

Robinson certainly isn’t overly concerned about his right tackle’s ability to take care of business. After Slater’s first practice on the day of his return to camp, an obviously relieved Robinson said, “Jackie is Jackie. He knows how to play this game. He says he has a few things he needs to work on, but where he is right now is pretty good. It’s great to have him around.”

And if Robinson was assuaged, just how do you think Jim Everett felt?