RAM NOTEBOOK / JOHN WEYLER : It’s Hammer Time for Glanville and Falcons

Jerry Glanville’s latest motivational tool is the Hammer. The rap artist has become a fixture at Atlanta games and the Falcon coach is now a fan of the man and his music.

Glanville, receiver Andre Rison and cornerback Deion Sanders are showcased in Hammer’s new video and the team has adopted the song’s title, “Too Legit to Quit,” as its unofficial fight song.

“(Hammer) does the pregame prayer and postgame prayer and the things inside of him make you proud to have him around your team,” Glanville said. “After meeting him, I was astonished. When he speaks to the team, what comes out, there’s something special inside him.”

Glanville, never one to shy away from the spotlight, enjoyed making the video.

“I’m probably the reason it was so successful,” he said. “No, that’s a joke. My part is very small, too small in fact.

“When we did our part, M.C. Hammer was probably 10 states away. It was interesting to see how it came out. We used to have a rule, my son could not watch MTV. But now he can watch it because his dad might be on.”

Some Win/Some Lose: Atlanta (8-5) has won five games this season by four or fewer points. In 1989, the 11-5 Rams won five regular-season games by four or fewer.

“They’re scrambling,” Ram Coach John Robinson said. “Just like it’s not happening for us. People are very willing to say that’s coaching. So, when it does happen, you have to say it’s coaching, too. You’ve got to give the upside. (Glanville) deserves that credit.”

Long Is Gone: Once masters of the deep pass, it’s now a lost art for the Rams. Their longest deep-route completion of the year is a 41-yard Jim Everett-to-Flipper Anderson play that was momentarily an interception. Anderson managed to snatch the ball out of the hands of Saint cornerback Vince Buck.

The longest pass play of the season is a swing pass that barely crossed the line of scrimmage. Tailback Robert Delpino turned it into a 78-yard gain.

Atlanta receiver Michael Haynes has scored on passes of 80, 75 and 55 yards this year. No Ram has scored on a pass of 20 yards or more.

A Two-Bag Bug: The Falcons were trailing, 21-7, at halftime last Sunday. Quarterback Chris Miller, who had a temperature of 102.4, had spent the first half in the locker room.

Then Ol’ Doc Jerry came to the rescue.

“I just told our medical people to go get him ready and tell him he’s starting the second half,” Glanville said. “I suggested that they IV him. Last year, we played at Pittsburgh and I had the flu something awful. I took two bags of IV and I felt pretty good. So I thought we ought to try that.”

The IVs, containing 2,000cc of a mix of glucose, salt and potassium, didn’t hurt. Miller started the second half, completed 12 of 18 passes for 186 yards and two touchdowns, and the Falcons rallied for a 35-31 victory.

In the Cross Hairs: Rison is a primary target of Atlanta’s Red Gun offense and he’s racking up the numbers again this year. He set a club mark with 82 receptions last season and is second in the NFC with 66 receptions this season. He also leads the league in touchdown catches with 10.

Rison, who spent much of his free time telling everyone how good he was last season, is keeping a lower off-the-field profile this year.

“Last year, I was more flamboyant, talking a lot of trash, which I had to do, on my behalf,” Rison said. “This year, I haven’t said a word, but I’ve been more consistent and way more productive. I’m just trying to get us to the playoffs.”

Rison has resigned himself to the possibility that he will never get the recognition he feels he deserves. “They always compare me to Jerry Rice and I’m never going to win that battle,” he says.

Wearing Falcon black doesn’t help you win any popularity contests, either.

“There ain’t nobody wanting to see us win,” he said. “We’re not the Knute Rockne football team. We’re more of the new-age style, our coach, our players, the style we play.”

Not-So-Tidy Bowl: A victory Sunday against the Rams would give the Falcons a 5-1 divisional record and the advantage over the Saints (4-2 in the NFC West) in a playoff tiebreaker. Atlanta has not won in Anaheim Stadium since 1984, however, and suffered a 44-24 loss there last year.

“That’s as bad as we’ve been beaten,” Glanville said. “We jumped out to a 10-0 lead, but then we got our butts kicked and the sewer backed up.”

During the game, the Falcons’ locker room was flooded with a couple of inches of foul-smelling water.

“This time, we’re going to hang everything up on a hook,” he said, “because if you leave anything down and that sewer backs up, you sure don’t want to ride back on the plane with it near you.”