Gilbert Officially Joins Rams’ Fold

ANAHEIM — Sean Gilbert, looming large and with his mother by his side, was on time for his press conference Monday at Rams Park, just hours after agreeing to the $7.2-million deal that ensures he will be on time to the Rams’ training camp for the next five seasons.

In one fell swoop, compliments of their first-round pick and their willingness to part with the money necessary to get him into the fold fast, the Rams put a dent in their on-field status as a 99-pound weakling and their off-field reputation as a penny-pinching operation.

The 315-pound Gilbert, the Rams made no secret Monday, is their future wrapped up in a 6-5 frame, and it’s not good news if your future is holding out deep into summer.

“I think it’s very important because now there is no question that he will be in camp on time,” Rams Coach Chuck Knox said of the quick signing of Gilbert. “I think it’s a statement, too, that we want to get things done.

“I think the fact that they were able to get it accomplished so quickly, rather than let it drag out and get involved in all different types of postures on either side. . . .

“It’s a great feeling.”

The 22-year-old Gilbert, for his part, said he was just glad that what usually is a months-long ordeal turned into an overnight job.

“I’m pretty excited to have gotten my contract taken care of, and I can concentrate on doing the job at hand, and that’s playing football,” Gilbert said.

And what is he thinking about now that he is a multi-millionaire?

“Cut blocks, slants, get-offs . . . basically doing the things necessary to try and make me a better football player,” Gilbert said.

He conceded his two-year career at Pittsburgh could have been improved by more consistent play on his part, the only knock scouts put on him before the draft.

“That’s basically it,” Gilbert said. “Seems like in the two seasons I played, I felt I was getting into a groove as the season was over.

“I’m not sure if I’m a late-bloomer or what, but I’d like to start strong and finish strong. It’s a matter of practice, staying on top of everything, weight, everything that might be a problem.”

Gilbert becomes the Rams’ highest-paid defensive player--topping cornerback Todd Lyght, last year’s No. 1 and summer-long holdout--and second highest-paid player period, behind only quarterback Jim Everett.

“I’m not very materialistic,” Gilbert said. “When I was out here a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that I was looking at houses in Beverly Hills. And basically, that’s what I wanted to do, look at them.

“I’ve always been content just having food on the table, having a roof over my head.”

But Gilbert also said he realized his new-found riches (his signing bonus alone was close to $3 million) are not something that naturally thrills veteran members of the Rams.

“If I’ve been playing football for five or six years and a young guy comes in and he’s making all this money, my heart’s pounding right there, and I’m tense,” Gilbert said.

“Only thing I’m telling myself is, ‘He’s going to earn this. He makes more money than I do, I’ve been here for five years, he’s going to earn this.’ That’s the only thing I’d tell myself.

“It’s not the fact (I have) to prove something to them, because when it all comes down to it, we have to go onto the field together.”

The Rams made the eighth and ninth rounds of the draft interesting by selecting two quarterbacks, one of whom will almost certainly be the team’s third quarterback on the roster this season.

In the eighth round, the pick was Alabama State’s Ricky Jones, a short 6-feet-0, a fast player whom Knox projected into any number of NFL spots.

Jones, Knox said, could be tried at defensive back, wide receiver, kick-returner or quarterback.

In the next round, the Rams chose pure drop-back quarterback T.J. Rubley from Tulsa--two picks ahead of former Heisman Award winner Ty Detmer.

Rubley threw for more than 2,000 yards and registered an 18-to-9 touchdown-to-interception ratio during his senior season, which included a victory in the 1992 Freedom Bowl.

“He had an outstanding year last year. They had a very good football team,” Knox said. “He’s a big guy, has a good arm.”

On the second day, the Rams coaches were probably most excited that huge Northwestern offensive tackle Darryl Ashmore was available to them in the seventh round.

Ashmore is 6-5, well over 300 pounds, but is questionable because he is relatively inexperienced at the position and doesn’t possess a smooth technique.

