Quote
PRO FOOTBALL; It's a Dirty Job, and 2 Rams Do It as Well as Anyone1990[
www.nytimes.com]
There is no glamour down there. It is dirt and grass stains, grunting and grabbing, a sea of arms and feet and numbers, and a pile of bodies. It is everything about football and yet nothing.
From autumn into winter, the game is played on the line, a place where the strong and the strong-willed survive but where careers can seemingly end in a blink. But there are exceptions. Exhibits A and B: Jackie Slater and Irv Pankey, the two Los Angeles Rams tackles who will step onto the turf of Giants Stadium today. They will be seen and heard from, although not likely noticed.
Two Dozen Years of Experience
Slater and Pankey are cornerstones of the Rams' offense line, combining 24 years of experience and untold bruises. But theirs are necessary jobs.
Last Sunday at Philadelphia, Slater, who is completing his 14th season, held the Eagles' All-Pro defensive end, Reggie White, to one sack. Eight weeks ago, Pankey limited Lawrence Taylor, the Giants' relentless linebacker, to two tackles and no sacks.
''The line,'' Jim Everett, the Rams' quarterback, said last week, ''makes a huge difference in winning the game. It can win the game.''
Continue reading the main story
Pankey's performance against Taylor today could become decisive. Without an effective pass rush, the Giants may be unable to keep Everett from reaching his receivers for long completions.
But if Taylor gets through, Pankey knows he will meet his critics.
Fearful of Madden
''That's how it always works with Lawrence Taylor,'' he said the other day before the Rams worked out at their training complex. ''You give up a sack, and John Madden is going to draw it up on the TV screen and run it in slow motion.''
To their credit, Pankey and Slater - and Doug Smith, the center who is in his 12th season - have aged gracefully. They helped Everett pass for more than 4,000 yards this season, a team record, and their protection limited opponents to just one sack of the quarterback in the last three weeks of the regular season. Pankey, Slater and Smith are the team's offensive captains.
''They're a very positive factor,'' John Robinson, the Rams' coach, said of the offensive linemen. ''The year I coached with the Raiders in 1975, we had people like Shell and Upshaw and Dalby, a lot of old, experienced guys. Veteran players on the offensive line are important to a team. And they have a difficult job, as hard a time getting ready to play as anybody other than the quarterback.''
Slater and Pankey have done it for so long that it is second nature. But as time passes, skills deteriorate. Slater, who was selected to play in the Pro Bowl for the sixth time in seven seasons, realizes it almost weekly.
''You say to yourself on occasion, 'I'm 35 years old and that kid on the other side of the line is 22, and I'm expected to knock him down,' '' he said. ''He comes at you hard and knocks you down, but maybe the next time, you knock him down. That's when you say, 'Maybe this age thing isn't as bad as people say it is.' ''
A Hard Worker
Slater's longevity is more a tribute to his off-season work habits than anything else. When the season ends, he takes one month off, then begins a regimen of running, stretching and lifting weights that will take him into training camp.
''He's a true professional,'' said Hudson Houck, the Rams' offensive line coach. ''He works and practices harder than any man I've ever coached. He has a tremendous amount of pride in his work ethic, as well as being a very good athlete.''
Slater said: ''If I couldn't work out in the off season, I don't think I could play. It's no coincidence that a guy my age with a wife and a 4-year-old son wants to lift weights. Younger guys go out and party, but I enjoy the game and I want to keep playing.''
How long? Robinson said that Slater was not through, that he could continue for perhaps another two seasons. If he does, Slater would have 16 years of service with the Rams, surpassing Charlie Cowan, Joe Scibelli and Merlin Olsen, who each played 15 seasons. With another 14 games, Slater would pass Olsen for most games played. Slater will play in his 196th game today.
''Jackie is 35 going on 30,'' said Robinson, who compared Slater to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the Laker center who retired at 41 but found ways to contribute until the end. ''Without getting emotional about it, I think Jackie can play two more years.''
Slater said he remembered watching the emergence of Pankey in 1980, when the second-round draft pick out of Penn State joined the team.
''It struck me right away,'' he said, ''that this was a big, talented kid who could run and was strong. There was no doubt in my mind that he could play. It was just a question of how soon and which tackle.''
Pankey, who is 31, said he had outlasted others in the game because of an ability to correct flaws in his style.
''Technique,'' he said. ''I know what beats Irv Pankey. I know what my weaknesses are. If I'm technically sound, I can compensate for any part of me that I need to.''
And something else: ''The quarterback makes all this money,'' he said, smiling. ''I've got to protect my interest.''
