Rams’ Gary Gets Chance to Prove That He Isn’t Merely Hanging On

The Rams’ loss to Minnesota Sunday might have been merely another tick in the countdown to the end of the John Robinson Era for the franchise, but it might have marked the beginning of a new day for Cleveland Gary.

Gary played most of the game at tailback, scored a touchdown on a one-yard run, gained 29 yards on 11 carries and caught five passes for 45 yards. The yardage totals weren’t all that great, but the number of times he touched the ball was very good news for Gary.

In the lost season of 1991, Gary’s previous highs in carries and catches were eight and two.

“I feel like I’ve been reborn,” Gary said, touching a small gash above his right eye.

This season, it seemed the only way Gary was going to get hurt was in a kitchen accident at home. Before Sunday, he had rushed only 41 times and caught six passes.

Gary would like to say that Sunday was the first day of the rest of his life, but he knows he can’t easily shake the past.

In 1989, he did not sign a contract until the week before the regular-season opener and was relegated to a reserve role as a rookie. In 1990, a lower-back injury during the preseason slowed him, but when he got his first start in the fourth game against Green Bay, he rushed for 92 yards and two touchdowns.

It soon turned out to be the season that might have been when Gary lost his grip, literally. He fumbled 12 times last season, and seven were recovered by the opponents. Of those seven, five came in the last eight games. Twice, he dropped the ball en route to the end zone.

And still he managed to rush for 808 yards and score 15 touchdowns. His 14 rushing touchdowns were the most in the NFL.

He began this season with a sore left hamstring and fumbled on his third carry. And Robert Delpino took over the tailback duties full-time.

Gary sat out five weeks during the middle of the season because of a knee injury and had never played a significant role in a game until Sunday, when he scored his first touchdown in almost a year.

“There’s a big difference between one and 15 (touchdowns),” Gary said, managing a smile. “But it could have been different.”

Gary is doing his best to keep from dwelling on the could-have-beens and the what-ifs. He knows the only thing that will change perceptions of him is to stay healthy and hang onto the football.

“A negative can start out real small, but when you add all the negatives up, then you have one big negative,” he said. “The fumbling and all the little minor injuries nullified my opportunity to be in the Pro Bowl and help this team make it to the playoffs this year.

“But there’s nothing you can do to change it. You just have to live and learn and grow.”

And keep on running, when you get the chance.

He got one Sunday after Delpino suffered a leg injury during the first quarter. Gary gained four yards on his first carry, seven on his second and five on his third.

“I felt good right away,” he said. “There weren’t any kinks or anything. I had no idea I’d play this much, but it felt good. Unexpected, but real good.

“When my number was called, I was never worried about anything. That’s my approach. It feels great to get out there and get some game rips. There’s nothing like game rips.”

Well, maybe one thing: winning.

“Even if I’d gone over 100 yards, it wouldn’t have changed the frustration of losing,” Gary said. “Football is a team game and it’s all about winning. What else is it you’re trying to accomplish?

“It’s never fun when you lose.”

Robinson, always a fan of Gary’s slashing style of running, believes there will be success--and possibly even fun--in Gary’s future.

“He played good and he played hard,” Robinson said. “He’s a good back. He’s just had an unfortunate season. I think he can come back and be a very good back in this league.”

Gary said he never had any doubts about that, even when he couldn’t hold onto the football in 1990, or this season, while he stood on the sidelines and watched Delpino and Marcus Dupree get all the action.

“I’m still young. I’m only 25,” he said. “Physically and mentally, I’ve grown this year. I just haven’t had the field time to prove my growth. Next year, hopefully, things will be different and a lot better.”

For Gary and the Rams, they couldn’t get much worse.