Saints’ Longest Marches Made by Kick Returner : Pro football: Runbacks of 92 and 98 yards by Hughes help New Orleans hold off Rams, 37-34.

Kharee Bailey, who was born in the early hours Sunday, will have his birthday noted in the NFL record book compliments of his father, Robert, whose teammates are more likely to remember Tyrone Hughes’ exploits for the New Orleans Saints.

Hughes, the NFC’s Pro Bowl specialist as a rookie last season, broke two NFL records after returning kickoffs 92 and 98 yards for touchdowns to offset Bailey’s 103-yard punt return and lift the Saints to a 37-34 victory over the Rams before 47,908 in the Superdome.

Hughes, with 304 yards on seven runbacks, broke Wally Triplett’s 1950 mark of 294 yards in kickoff returns for Detroit, which also came against the Rams. His 347 yards in combined punt and kickoff return yardage bested the previous mark of 294 yards by Triplett and Ram returner Woodley Lewis (1953).

The Rams and Saints combined for 688 yards in punt and kickoff returns in a circus-like game that also featured Toby Wright’s 98-yard fumble return for a Ram score.

“Four plays for more than 90 yards, well, I don’t know if I’ve ever been in a game like this,” Ram Coach Chuck Knox said. “And I’ve been in a lot of games.”

Jim Everett, making his first start against his former team, began a punishing day for the Rams (3-5) with two first-quarter scoring drives, which included eight of eight passing and a 30-yard touchdown throw to tight end Wesley Walls.

“Vengeance is a . . . “ Bailey said.

Said Everett: “I wanted to score in the first quarter. That was very important for us. There was a lot riding on it.”

Everett, who completed 17 of 26 passes for 206 yards, held the ball high above his head at game’s end while taking congratulations from Ram center Tom Newberry.

“Everett didn’t beat us,” Ram safety Anthony Newman said. “He wasn’t back there doing a Randall Cunningham, running around and throwing bombs. They scored 14 points off kickoffs.”

After Everett helped the Saints to the lead, the Rams went on to lose starting quarterback Chris Miller, cornerback Darryl Henley, linebacker Shane Conlan, wide receiver Todd Kinchen and offensive line coach Jim Erkenbeck because of injuries and, in Kinchen’s case, ejection for fighting. Miller, who suffered a concussion, was kept overnight in a local hospital for observation, team doctors said, and Erkenbeck, who was accidentally knocked down on the sideline by Saint safety J.J. McCleskey, returned with the team.

Miller, who was knocked to the turf by linebacker Ernest Dixon after throwing a pass to running back Howard Griffith near the end of the first quarter, played until halftime, completing five of his next eight passes with two interceptions and a 19-yard touchdown pass to Isaac Bruce.

Miller couldn’t remember the plays during halftime discussions, and after being replaced by Chris Chandler to start the third quarter, he began to have problems with his vision and was also unable to handle the noise in the Superdome.

While Miller and Erkenbeck were transported to the hospital, the Rams played on and tried to overcome Hughes’ heroics and a 37-20 fourth-quarter deficit.

Johnny Bailey’s seven-yard touchdown run with 8:38 to play brought the Rams to within 10 points of the Saints, and then after using all three timeouts to make a defensive stand, the Rams forced the Saints to punt.

Tommy Barnhardt’s kick landed in the end zone, and the ball appeared on its way past the end line for a touchback. But as the Saints and most of the Rams began walking off the field, the ball suddenly bounced back, away from the end line. While the Saints’ defense and the Rams’ offense began to make its way onto the field, Bailey picked up the rolling football and began running.

“It’s something special teams coach Wayne Sevier talks about almost every day,” Bailey said. “He always says if the ball is not touched, then you can run. I saw everybody running off the field, so I figured I can’t lose anything by picking it up. I knew I had to get to the 20, and after that I never looked back.

“I guess it’s a good thing I stayed for the game. When I got the call from my wife that she was ready to have our son last night, I talked to Coach Knox about flying home, but the airport was closed. I didn’t really get much sleep.”

Bailey’s alert return, which broke the NFL mark of 98 yards held by a number of players, would have certainly left the Saints with many a sleepless night had it brought the Rams back to win. The Saints, stunned by the bizarre play, argued incorrectly that the ball had bounced beyond the end line and out of bounds.

“Our guys swore a whistle had blown,” said Saint Coach Jim Mora, who criticized the officials for several calls.

After closing to within a field goal of the Saints with 4:08 to play, the Rams didn’t get the ball back until only 22 seconds remained. They took possession at their 40 and needed more than 20 yards to get Tony Zendejas, the NFL’s all-time field-goal percentage leader from beyond 50 yards, in position. But on first down, Chandler was sacked for a five-yard loss, and on second down with 19 seconds to play, Chandler’s pass for Flipper Anderson was tipped by cornerback Selwyn Jones and intercepted by teammate Jimmy Spencer.

“I’ll tell you, that was a wild, wild sucker,” said Mora, whose record against the Rams is 13-4.

The Saints took a 14-0 lead, remained ahead, 17-7, after the first of three Morten Andersen field goals and were poised to put the game away inside the Rams’ one-yard line midway through the second quarter.

On second and goal, running back Lorenzo Neal attempted to bull his way over the right side. While Neal headed to the ground, safety Marquez Pope caught him from behind and knocked the ball loose. Television replays failed to show if Neal was down when he fumbled, but Ram safety Tony Wright didn’t care; he picked up the ball, avoided Everett’s tackle attempt at the 12-yard line and went 98 yards for a touchdown.

“After talking to the line judge, we decided that the ballcarrier was lying on top of players, that forward progress had not stopped,” referee Johnny Grier said. “The ball came loose. That is a live ball at that point.”

The Rams celebrated and Hughes prepared to enter the record books. “On Hughes’ first kickoff return, I was out of position,” Ram cornerback Todd Lyght said. “The first one was my fault.”

The second, which came after the Rams had closed to within 10 points of the Saints, looked a lot like the first.

“Obviously, we had some coverage problems on our kickoff team,” Knox said.