Football’s Bottom Line Isn’t 6 Feet Tall : Rams: Standing 5 feet 9, shorter than many receivers, Henley gets the job done at cornerback.

Darryl Henley, who has had plenty of coaches looking down on him, finally has one he can look square in the eye.

Not on nervous tippy toes, but as someone who has also played NFL cornerback with a body three inches shorter than ideal.

And at 5 feet 9, 172 pounds, facing a world of NBA-sized wide receivers after spending several years fending off coaches’ questions about his frame, Henley looks at Rod Perry as a man who has been there.

Perry understands. The new secondary coach, also 5-feet-something, made the Pro Bowl twice as a Ram cornerback in the 1970s and has heard all the criticisms of Henley’s size.

“I relate to that--we’re both short guys,” Perry said Wednesday. “He relies a lot on his quickness; I relied a lot on my quickness.

“Everybody’s going for the bigger athletes, but the name of the game is getting the job done. If a guy’s playing in there, getting the job done, you go with him. It’s productivity, and that’s what he’s done--been very, very productive.

“Sometimes coaches get hung up on (height), but the bottom line (is): ‘Did he do it? Yeah, he did it, regardless of his size. He’s playing and playing well.’ You go from there.”

Henley, through all of last season and now five games into 1992, has been playing well enough to seize the starting job at right cornerback as securely as anybody his size could.

And, with the help of Perry, he seems comfortable with his spot on the team.

“When you’ve got a coach who’s your size, he knows your limitations and this and that,” Henley said. “He’s not going to put you in certain situations, like a jump ball against (6-4) Al Toon, unless the situation’s completely inevitable.

“Rod is about my size. He’s heavier and he’s probably a little slower, but he’s a guy who knows.”

Last year, the Rams used the fifth pick overall in the college draft to select Todd Lyght, a 6-0 cornerback, specifically to take Henley’s job.

Lyght missed all of training camp because of a contract holdout, Henley was solid throughout and it was the short guy who led the team with 15 passes defensed and shared the team lead with three interceptions.

Despite that performance, the Rams’ new coaching staff used its second-round pick on cornerback Steve Israel, who is listed at 5-10 but probably is taller; talked about the need for bigger, more athletic corners and tentatively lined him up at--guess where?--Henley’s spot.

“I could make 10 good plays, then get out-jumped for a ball,” Henley said, “and they’re going to say, ‘I don’t know if he can play.’

“It’s been like that. Basically, I’m sick of it.”

But Henley said that in contrast to his fretting over Lyght, he never worried that Israel was there to take his job. Israel missed all of training camp because of a contract dispute and is slowly being pressed into action.

“I never really looked at (Israel’s situation) as this is my job again,” Henley said. “Todd’s situation was a lot different because he came in specifically for that. . . .

“Maybe it’s confidence, it’s growing up and it’s just being more comfortable. I’m just confident in my abilities.

“I’m 5-9. There aren’t many guys that are taller than 5-9 that could jump 42 inches. And does he have closing speed? No one possesses it all.

“So eventually, when push comes to shove, you get out there, it’s third and three, the ‘Niners are going for a first down, you’re lined up on Jerry Rice. . . . You’re not worried about your size. You’re worried is this guy going to put it in the (end zone)? Can he play?”

In his fourth season, Henley, suddenly one of the team’s older defensive backs after the Plan B departure of Jerry Gray in the off-season, has one interception, four passes defensed and generally has been solid.

And perhaps more important, Henley says he is trying to speak out more in front the team’s younger players, asserting himself to fill some of the leadership void left by Gray’s departure.

“It’s been difficult because of my position,” Henley said. “Jerry was there. Everyone in the world knew Jerry Gray was the guy.

“And, for the third time, I’m having to prove that I’m a guy. Not the guy, but a guy.

“When I’m the oldest back there, I have to step up. And it’s been different, because I’ve always been a guy who just sat back and watched and listened and taken it all in. Now, I’m finding myself saying this, saying that.

“I’m a player, so I don’t want guys thinking I’m trying to coach them or any of that. It’s a fine line, and it makes me respect guys like Jerry, because I never thought that about him. He was a guy who wanted to win and would do whatever it took to win.”

Last season, the Rams did not have what it took to win--especially in pass defense, where they ranked 25th in the league, giving up 221.6 yards per game and yielding 25 touchdown passes.

This season, triggered by the first consistent pass rush they have mustered in years, the Rams are giving up 181.4 yards per game, 10th in the league, and have surrendered only four touchdown passes.

Believe it, Henley says. The Ram secondary appreciates a defense that has recorded 13 sacks in five games--compared to 17 all last season.

“This is actually the first year that we’ve gotten that type of pressure,” Henley said. “Man, it’s just great to be back there, knowing you’re not going to have to cover all day.

“I remember last year we were in situations where the guy was holding the ball five to seven seconds. I don’t care how good you are, you can’t stop that.

“I think the coaching staff (realizes the Rams) have some people in the secondary that can play.”