Everett Is on Verge of Becoming Rams’ All-Time Passing Leader, but One Play May Always Be His . . . : Defining Moment

When you think of Jim Everett, you think of :

a) One of the best quarterbacks in the league.

b) The greatest passer in Ram history.

c) A future Hall of Famer.

d) That play on which he just fell down for fear of being hit

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Jim Everett had agreed to view videotape of that play --the phantom sack in the 1990 NFC championship game--that defining moment for those who think the Rams’ foundation for success now rests on a shaky quarterback.

The Rams provided the VCR and the office, and upon arrival, Everett closed the doors.

“Leave the tape recorder on,” Everett said. “I want all this on the record.”

A week earlier, an easygoing Everett had accepted this invitation without a fuss. But the quarterback, who some might consider skittish in the pocket, was on the offensive.

“What we’re doing is going back 3 1/2 years to a point in a period of time,” Everett said. “What I want to know is how much research has been done? How many other films have been watched? What’s the score when this happens? What period is it?

“You want me to explain about one section, one period, one moment in time. Call it fair, call it unfair, I don’t really care to be judged on one section. I think every pro has had great moments and has had down moments. I’m not requiring you to do the highlights of Jim Everett’s career--that’s bull, too.

“All I’m asking before we would ever watch this, is yeah, people have said this and people have said that, but how did we make it to that game? How did we get there? How did we win the game before it? How did we win the two games before it? Those type of questions I ask before we get to that.

“What kind of things were happening all around us? What kind of things--which you don’t have the answers for and ones I won’t talk about--were happening with my personal life?”

The videotape was cued to that play and Everett sat directly in front of the television. But the VCR remained off.

“Right now, I’m about ready to set all the Ram records,” Everett said. “I’m the best passer the Rams have ever had. I don’t know about watching this film right now. I’m sitting here, and that’s why I want this to be on the record right now.

“I feel the only reason I would allow any of this is because we haven’t won a Super Bowl. And I’ve been associated with winning nine games the last two years, which I think is not right because I’ve always been involved with a winning program.

“There’s no excuses. There’s decisions I could have made better, as could a lot of people around me. I don’t push off the blame on others, I accept it. I’m not saying I’m such a fool to be the captain of the ship, and I’m going to be at the bottom of the ocean, but I’ll tell you what, I’ll probably end my career with a lot of things kept to myself.

“I think my courage is impeccable. I stand in there with the situation as good as anybody, and I know when to get out as good as anybody. That might have something to do with my success playing five years straight.

“You can’t tell me that a guy can play for five years straight in the NFL and be a (wimp). I mean if you can say that, and people believe that, then they got (a problem). This game is tough, day in and day out, week in and week out, and I’ve been there every game, and playing my . . . off every game. I don’t believe that someone can say, ‘Yeah, that guy’s a (wimp).’ I can’t believe that because if they gave me a six-gun, I’d be the baddest (guy) there is.”

But what about that play and the impact it has made on fans ever since?

“I don’t have to explain it,” Everett said. “That moment in time could happen to anybody. You have a feel in the pocket. I knew exactly what was going on, I thought I felt something. It wasn’t there. It’s been a big moment. But it’s probably happened a couple of other times. I can probably name a few other times.”

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Candlestick Park, Jan. 14, 1990.

The Rams took a 3-0 lead into the second quarter of the NFC championship game.

But San Francisco fired back with three unanswered touchdowns before halftime. Mike Cofer’s field goal extended the 49ers’ lead to 24-3 in the third quarter, and the Rams were going nowhere.

Everett had completed 12 of 25 passes for 125 yards and thrown three interceptions when he approached the line of scrimmage in the final moments of the third quarter for that play.

Pat Summerall on TV: “Third and 10.”

The 49ers put four defenders on the line of scrimmage, but rushed only three. The Rams employed five blockers to protect Everett.

Ram left tackle Irv Pankey engaged Larry Roberts. Defensive tackle Kevin Fagan took on the interior of the Ram line, while Charles Haley went wide on right tackle Jackie Slater--the two moving out of Everett’s sight.

Summerall: “There was no target, and Everett goes down.”

Pankey had Roberts, Slater cut the legs out from under Haley, and Fagan was no threat.

But Everett went down. He ducked as if he had been hit, wrapped his arms around the ball, hit the turf and brought his knees to his chest.

John Madden to Summerall: “I’ll tell you, Everett felt the bullet when there was no bullets.”

Summerall: “Haley and Roberts were close. Loss of six.”

Madden: “I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a quarterback get knocked down when there was no contact. . . . You should not feel that. I don’t care. In this game, you’ve got to keep that head up and keep working to find an opening. You should not feel a guy behind you.”

The official scorer credited Roberts with an 11-yard sack.

“Maybe Everett was frustrated,” Roberts said. “Maybe he just didn’t feel like he was getting a whole lot accomplished.”

It is more than three years after the fact, but only now has Pankey learned that his man received credit for the phantom sack.

