PRO FOOTBALL DAILY REPORT : RAMS : Slater Gets Start for Auld Lang Syne

Jackie Slater, who will be allowed to start this week in place of rookie Wayne Gandy, was selected by teammates as the recipient of the third annual Carl Ekern Spirit of the Game Award.

The Ekern award is given to the player who best exemplifies sportsmanship, ethic and commitment to his teammates. Ekern, a Ram linebacker, was killed in a 1990 automobile accident.

Slater, wrapping up NFL season No. 19, has not decided if he will retire. But Knox will have the offense introduced before the game against the Washington Redskins to give him his due Saturday, and will also honor him with a starting role in case this is his last game.

“I think I’m as excited about starting this game as I was my rookie year in 1977, when Joe Namath was throwing the passes,” Slater said. “I’d like to think people hoped I would come back (from injury) and get into the starting lineup, and not just because I’m some old guy still playing football. I’d like to think it was because traditionally I made a hell of a contribution to our efforts to be successful around here.”

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Chris Miller will start at quarterback in place of injured Chris Chandler, who will be unable to practice until Friday because of bruised ribs.

Miller is 2-7 as a starter and Chandler is 2-4.

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Knox said defensive tackle Sean Gilbert is questionable because of bruised ribs, but Gilbert took his regular shift in practice alongside David Rocker, who was working in place of Jimmie Jones, listed as questionable because of ankle and rib injuries.

Linebacker Tom Homco was listed as doubtful because of a foot injury, and cornerback Steve Israel is out because of a sprained knee.

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In Knox’s three years on the job, Ram players have been fined for various infractions amounting to more than $60,000, and local charities couldn’t be more pleased.

Knox divided this year’s money, a little under $20,000, between the Boys and Girls Clubs of Anaheim, the Salvation Army, the Watts-Willowbrook Boys and Girls Club, the American Diabetes Assn. and the First African Methodist Episcopal Church.