Harrah Was Never Paid the $500 for His Feat

Twenty-two years ago, with the Los Angeles Rams set to face the favored Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XIV at the Rose Bowl, Ram guard Dennis Harrah thought he saw a golden opportunity.

Although he had a shoe contract with Converse, Harrah accepted a bag of Nike gear and agreed to wear the company’s swoosh symbol during the game for $500.

Later, Harrah struck a similar deal with Pony shoes.

Because he always had trainers tape over his cleats, the shoes weren’t visible anyway. So Harrah thought he had an ingenious plan.

“I had the trainer paint the Nike symbol on one side of the shoe, and the Pony symbol on the other side, with the Converse symbol on the shoe flap,” Harrah said.

“It wasn’t a problem until there was a photo of me in Sports Illustrated showing all three. Then I was caught in the middle of a lawsuit between Nike and Pony. And I never got a check from either of them.”

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Is that good or bad? In one of the more unusual statistics, New England is 8-1 since 1998 when the opposing quarterback throws for 300 yards.

Of course, the loss was to the Rams this season.

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Mr. Nice Guy: Kim Herring was part of the Ravens’ dominating defense a year ago. He’s part of the Rams’ resuscitated defense this year.

That’s where any similarities-- style, substance or volume--end.

A year ago, the national media portrayed the brash-talking Ravens as bad guys. This year, the same folks are portraying the Rams as good guys.

“That is a little different,” Herring told the Baltimore Sun. “Last year we were considered everybody’s worst enemy, for whatever reason. But this year, we’re considered goody-two-shoes, so to speak.

“If we were the bad guys, I don’t consider myself a bad guy. My mom still loves me.”

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Special genes: Jeff Jacobs of the Hartford Courant on Patriot kicker Adam Vinatieri: “In the age-old debate whether great special teams players are made or just born that way, the Patriot kicker is Exhibit A for nature over nurture.

“It’s in his blood. It’s in his genes. It’s in his DNA. Adam Vinatieri’s great-great grandfather was the ultimate special teams player.

“Felix Villiet Vinatieri was the bandmaster for Gen. George Armstrong Custer’s Seventh Regiment of Cavalry. And if that position doesn’t define special teams play, what in the world does?”

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Memories: Fox’s Cris Collinsworth, a member of the Cincinnati Bengal team that lost Super Bowl XVI to the San Francisco 49ers: “We got stuck in traffic in Pontiac [Mich.]. We got to the game an hour and a half before kickoff and we had a fistfight in the locker room over who was going to get taped. We came out and played just about the way we arrived. We were down, 20-0, and it was pretty much over.”

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And finally: Ram tight end Ernie Conwell on Coach Mike Martz, who took over a Super Bowl winner from Dick Vermeil: “It’s like if you got promoted up through a system, and people knew you as the janitor, and then as the facility manager, and then as an assistant, and then, all of a sudden, you’re the president.

“There might not be as much respect there. People might not appreciate you as much, because they’ve known you a long time, and known you through those phases.”

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Staff and Wire Reports