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Mean Kevin Greene : New Steeler Has Something to Prove When He Faces Rams for the First Time

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

Kevin Greene says he wonders if Ram fans will remember him Sunday when he makes his first appearance at Anaheim Stadium as a Pittsburgh Steeler. They’ll remember. It wasn’t that long ago that he made that high-five farewell tour around the stadium at the end of last season.

Greene, though, is hoping for a bit of selective memory. A two-year amnesia would be nice. Roll those highlights of the late 1980s, when Greene was the scourge of NFL backfields.

It’s the 1988 season finale at Candlestick Park, and the Rams need a victory over the 49ers to make the playoffs. Greene racks up 4 1/2 sacks--four in the first quarter--and the Rams roll, 38-16. A week later, the Rams lose to Minnesota in the first round of the playoffs, but Greene is a one-man gang with three sacks and 10 tackles.

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“It’s going to be strange,” he said. “I guess I expect a reception from the fans, but I’m not sure what kind of reception I’m going to get. I had some awfully good fans when I was there; I just hope they remember me.”

You can bet the guys behind the north end zone who wear melons on their heads will be planning a warm and raucous greeting. Certainly, some Ram fans can recall the good old days when Greene had more sacks than anyone in football, 46, during a three-year stretch from 1988-1990.

But the Ram defense was a shambles by the turn of the decade, and defensive coordinator Jeff Fisher was hired to install a new scheme that ended up taking all the steam out of Greene’s machine.

Moved to defensive end and forced to wrestle with 315-pound offensive linemen, he managed only three sacks in 1991.

“It was extremely frustrating,” he said. “Going from a stand-up, blitzing, outside linebacker-type guy to a hand-in-the-dirt, put-some-weight-on, slammer-in-the-trenches-type guy, I just wasn’t able to do it.

“That was a miserable year.”

Greene was hoping for a return to glory when Chuck Knox replaced John Robinson. He was back at linebacker last year and led the team in solo tackles with 75, total tackles with 87, and sacks with 10, but he wasn’t happy.

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In many passing situations, he was chasing a back running a pass pattern instead of widening the eyes of a quarterback. And it wasn’t only the glory he missed; he wasn’t nearly as good at covering as he was at sacking.

“Again, I was out of position,” he said. “I told (the coaches), ‘There are better things I can do for you than just dropping back into pass coverage.’ We talked about moving me to the open side as an outside linebacker and (blitzing) every once in a while. But the defense that we ran last year was so extremely conservative that I never rushed except on third-and-long situations when everybody knew I was coming.

“They were always telling me to be patient, but it never happened. So when I became a free agent, I didn’t even give the Rams the opportunity to bid for me. Money isn’t everything. I was determined to go to a team that would let me play a position that I can have fun at. And now I’m actually having fun playing football again.”

The Steelers, one of the few teams in the NFL still using the 3-4 defense that allows Greene to do his favorite thing, were willing to bet $5.25 million over the next three years that a rejuvenated 31-year-old will mean a new Steel Curtain.

After all, this Greene already has 72 1/2 sacks, 6 1/2 more than legendary Steeler Mean Joe Greene.

And they saw some flashes of it in the opener, a 24-13 loss to San Francisco. Greene’s only sack was nullified by a penalty, but he was pressuring Steve Young when Young threw an interception.

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“Kevin Greene is your ultimate pro,” Steeler Coach Bill Cowher said. “And what we do fits his style. He can blitz, he gives you that element of toughness and he’s also a very smart football player.

“What we’ve seen from Kevin Greene is what we thought we’d get from the first day he came here. He’s become a leader on our football team.”

All of which comes as no surprise to Jackie Slater, the veteran Ram tackle who will face Greene on Sunday after eight years of slamming into him on the practice field. If they play harder than they practice, this figures to be a matchup worth watching. A Greene-Slater card usually produced the best fights of training camp.

“We’ve mixed it up a bit over the years, but it was all in the competitive spirit,” Slater said. “I just worked really hard against him from the day he got here until the day he left, and he did the same. It’s going to be interesting.

“He’s going to be tough to block. He’s a very talented guy, as we all know, and he’s probably going to come in here with a lot of incentive to have a great day.”

If Slater only knew.

Says Greene: “I have a very good, respectful relationship with Jackie Ray Slater. He taught me everything I know today. He taught me how to rush the passer. I’d venture to say this will be the hardest I play all year in regards to the one-on-one battle between me and Jackie.”

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But what of the glaring absence of a single former teammate at Greene’s recent wedding?

“We had 325 people, but not one (Ram),” he said. “I sent some invitations out and I thought at least a couple of friends would come, but they didn’t show.”

Want to change places with Jim Everett Sunday?

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