Rams Hope Miller Won’t Fall Down on This Job
Say what you will about Chris Miller, the Rams’ quarterback for the next three years or three months (your guess is as good as mine), but say this much for him:
--He’s no Warren Moon. Moon is 37 years old. Miller doesn’t turn 37 until August, 2002.
--He’s no Brett Favre. Favre would have cost the Rams $20 million, plus a first-round draft choice, plus a third-round draft choice. Miller is a cost-saver--three years, $9 million, hold on to your draft picks.
--He’s no Scott Mitchell. Mitchell, to this point, has spent his entire NFL career backing up a Pro Bowl quarterback. Miller, in 1991, actually was one.
--He’s no Jeff George. For that, we should all get down on our knees and give thanks.
--He’s no Bubby Brister, or Chris Chandler, or David Krieg. What Chuck Knox was thinking there, I’m afraid to ask.
On the downside, Miller tends to fall down. Fall down and go boom. Fall down and go send for the knee surgeon.
“Pop Goes The Anterior Cruciate” could be this guy’s theme song.
The Rams used to have a quarterback who fell down a lot--What was his name?--but generally those dives were self-induced, taken as precautionary measures.
When Miller falls, it’s lights out, season’s over, make way for the gurney, start warming up Billy Joe. Miller spent seven seasons with the Atlanta Falcons, but finished only three of them. Injuries to the ankle, elbow and head cut short his 1988 season. A broken collarbone wiped him out in Week 13 of 1990. A torn-up knee chopped his 1992 season in half. Same knee blows out on the second Sunday of last September, Miller misses the last 14 1/2 games of 1993.
Miller is the Official Ellipses of the National Football League.
“He was having a great season, and then . . . “
“He was fourth in the league in passing until . . . “
“He threw for 15 touchdowns in eight games, but that was before . . . “
That’s the big tease with Miller. If he could ever finish a sentence, he just might finish a season in the Super Bowl. Take a look at those years when he was able to avoid injured reserve. Passed for 3,400 yards in 1989. Passed for 3,100 yards and 26 touchdowns in 1991. He was on his way to his finest season in 1992--15 touchdowns, 1,700 yards in eight games--when he tried to elude a tackle by the Rams’ Anthony Newman, caught his foot in a seam in the Georgia Dome’s artificial turf and turned his knee ligaments into spaghetti.
The Rams remember that moment, but they also remember Miller usually beating them. So when Miller became available last month as an unrestricted free agent, the Rams tapped their pencils, scratched their heads and said, “What the hell, he always looks great against us. Let’s fly him in.”
Joe Vitt, Ram assistant head coach, has been the point man on the team’s free-agent search committee. He arranges the visits to Rams Park, choreographs the wining and dining, drives the Potential Rams to their physical exams.
Miller’s physical was his own personal Super Bowl. Fail and you lose $9 million. Fail and the Rams take a long, hard look at Chris Chandler.
Dr. Robert Kerlan conducted the examination, conducted it for four hours, and left Vitt and Rams’ Senior Vice President Jay Zygmunt sitting in the waiting room, fearing the worst.
“Finally,” Vitt says, “Dr. Kerlan came out and said, ‘The knee is stable, the knee is fine. Three more months and it will be 100%.’
“Jay and I just about fell out of our chairs. We were so excited, we all went out to dinner that night and Chuck was drawing X’s and O’s on the tablecloth for Chris.”
In a departure from last year, when they spent the free-agent shopping season on their heels, always one step behind the competition, the Rams acted swiftly to get Miller’s name on a contract.
“Here’s a bona fide quarterback,” Vitt says. “He’s been to the Pro Bowl, he throws for more touchdown passes than interceptions, he’s an unrestricted free agent and now he’s been cleared by Dr. Kerlan, one of the most respected sports doctors in the business.
“Once that became public knowledge, they all jumped in. Buddy Ryan’s calling him on the phone. Everybody wants a piece of him now.”
The Rams got all of Miller, with all his pieces currently attached, before the Cardinals and the rest of the vultures could swoop in. Give them credit for that. Now they have a quarterback who can do more than pitch the ball to Jerome Bettis, presuming there is a need for more, which is a valuable lure for a team still in dire need of a free-agent wide receiver or two.
And, say, isn’t free agent Michael Haynes a former favored target of Miller’s down in Atlanta?
So praise the Rams for taking the initiative, but do not allow them to rest on their laurels, now that they have some. Miller The Sound and Miller The Bandaged mean two different things to the Rams. One gets you TDs, the other gets you T.J. Where’s the insurance against another seam in the AstroTurf? The names are Trent Dilfer and Heath Shuler, Chuck. If one’s still available with the fifth pick in the draft, don’t go thinking offensive lineman.
But that’s a month from now. Monday, Ram coaches were in a dither, closing their eyes and smiling as they pictured Miller in a Ram uniform, dropping back in the pocket, staying in the pocket, throwing passes, completing passes.
“This is a great day for us,” Vitt says. “We’re beside ourselves.”
Until proved otherwise, the Rams want to believe that Chris Miller is just what the doctor ordered.
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Chris Miller’s Career in Atlanta
Year G-GS Att. Comp. Yds. Pct. TD Int. LG 1987 3-2 92 39 552 42.4 1 9 57 1988 13-13 351 184 2133 52.4 11 12 68 1989 15-15 526 280 3459 53.2 16 10 72 1990 12-12 388 222 2735 57.2 17 14 75 1991 15-14 413 220 3103 53.3 26 18 80 1992 8-8 253 152 1739 60.1 15 6 89 1993 3-2 66 32 345 48.5 1 3 32