Gary Trying to Hang On : Ram Runner Working Hard to Shake Case of Fumbleitis

Cleveland Gary, a year older and 11 fumbles wiser, understands that he is guilty until proven innocent of chronic fumbleitis. The burden of proof, you might say, is in his hands.

This one, he swears, he will not bobble. For now, you will have to take him at his word.

Every time the 226-pound Ram running back touches the ball in this rock ‘em-sock ‘em Ram training camp, every hit he takes, every move he makes, every tackle he breaks, they are watching him.

Did he hold on? Is he holding the football loosely? Can he run with the same abandon he showed last season if he’s too concerned with grasping tight?

“He is keenly aware of it,” Coach John Robinson said. “We check the film every night for any time that ball comes out.”

So far, both the Rams and Gary are pleased with his training camp work and fairly certain that the spree of fumbles that ruined his 1990 season are history.

But this year, they’ve also got a full season with Marcus Dupree, the legendary runner who is in the middle of a comeback five years after blowing out his left knee.

If Gary can’t drop the dropsies, there is an alternative at tailback. Gary says he knows this and accepts the competition. It’s all part of surviving in the spotlight.

“I may fumble again,” Gary said, “but by being more open-minded, by accepting I had a minor problem, I’m over what happened last year.

“If guys try to punch the ball out, I’ll punch them in the nose. That ball is my prize possession, I’ll do the very best I can to protect it.”

Gary had never been a fumbler and wasn’t a fumbler until the middle of the season. Then it hit like a tidal wave, wiping out most of the flourish of his 808 yards and 14 touchdown runs.

Gary was supposed to be Robinson’s next dominating back; instead, he ended the season on the bench and in need of several months to clear his head. At one particularly exasperating point last season, Gary said he thought the Rams might release him, that he was only hurting the team every time he touched, then lost, the ball.

A season later, Gary has only blurry memories of the trial by fumble.

“I was young, testing the waters,” Gary said. “I’m still young, but with a year’s experience. A very tough year. It wasn’t a breezy year with the injury, then the fumbling. . . .

“You get older, more mature, stronger, wiser. I can’t be where I was last year, even with the fumbles and all that. It’s gone. I’ll never see that year again. I wouldn’t be fair to myself, so I have to put it behind me. I just thank God I got through it.”

Gary held out and missed training camp in his rookie year, missed most of camp last year because of a back injury, and only this year is going through the day-to-day rigors of a full camp. The Rams hope and expect that a full month of two-a-day pounding, complete with the new strip-tackle technique of the defense, will help Gary.

The Rams are devoting much time and energy in this camp to their running attack, with Robinson barking loudly in drill after drill. Gary, who was a pass-catching fullback in college, could see some time at fullback and should catch more than the 30 passes he caught last year.

“Cleveland presents us some real opportunities,” Robinson said. “And we will be doing some things with him both from a tailback position and at times we will move him to fullback.”

Robinson said the constant yanking at the ball from the defense can only help Gary’s concentration. Gary looks no less able to send his thick body chopping through tiny holes, but he is always squeezing the ball tight to his body.

“If I had gotten in there from the get-go (last season) and didn’t have those problems later, I’d have gotten 25 touchdowns, easy,” Gary said. “It’s frustrating to think about, very frustrating.

“That was the most frustrating time in my career. But you get through it, and now I’m very open-minded about this year, about just having fun.”

Gary fumbled the ball four more times than any other running back in the league--including a harrowing five in four weeks--and lost seven of them, costing the Rams chances at winning two games.

The Rams have blamed most of Gary’s problems on lack of concentration as he was being pulled down. He would absorb the hits, then, as he was about to hit the ground, the ball would fly loose and Gary would have another chapter in the horror story.

In the last month of the season, Gary didn’t play much because Robinson simply wanted to stop the bleeding. Also, Robinson had a new weapon to test: Dupree, who rushed for 72 yards in 19 carries last season and is looking sharp in training camp.

Robinson doesn’t try to hide his eagerness to see Dupree get a full season of play and says he is willing to go into the season splitting playing time between the two.

“I’m in no hurry, I’m in no hurry at all,” Robinson said about choosing one or the other.

Gary, while making it clear that he expects to lead the league in rushing if given a full, fumble-free season, said that whatever Robinson decides is fine with him. Anything is better than last year.

“I think the goal is not Marcus or me or the quarterback, the focus is on the team is winning football games,” Gary said. “Every week, somebody has to carry the load. If (sharing the position) is what it’s going to take for us to win the Super Bowl, I guess Coach Robinson knows.”

Said Dupree: “Me and Cleve are competing, but we’re working together. If we both could have 1,000 yards this year, the Rams will win. That’d be something, like (Kevin) Mack and (Earnest) Byner with the Browns (a few years ago).”