Ready to Carve His Mark : Rams’ Jerome Bettis Will Try to Make the Most of His Second Chance to Start

Jerome Bettis was a toddler when Ram Coach Chuck Knox turned second-year running back Lawrence McCutcheon loose in 1973.

When Knox’s Buffalo offense featured rookie tailbacks Terry Miller and Joe Cribbs in 1978 and ‘80, Bettis was tearing up the Detroit-area youth bowling leagues.

But by 1983, when Seattle running back Curt Warner starred as a rookie under Knox, Bettis finally took notice.

Warner plowed through defenses, knocking linemen over as Bettis did to pins every Sunday. Bettis liked that.

“I saw Warner just explode that year,” Bettis said. “That was my first impression of Coach Knox. When I think of Coach, I’ll always think of Curt Warner, too. I always wondered what it would be like to play for Coach.”

Ten years later, he knows.

Bettis, a rookie from Notre Dame, will replace Cleveland Gary as the Rams’ starting tailback Thursday against Atlanta. It will be the second start of Bettis’ career; he replaced an injured Gary in the lineup three weeks ago against the New York Giants.

After gaining 102 yards rushing last week against New Orleans, Bettis leads the Rams with 260 yards through five games.

He is the latest in a string of young backs whom Knox has turned to during his 21 seasons in the NFL:

--In 1973, Knox started McCutcheon, who didn’t have a carry in his rookie season. McCutcheon rushed for 1,097 yards that season and led the team in that category for the next four years.

--Miller led Buffalo in rushing with 1,060 yards as a rookie in 1978, Knox’s first season there.

--Two years later, Cribbs led the team as a rookie with 1,185 yards.

--In 1983, Warner rushed for 1,449 yards and scored 14 touchdowns as a Seahawk rookie. He ran 60 yards on his first carry, and finished the season with a trip to the Pro Bowl.

Warner left a lasting impression on Bettis, not so much with his statistics, but by how he got them. Warner could punish defenses inside and had the breakaway speed to beat them around the corner.

“Curt was just boom, boom, boom, and then he would get around the corner and ‘Whoom!’ He was gone,” Bettis said. “I don’t have the kind of breakaway speed he has. If I tried to go outside like he did, they (the defense) would come and get me.

“He powered it in there on the defense and never let up on them. It was like, ‘Here he comes again. Damn!’

“It was four quarters of that. And by the fourth quarter, defenses were saying, ‘I’m tired of tackling this big (guy).’ It’s that kind of situation that you can capitalize on, when they start slowing down and start missing tackles.”

Bettis, 5 feet 11 and 243 pounds, attacks defenses with that philosophy every week. He wears them down, then runs over them.

“That man is a load,” New Orleans linebacker Vaughan Johnson said. “He’s hard to bring down.”

A load? Bettis laughs.

“That lets me know I’m on course,” he said. “I keep pounding at them, and it makes them respect you.”

Warner had 335 carries as a rookie, Cribbs 306, Miller 238 and McCutcheon 210. Bettis had 337 carries in three seasons at Notre Dame.

In college, practices were never full speed, so Bettis said he is learning to pace himself during daily workouts with the Rams.

“Everything is fine and dandy now,” he said, “but seven weeks down the line, I might be getting pretty tired. I’m trying to prepare myself for that when it comes.”

Ram running back coach Chick Harris, who coached Warner in Seattle and Cribbs in Buffalo, expects more consistency from Bettis.

“Young guys can jump out and have a quick show,” Harris said. “But they are measured on consistency. He has to put it together back to back.”

Bettis gave coaches a glimpse of his potential against Pittsburgh in the second regular-season game. He rushed for 76 yards in 16 carries, and broke a 29-yard touchdown run, the longest by any Ram back this season. He followed with 33 yards in nine carries against the Giants and 25 yards in 11 carries against Houston.

“When a guy comes in and has an opportunity to get some (carries) and get exposed to the offense early, it’s only a matter of time before he is playing well,” Harris said. “It’s baptism by fire. You have to let them play through their rookie mistakes.

“The good ones come out early in the year and show you what they are capable of doing. It’s our job to find those guys with talent and put them in a position where that talent will surface.”

The Rams discovered Bettis at Notre Dame, where he played beside running back Reggie Brooks, who is having a strong rookie season with the Washington Redskins. Bettis ran for 825 yards as a junior last season and bypassed his senior year to enter the draft. The Rams took him with the 10th overall pick.

“Coach (Lou) Holtz always put a big emphasis on the running game,” Bettis said. “He always gave you the option of reading a defense, deciding where to go. You do a lot of that at this level. Here, you have to ad-lib because the hole isn’t always going to be there, and you have to find that two yards on your own.”

Bettis went against some great defenses in college--those of Miami, Penn State and Florida to name a few.

But it’s another matter when you’re preparing to go against players such as Houston’s Wilber Marshall, Pittsburgh’s Kevin Greene, the Giants’ Lawrence Taylor and New Orleans’ Johnson, Rickey Jackson and Renaldo Turnbull each week.

“The one big difference between the college and the pros is that everyone here is capable of putting a big hit on you,” Bettis said. “It’s a little more intense because you never know when it’s coming. If they’re going to whop you, they’re going to whop and put a little something on the end of it.

“You’ve got to be ready for it.”

During training camp, McCutcheon helped Bettis get ready. He pulled the rookie aside and offered him some advice.

“We talked about attitude, getting mentally prepared,” Bettis said. “He knows I’ll get through it physically.

“He told me what to expect with Coach Knox, and that there’s no subsititute for hard work.”