“We thought enough of him that we sent (offensive line coach) Jim Erkenbeck in there last week to work him out, take a look at him,” Knox said. “But he’s got his football ahead of him from an offensive standpoint because he hasn’t played offensive tackle for very long.

“I think he’s going to have a chance.”

Erkenbeck had a similar project with massive tackle Kevin Gogan when Erkenbeck was with the Dallas Cowboys, and Gogan is now a reliable offensive lineman.

Monday was Knox’s 60th birthday, and he had a cake brought to him in the morning during the day’s drafting.

“Now I’m going to try to get some rest,” Knox said. “We’ve had three big days, counting Saturday. The last two weeks have been kind of intense.”

Rams Vice President Jay Zygmunt said Monday that the negotiations with Gilbert began fast and kept going until they were done. “They were very eager to get here, we were very eager to have him, and things just kind of took off,” Zygmunt said. “We got into the range so fast, obviously it really ran from there.”

Knox said the Rams had agreements with about eight undrafted free agents, but the team said the announcements wouldn’t come until at least today.

The Rams’ Draft

Where Picked Name School Pos. Hgt Rd. 1, 3rd Overall Sean Gilbert Pittsburgh DL 6-5 Rd. 2, 30th Overall Steve Israel Pittsburgh DB 5-10 Rd. 3, 57th Overall Marc Boutte Louisiana State DL 6-3 Rd. 3, 60th Overall Todd Kinchen Louisiana State WR 5-11 Rd. 4, 87th Overall Shawn Harper Indiana OT 6-3 Rd. 5, 114th Overall Chris Crooms Texas A&M; DB 5-11 Rd. 6, 144th Overall Joe Campbell Middle Tennessee State RB 5-8 Rd. 7, 171st Overall Darryl Ashmore Northwestern OT 6-6 Rd. 8, 198th Overall Ricky Jones Alabama State QB 6-0 Rd. 9, 228th Overall T.J. Rubley Tulsa QB 6-3 Rd. 10, 255th Overall Tim Lester Eastern Kentucky RB 5-9 Rd. 11, 281st Overall Brian Townsend Michigan LB 6-3 Rd. 11, 282nd Overall Brian Thomas Southern University WR 6-3 Rd. 12, 312th Overall Kevin Harris Miami C 6-2

Where Picked Wgt Rd. 1, 3rd Overall 315 Rd. 2, 30th Overall 186 Rd. 3, 57th Overall 298 Rd. 3, 60th Overall 187 Rd. 4, 87th Overall 290 Rd. 5, 114th Overall 216 Rd. 6, 144th Overall 175 Rd. 7, 171st Overall 302 Rd. 8, 198th Overall 180 Rd. 9, 228th Overall 199 Rd. 10, 255th Overall 214 Rd. 11, 281st Overall 235 Rd. 11, 282nd Overall 195 Rd. 12, 312th Overall 270

NAME: Sean Gilbert COMMENT: Rams’defensive savior NAME: Steve Israel COMMENT: Rams wanted to get taller, faster in secondary NAME: Marc Boutte COMMENT: Run-stopper team hopes can develop alongside Gilbert NAME: Todd Kinchen COMMENT: Possession receiver with decent speed NAME: Shawn Harper COMMENT: Not ideal height for tackle, but that’s Rams’ need NAME: Chris Crooms COMMENT: Big-hitter, but small for an NFL strong safety NAME: Joe Campbell COMMENT: High point of 1991: 11-carry, 73-yard effort vs. Florida St. NAME: Darryl Ashmore COMMENT: As raw as they come, but certainly has NFL mass NAME: Ricky Jones COMMENT: Rams see him playing any one of three or four positions NAME: T.J. Rubley COMMENT: Went two picks ahead of Ty Detmer because of height, touch NAME: Tim Lester COMMENT: A fullback’s running style in a halfback’s body NAME: Brian Townsend COMMENT: Six sacks in senior season NAME: Brian Thomas COMMENT: Last play of college career was 70-yard TD vs. Grambling NAME: Kevin Harris COMMENT: Former defensive lineman and was originally recruited as a linebacker