“He did?” Pankey said. “We really didn’t know what happened. Only (Everett) knows what he felt. We never questioned that. Listen, all of us blink our eyes at some point, I don’t care how long you have been in this game.”

*

Former Ram Roman Gabriel and former Charger Dan Fouts played it tough in the pocket, and they remember that play.

Said Gabriel: “I was shocked somewhat, what with the strength and size he possesses. I remember the same thing happening to him in the game with the Giants--was it the game before that or the one during the regular season?

“But that’s the way today’s quarterbacks are taught to play. Run out of bounds, slide, take a knee. Maybe it keeps them healthy. Perhaps we were too stupid to do things like that. I just know if I did that, I don’t know if I could have faced my friends on the sideline.”

Said Fouts: “I don’t remember the play as far as the specifics, like did he have an extraordinary amount of time to throw? But I remember the end result.”

The end result has become the lasting impression for Everett detractors. It’s that play, and all those losses that have followed, that will not allow it to go away.

The Rams are 14-34 with Everett in command since losing that NFC championship game, 30-3. In 1988 and ‘89, Everett threw 60 touchdown passes with 35 interceptions. Since that day in Candlestick Park, Everett has thrown 56 touchdown passes with 55 interceptions.

“If you watch my game film from 1989 all the way up to now, with the exception of 10 games in 1991, which I think were the worst of my career, I don’t think you see a different player,” Everett said. “I’m 6 foot 5. I do not look like a 6-footer standing there throwing the ball. I have different form. Bernie Kosar looks different. I look different.”

But there are times Everett appears gun-shy, like the batter who has the habit of putting his foot in the bucket. Take a close look: Is it a question of style here, or a question of nerves?

“I think Everett’s a tough guy because you have to be tough to play in this league,” Fouts said. “I think what he does, though--at times--is have a tendency to throw off his back foot, which gives the impression that he’s bailing out.

“I mean, every game I see it. And the thing that I have remarked on the air while broadcasting his games, is that at times he’s the most composed, confident quarterback you will ever see. And when he’s that way, he’s on the money. But then there are those times when he feels the pressure, and he’s very inconsistent.”

Style or nerves?

“People always talk about him throwing off his back foot,” said Ernie Zampese, Ram offensive coordinator. “You watch him in every game and he throws it the same way. The games where he completes 22 out of 27, he’s throwing it the same damn way as the games where he didn’t complete as many. All of a sudden, it’s because he’s throwing off his back foot, and he’s not a tough guy.

“I don’t believe that one lick. That’s bull. In our passing scheme, we want guys to get back, make a decision and have the ball come out quickly. I mean, anybody who thinks this guy is a chicken ought to sit down and watch that game against New Orleans in 1989 when he brought us back from being down, 14-3, in the fourth quarter to win in overtime. He was getting killed, and he gets up and makes throw after throw.

“I know what perception people have of him, but it’s a bunch of baloney.”

*

This year’s supporting cast does not appear to be as stout as last year’s. The offensive line took a hit from free agency and recently has been savaged by injuries. Short of running want ads in the newspaper, the Rams have made it clear that they are short on quality wide receivers. And who will run the ball this year?

Said Fouts: “There’s Warren Moon, there’s Dan Marino, there’s John Elway and there’s Joe Montana when he was right. Steve Young is close to that.

“Jim Everett is not in that class. It’s still within his grasp to be in that class. He’s shown glimpses of it, but as far as being a guy that can carry a whole team, there have been very few guys who have ever played the position who can do that. A guy needs help.”

Needing help and yelling “Help!” while running for cover are two entirely different things.

“I knew the panic,” said Jim Erkenbeck, who joined the Rams as offensive line coach last season. “I knew what defensive coaches tried to do to Jim when I worked elsewhere. I know the level of intimidation defenses tried to put on him, and I’ve heard them talk about his shortcomings.

“I’m aware of his reputation, and I remember that play. But let me tell you, I saw some of the hits Jim took the year before we got here, and I’m not sure I wouldn’t want to find another job.”

Everett has not missed a start in the last five years. Of today’s NFL quarterbacks, only Marino has stood longer without interruption.

Everett stood tall in 1988 and ’89 and helped lead the Rams into the playoffs. He took a pounding in 1990, ’91 and ‘92, got up and played.

Everett has completed more passes than any other Ram quarterback and is 118 yards shy of passing Gabriel’s all-time Ram mark of 22,223 yards. He also needs 21 touchdown passes to move past Gabriel and become the Rams’ leader in that category.

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When you think of Jim Everett, you think of. . . .

Is that play irrelevant today? Or is it the first thing that comes to mind for most Ram fans when assessing Everett’s career?

“I think there are fans out there that really appreciate the type of game that I play,” Everett said. “I think it’s a vast minority who raise the question mark. I honestly think it’s a vast minority because I look at myself as a Super Bowl-caliber player.”

The question mark-- that play . Roll the videotape. No, stop.

“I don’t need to watch it,” Everett said. “ . . . I don’t think the Rams’ all-time best passer needs to explain himself.”

* NFL SCHEDULE: C8