RAMS : Perry Ready to Put Aside Problems

He has changed teams, changed lifestyles, and says he is a changed man, but Gerald Perry says he knows he can never change the dark moments of his recent past. Those remain with him, wherever he goes, whatever he does.

Perry, who just finished paying the price of his stormy stay in Denver, officially joined the Rams Monday, two days after he was released from Arapahoe County Jail, where he served 65 days for sexual assault and violation of probation.

The Rams, hoping a simple change of scenery salves Perry’s wounds and are happy to plug him into their offensive line equation, welcomed Perry with outstretched arms and immediately placed him in the same dorm room as Jackie Slater, the 37-year-old moral leader of the team.

Perry does not come to the Rams asking for absolution, he says, just for a chance to play football and be free of his problems with alcohol once and for all.

“You know, you can’t really say you’re starting over because as bad as I want to forget what has happened, I think that would be the wrong way to handle it,” Perry said Monday after undergoing a physical. “I think the best thing for me to do is always remember what happened.

“I’m happy and I welcome it, but I wouldn’t call it starting over because I really can’t do it.”

During his three seasons in Denver, Perry, 26, was charged nine times, beginning Dec. 12, 1988, for crimes ranging from soliciting a prostitute to sexual assault. He was convicted twice, and before his recently completed jail time, he served nine days in February, 1989.

Perry, by all accounts a quality offensive lineman, was suspended indefinitely by the league in the middle of last season. The Rams, as of Monday afternoon, were awaiting word on his reinstatement, and expected no complications.

Perry, for his part, said all of his problems and confrontations with the law stem from two weaknesses: immaturity and alcohol. The first has been cured naturally, he says, and the second takes time and continued participation in Alcoholics Anonymous.

“I don’t think alcohol is something I should be indulging in,” Perry said. “ . . . All I have to do is just look back at every case and every incident, alcohol was involved in some kind of way. I think the biggest culprit would probably be immaturity, and you put alcohol on top of that and then. . . .

“I think the thing that helped me the most when I was there (in Denver) and I was managing to stay sober was just your basic Alcoholic Anonymous meetings, things like that.

“It kept me focused. And I think that’s important as far as I’m concerned, just to always remember that it’s there, and don’t get too comfortable with myself. Which is basically what happened. I started feeling well, like, maybe I can handle it, and it’s just not true.”

Perry says his problems were exaggerated by the Denver media, always eager to write about the personal lives of the Broncos.

“I don’t want anyone to be under the (impression) that they have to be ‘aware’ of me,” Perry said, “because I don’t present any danger to anyone. And I’ve listened to stuff like that from Denver since Day 1.

“They took a lot of things and just . . . you would’ve thought I was a mass murderer or something.”

The time in jail, Perry said, gave him a chance to think over what he’d done with his life and figure out how he could change it. Perry worked in jobs ranging from groundskeeping to janitorial duty while interned, and said, for the most part, fellow inmates treated him well.

“It was a good time to think about what was really going on,” Perry said. “I had an opportunity to run things over and over and over again in my mind, which was good.

“But the worst part, of course, any time you lose your freedom, it just feels bad. But I think I took a negative and made a positive out of it. I was able to lose weight (down to 294 pounds), which I probably would’ve had a harder time doing if I was out barbecuing or something. So it worked out OK.”

With the Rams, Perry joins a team that has been eagerly awaiting his arrival since the draft-day trade they made to acquire him. For Perry and a 12th-round pick, the Rams dealt a 1991 fourth-round pick and running back Gaston Green. If Perry fails to play at least four games because of off-field problems, the Rams have the option of returning him and getting back their draft pick.

But the Rams aren’t considering returning Perry. For now, he is a strong candidate to be their starting left tackle, and the possible heir to Slater’s All-Pro tradition. While last year’s starter Irv Pankey continues his holdout, Perry will battle Robert Cox for that position.

Perry also will be worked at left guard when he begins to practice with the team this morning.

“You know, he’s had problems and has paid for them,” Coach John Robinson said Monday. “He’s in a new environment and we’re looking forward to a bright future for him. He has a chance to be a great pro football player and we’re eager to get on with that.”

Robinson said he would soon talk with Perry about how best to prevent any future problem.

“We’re going to work together on something for him to deal with--give him as much aftercare and as much positive reinforcement as possible,” Robinson said. “We have several ideas and we’re going to discuss them with him. And we will arrive at something.

“I don’t know about last chances or what, I just know he knows this is a great opportunity for him and I think he’s eager to pursue it.”

Perry should play at least one quarter in Saturday’s exhibition opener against the Atlanta Falcons in Jacksonville, Fla.

“Just want to play, that’s about it,” Perry said. “Play and get a lot of things behind me, try to see my way and stay on the positive side of things.

“I have a lot of stuff to look forward to, lovely wife, two kids, a little boy that just started walking. Just want to be there for them as opposed to all the other things.”

How does he see himself fitting in with the rest of the Rams’ offensive line?

“I’m probably the most controversial,” he said, smiling. “I’m not going to try to underplay anything. I’m not trying to hide anything, because this is virtually impossible for me to hide the way it’s been covered, anyway.

“But I really want this opportunity to work, and I don’t know how I can stress this to you and make you truly understand and make you believe . . .

“This was no fun time for me at all, it really wasn’t. It was no fun time for me and my wife. Some things happened, I put myself in some bad situations. They were bad situations, but what can I do about them?

“Go and try and make the best out of what I’ve got left.”