Ram Veteran Avoids the Limelight by Keeping His Head Down : NFL: Coaches praise 37-year-old long snapper Blair Bush.

In the Cal State Fullerton cafeteria, Ram players are invited to sit on the left side of the room, team executives, staff and media on the right.

Although their recent record doesn’t indicate it, you can usually differentiate the players from the sports writers.

However, there’s this guy, this old balding man who sits on the left side of the room each day. He could be a college professor who has claimed squatter’s rights or maybe one of Georgia Frontiere’s pals who would be entitled to sit anywhere.

You know this, though: He’s not one of the players’ fathers because he’s there morning, noon and night, and no way the Rams are going to agree to pick up the tab.

“Players walk by me while I’m sitting there and probably wonder why I don’t have a media badge on,” said Blair Bush, the man who looks so out of place. “I understand. I don’t get asked to sign too many autographs coming out of the stadium.”

The man with the greatest job in America, however, is not complaining. A year ago the Rams paid him $400,000 to deep snap. That’s $400,000 to hike the ball four or five times each Sunday for 16 weeks. Why wash his uniform?

“We probably can’t play without him,” said Jim Erkenbeck, Ram offensive line coach. “You ask me who’s the most accurate thrower in the game and I’m going to say Dan Marino. Who is the most accurate snapper? Blair Bush. Without question.”

The man with the best job in America, who received a raise to play in 1993, also is a company man. When called upon to work overtime, there is no complaint. Last season he filled in for center Bern Brostek for four plays--at no extra charge.

“He runs down the field, too, on punt returns,” said Howard Tippett, Ram special teams coach. “He’s usually the first guy down there. He doesn’t always make the tackle, but he gets in the way. Occasionally some back will trip over him or get his cleats hung in the turf and Blair will hit him pretty good.”

It happens. Last season, the Rams credited him with five special-teams tackles.

“If I’m making a whole bunch of tackles in the open field,” Bush said, “then the other team has to get a different returner.”

An Achilles’ heel injury has bothered Bush since the beginning of training camp. He has been unable to join the offensive-line drills, but then it doesn’t matter--he’s already got it made as the team’s deep snapper.

“He is the guy again this year,” Tippett said. “I was with Blair for three years in Green Bay and then again last year here and I can’t ever remember him making a bad snap. He’s that good.”

Bush will celebrate his 37th birthday this season, and while some of his new teammates might wonder about the old man who just stands around at practice, this is a guy who already has experienced the ultimate in the sport.

The Cincinnati Bengals selected the University of Washington center in the first round of the 1978 draft. He immediately became a starter and in 1982 played in Super Bowl XVI against the 49ers.

“Hey, I was pretty good at one point,” he said with a laugh. “Of course, nobody around the league now knows that.”

There is one obvious exception, however: Coach Chuck Knox. Knox’s Seahawks acquired Bush in 1983, and after several productive years, Bush signed as a Plan B free agent with Green Bay in 1989.

“I retired after the 1989 season because I was too beat up,” he said. “(Then) Green Bay called and said we just want you to be the deep snapper.”

When Knox was hired as Ram coach in 1992, one of the first moves he made was to go after Bush, a proven deep snapper.

“There’s a lot of pressure on a snapper,” Tippett said. “Even though he’s like that bullpen catcher in baseball, when he’s in the game, it’s critical what happens to a football team.”

The man with the best job in America can thank his brother for a 16-year NFL career. As a boy, Bush shagged the deep snaps of his older brother, Brad. When Blair enrolled at Palos Verdes High School, the team needed a deep-snapper and a star was born.

“When I came into league it was expected that the starting center would also be the deep snapper,” he said. “In those days everybody came out of high school and college with those skills. Now it’s just reversed.”

The Rams admire Bush’s skills, but they would also like to replace him. They would like to find a young athlete who draws minimum wage and has long-snapping skills and the potential to develop at another position.

They’re still looking.

“When I talk to high school coaches or people who have kids in high school,” Knox said, “I tell them that if they want their players to have a chance to play in the National Football League, have them learn to become a deep snapper.”

Bush shook his head.

“I’m going to disagree with Chuck,” Bush said. “With my son, I don’t want him to be a deep snapper. I want him to be an owner. Being a deep snapper is probably the second best position in America.”