Lott Hits Hard On the Field and in Print

Ronnie Lott’s new book, “Total Impact,” is out and it’s Bill Walsh, his former coach with the San Francisco 49ers, who gets hit good.

“At the time I was drafted in 1981, (John) Robinson had told me, ‘You’re going to enjoy playing for Bill Walsh. He’s a super guy. He loves the game. And he’s a true players’ coach.’ And back then, Robinson was right. Walsh loved coaching that season, and he had a good sense of humor. He was warm, open and genuine. Greeting us in a bellhop uniform when we checked into our hotel for Super Bowl XVI was right in character.

“But after that first Super Bowl, Walsh began to change.

“The following season, he discovered that several 49ers were using drugs. He became frustrated that he couldn’t save them from the evils of cocaine. There were moments he seemed overwhelmed. He couldn’t understand why players would waste the financial opportunities that pro football had given them. In the meantime, the national media started referring to Walsh as an offense ‘genius’ because of our victory in Super Bowl XVI.

“The more recognition Walsh received, the more inflated his ego became and the more he was under the microscope. The media probed into his private life, and Walsh grew distant and unapproachable. At times, he turned into a basket case, and there were some moments that I actually felt sorry for him. Here was a man who had languished for a decade as an assistant coach in the NFL, a man who had been passed over many times for a head coaching job, and now, when he was finally recognized for his offensive system, he wanted to crawl into a shell.”

Add Lott: Robinson was the opposite of Walsh, someone Lott admired while playing at USC and continues to respect. Even if circumstances sometimes make it difficult.

“Though he has been their coach for eight years, it’s hard for me to accept Coach Robinson in Rams blue and gold,” Lott writes. “I’ll go to my grave detesting the Rams. I haven’t liked them from the day I moved from Washington, D.C., to Southern California in 1968. I loved the Washington Redskins while growing up, but in Rialto, California, we could only get Rams games on television.

“I never understood why the Rams couldn’t win championships with talented players like Roman Gabriel, Jack Snow and Deacon Jones, and I thought they treated James Harris unfairly because he was a black quarterback. ‘Shack’ Harris should have been a full-time starter. Then, when I went to USC, it was drummed into me to hate the UCLA Bruins. And what were their colors? Blue and gold.”

Last add Lott: “On Thursdays at Heritage Hall, coach John Robinson gave his big pep talk of the week,” he writes of his USC days. “He would build his words to an emotional crescendo then pretend to stutter. Pausing, he’d laugh and ask, ‘Did I just say that twice?’ We always busted up, and then he’d jump back in where he left off, stopping again for strategically placed wisecracks.

“ ‘You know (UCLA coach) Terry Donahue is over there telling his guys they can win this one,’ Robinson liked to say before our showdowns with UCLA. ‘The guys at UCLA walk around with mean faces, and you guys are over here laughing. You know why? Because you’re going to win it. Their (behinds) are too tight.’ ”

Trivia time: USC went 11-0-1 in 1979, Lott’s junior season, and lost the national championship to Alabama. Which team came back from a 21-0 halftime deficit and tied the Trojans?

Hamming it up: Will “Pigg Power”--as it says on the side on Mike Pigg’s bicycle--translate into the piggy bank?

Pigg, the U.S. triathlon champion who has already announced his entry in the proposed Los Angeles International Triathlon next June 7, has begun talks that may lead to his representing the Pork Council in promotions. First person to mention bringing home the bacon will be reprimanded.

Brain delay: From Gene Collier of the Pittsburgh Press: “One pitcher on a National League East team that is not the Pirates halted a game recently when a rainstorm blew up. With two runners on base and some 30,000 people in the ballpark, he called for the batboy to bring him a towel and, as he wiped his hands with it, instructed the batboy to go outside the ballpark and roll up the windows in his car.

“A bear-down guy right there, fans.”

Trivia answer: Stanford, 21-21, in Week 6.

Quotebook: Detroit Lion Coach Wayne Fontes, on support from fans despite rumors earlier in the season that his job may be in jeopardy: “When they drive by, they wave and all of their fingers show.”