Rams’ Welcome for Bettis Certainly Isn’t Second-Best

If this was a press conference for a consolation prize, why was everybody smiling?

“This is the little guy I’ve been telling you about,” Chuck Knox said by way of introduction, beaming as his new fullback, Jerome “Big Daddy” Bettis, settled his 248 pounds into a wheezing chair and pulled on a blue and gold Rams cap.

“This is an honor and a privilege to play under this man sitting next to me,” Bettis said, beaming back, “considering what he’s done for running backs.”

Chuck Knox and big running backs, a mutual admiration society if there ever was one. So what if Garrison Hearst had been Knox’s preferred choice as seat mate this day? Did it really matter that Knox had toyed with the idea of trading all his draft choices for the chance to select Hearst as Ram Featured Back for the rest of the century, before collecting himself, toweling off and settling back to settle on Bettis seven picks after Hearst became a Phoenix Cardinal?

All Bettis had to do was consider what Knox had done for running backs who were willing to handle the load 20 to 25 times for him each Sunday, and then protect that load as if it were the Holy Grail.

Run, don’t fumble and get into the end zone, and Knox will make you a star.

As if Bettis needed reminding, Knox ticked off his personal Haul of Fame.

As a New York Jet assistant: “Matt Snell, Emerson Boozer.”

As a Detroit Lion assistant: “Mel Farr, Steve Owens, Altie Taylor.”

As a NFL head coach: “Lawrence McCutcheon, Joe Cribbs, Curt Warner, John L. Williams.”

Next up, Jerome Abram Bettis. From the wings, Bettis’ agent, Lamont Smith, listened and watched and then made a prediction.

“I think Jerome has the potential to be a household name within two years,” Smith declared. “Imagine Earl Campbell playing for Chuck Knox, in a major market like Los Angeles, with (his) ability to speak and handle the notoriety. . . “

Smith paused, momentarily interrupted by images of “Big Daddy” candy bars, “Ground Jerome” high-top cleats and the best-selling biography, “Battering Ram: The Super Bowl Years.”

“If he stays healthy,” Smith went on, “1,100 or 1,200 yards is a given this year.

“From there, the sky’s the limit.”

Knox had an 1,100-yard tailback last year, but “Cleveland Gary” never quite rolled off the coach’s tongue Monday. Gary has been branded by six scarlet letters--F, U, M, B, L and E--and rather than devote another season to hypnosis and hocus-pocus (“See the ball, Cleveland. The ball is your friend.”), Knox is simply reaching for another number and calling out, “Next!”

“The good thing about Jerome,” Smith said, “is that throughout his career at Notre Dame, he fumbled five times. That’s in, what, 600 carries? (Actually, 376.)

“He doesn’t give it up. He’s tough, he’s hard-nosed. Every picture you see of him, he’s got both hands on the football and he’s carrying two or three guys with him. He understands that in a Chuck Knox offense, the most important thing you can do is hold onto the football.”

Yet, a pair of fumbles by Bettis against Stanford cost Notre Dame an undefeated season in 1992. That helps explains a nagging question held over from Draft Day:

If Rick Mirer is the second-best player in the draft, and Bettis is the 10th-best player in the draft, and Tom Carter is the 17th-best player in the draft, and Irv Smith is the 20th-best player in the draft, and Demetrius DuBose is the 34th-best player in the draft, and Reggie Brooks is the the 45th-best player in the draft, how did Notre Dame ever lose a game?

“A bad day,” Bettis said. “I had two fumbles. Rick Mirer didn’t play particularly well. But I have to put the brunt of the problem on me. We just didn’t come to play quality football.”

Bettis had one other fumble in 1992, against Michigan. Notre Dame tied Michigan, meaning that the Irish were 0-1-1 in games during which Bettis fumbled.

That’s the problem Knox has with fumbles. You can’t pick your spots with them and, more often than not, you can’t pick yourself up after them.

Bettis was asked about a couple of nicknames, his own and his new coach’s.

“Big Daddy”?

“Joe Moore, my position coach at Notre Dame, gave it to me,” Bettis said. “He said, ‘You’re Big Daddy--as big as a truck and as fast as a Caddy.’ I like it. It’s my image, this big running back who runs like a bus.”

“Ground Chuck?”

Bettis broke out laughing.

“What that means to me is that I’m definitely going to get the opportunity to prove myself. It puts a smile on my face. I know I’m going to get an opportunity and that’s all I ask.”

Knox nudged Bettis and prodded him into telling a little Draft Day story on himself.

“Well,” Bettis said, shrugging, “there were a lot of rumors coming out that Indianapolis was possibly going to trade up to get me, and I was getting a little nervous, because there were already some Notre Dame (running backs) at Indianapolis--Rodney Culver and Anthony Johnson.

“I was nervous, because the best place for me was here. I needed to be in the type of offense where they were going to utilize me to the fullest. But my father would come up to me and tease me--’Looks like Indianapolis is making a run.’ And I’d be going, ‘Oh, nooo.’

“And he’d tell me, ‘It seems L.A. is looking in another direction.’ And I’m groaning, ‘Oh, this is the worst day of my life.’ ”

After dripping for 2 1/2 hours in cold sweat, Bettis got the phone call that made his day. “I picked up the phone and said, ‘Coach, Coach, is that you?’ ”

Sure enough, Knox was on the other end, offering Bettis the spotlight beam that, if Knox had been luckier, would have been offered to Hearst.

Monday morning at Rams Park, however, nobody was complaining.

“I’m elated to be here,” Bettis told the room.

“He will definitely get the football,” Knox said. “And we only have one football.”

Take care of it, Jerome, and Knox will definitely take care of you.