Ram-o-Sauruses

Huge and heroic man-beasts once inhabited the land known as Orange County, where their weekly gladiatorial spectacles thrilled adults and inspired youths. The Rams, they were called. They played football at Anaheim Stadium. They left town after the 1994 season. Yeah, now you remember.

In fact, a couple of veritable dinosaurs from that bygone era still roam the local earth. The playground of St. Jeanne de Lestonnac School in Tustin--a patch of grass below the Santa Ana Freeway--is their Jurassic Park. Coaching on the sideline of a fifth- and sixth-grade flag football squad are former Rams teammates Jackie Slater and Vince Ferragamo.

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Big-time football heroes are harder to come by without a hometown football team. But they are easy to spot amid the after-school chaos at St. Jeanne’s. Slater is only slightly slimmed-down from the 287 pounds he carried on a 6-foot-4 frame during his 20-year career as an offensive lineman. Ferragamo has gained a little weight from the days when he was a 215-pound, 6-foot-3 quarterback.

Most of the 24 players they coach haven’t reached 100 pounds.

Ferragamo and Slater still attract attention with their reputations too. They were starters in Super Bowl XIV, the only Super Sunday the Rams ever played. But that was in 1980, long before St. Jeanne’s 10- and 11-year-old players were born.

“I think the kids are kind of excited anyway,” says Ferragamo, watching the St. Jeanne’s team warm up for a recent home game against Holy Family School of Orange. “But honestly, the parents appreciate it more than anybody.”

Greg Daniel, a fifth-grader who plays the defensive line for St. Jeanne’s, confirms as much.

“I don’t remember them,” says Daniel, referring to his coaches. “But I know this is a great experience for me. That’s what my parents say--and my parents know all about them.”

The rooting section at St. Jeanne’s games has lately grown larger. More than 50 people turned out to watch a game on a recent Monday afternoon. Many obviously divide their attention between the little guys on the field and the big, big guys on the sidelines. The opposition is sometimes distracted too.

“It’s kind of funny,” says Grady Greiwe, 10, a St. Jeanne’s linebacker. “Sometimes players from the other team come over to ask our coaches for autographs. Sometimes their parents come over too. They get all ecstatic. I think it’s pretty cool, but I’m used to it. Now I mostly like our coaches because of what they teach us.”

Slater, who has been signing autographs for more than half his life, has that perspective too.

“It’s nice to be a part of the excitement, but what’s important are the concepts we’re trying to teach,” he says. “We want these kids to learn what it means to be a team, to work hard with other people and to care about those people, to be successful together.”

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Providence brought Slater and Ferragamo to the St. Jeanne’s football team, according to Sister Mary of Jesus, principal of the private Catholic school.

“Truly, something wonderful happened,” she says.

But Sister Mary admits she felt that way even before she knew the credentials the men brought to the volunteer coaching job. She best remembers Slater, now a sports commentator for ESPN, for his help with the annual May festival. She recalls that Ferragamo, who has a real estate business, often worked in fund-raising.

“I’m not a sports-minded person,” Sister Mary confides. “To me, they were just generous. Without them, we might not have had a football team. We couldn’t get anyone else.”

It was parental duty, rather than football madness, that prompted Slater and Ferragamo to accept the assignment. Slater’s two sons attend St. Jeanne’s, and two of Ferragamo’s three daughters are enrolled.

“The real bottom line to all of this is that my wife, Jody, is the school’s athletic coordinator,” says Ferragamo, raising his eyebrows and flashing a figure-it-out smile. “But Jackie and I are no different from other parents. [Assistant coaches] Cal Rosetti and Raul Vasquez also donate their time to this team.”

Four afternoons a week the men put the St. Jeanne’s Lancers through 90-minute practices. Ferragamo oversees the offense, Slater handles the defense, and each brings his own temperament into the coaching mix. Ferragamo is laid-back, speaks softly and smiles often; his game-day attire includes khaki shorts and sandals. Slater is more intense, raises his voice while making a point, expresses his pleasure with a straight-faced pat on the back; he wears athletic shorts and shoes on the sidelines.

“We try to combine competitiveness and fun,” says Ferragamo. “I played flag football at this age, and there’s really no point unless the kids are enjoying it. At the same time, we get across the idea that listening and learning and trying hard can be enjoyable too. It’s fun to improve, and it’s fun to win.”

Slater emphasizes that academics takes a priority over athletics on the St. Jeanne’s football team. The team’s pregame meeting begins with a tutoring session and the completion of classroom and homework assignments.

“We familiarize them with the idea of student-athletes, right from the start,” says Slater. “The school is in the middle of standard testing now, and that’s more important than whether or not we win a football game.”

That’s not to say the coaches are blase about the game.

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“I get to feeling really competitive,” Slater says. “That’s been true no matter what level I’ve played on. Now it’s true as a coach. I want to win. There’s nothing wrong with that, as long as you also want to keep winning in perspective.”

Mike Reichmann, whose sixth-grade son, Matt, plays wide receiver for St. Jeanne’s, shakes his head in disbelief as he watches Slater and Ferragamo deploy the team.

“It’s pretty amazing when you think about it,” he says. “Heck, Jackie and Vince were stars in the National Football League. I followed those guys when they played. They were among the best. They are tremendous resources for our kids.

“Sometimes I’m surprised by the sophisticated things the kids are doing out there. But the coaches have done it without being overly intense with the kids. That’s what I really like to see.”

Rachel Gaglio, whose son Alex plays on the offensive line, notes that no player has been cut from the St. Jeanne’s football team--and every player has seen action in every game.

“This is the kind of philosophy you love to see your son exposed to,” says Gaglio. “Vince and Jackie are the kind of men you wouldn’t mind your own son growing up to become.”

Of course, if any of the young players at St. Jeanne’s do follow in the footsteps of their coaches, they may eventually have to pull up stakes. A team of man-beasts no longer roams the local earth.