Rams News

McBurrows is ready for camp after chicken pox
                   07/30/98
                   By Jim Thomas
                   Of the Post-Dispatch Staff

                   CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Some players will do anything to get out of two-a-days. But catching the                    chicken pox wouldn't be high on Gerald McBurrows' list of preferred methods.
                   ``I never thought it could be as bad as it was,'' said McBurrows, the Rams' understated and                    underrated fourth-year safety.
                   Finally healthy after a 10-day bout with the chicken pox, McBurrows joined the team for the first                    time this training camp Thursday in Champaign, where the Rams are practicing with the                    Indianapolis Colts for three days.
                   When his 2-year-old son, Gerald III, was infected with the chicken pox at preschool in St.                    Charles, McBurrows knew it was only a matter of time before he caught it, too. McBurrows has                    never had the pox before and had never taken a shot or vaccine to prevent the illness.
                   ``I was in a miserable state,'' said McBurrows, 24. ``I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. I                    passed the time just laying in the bed, itching. I had a really bad fever. My throat got swollen up                    pretty bad. I wasn't able to eat. I lost about 12 pounds.''
                   He did get a lot of pampering from his fiancee, Reba. But the fact that he was missing the first                    week of training camp made him as miserable as the illness. After starting 13 games in his first 2                    seasons with the Rams, McBurrows missed the last eight games of 1997 with a knee injury.
                   ``I was so eager to get back and show what I had,'' McBurrows said. ``I worked so hard to get                    in the best shape of my life. I just worked, worked, worked. I felt comfortable. I knew the                    defense. I just had my mind set on great things happening.''
                   And then a pox came upon him.
                   The illness caused McBurrows to lose much of the edge from all that offseason conditioning                    work. Rams trainers are easing him back onto the field gradually. This weekend in Champaign,                    he is doing nothing but sprints and weightlifting. He will return to the practice field next week                    when the Rams are back in Macomb.
                   Backs shortage: The Rams were running low on running backs by Thursday afternoon. David                    Thompson was out with a strained thigh, and Jerald Moore did very little work -- although he                    dressed -- because of a sore shoulder.
                   When rookie Robert Holcombe went down with a strained hamstring early in the afternoon                    practice, that left third-down back Amp Lee and June Henley -- a member of the practice squad                    last season.
                   ``We've got to get a couple guys back,'' coach Dick Vermeil said. ``The thing is June Henley's                    doing a good job. He's taking advantage of his opportunities, and sooner or later, somebody                    that's trying to beat him out may not be able to do it.''
                   Rookie Raymond Priester, who the team is trying to work in at fullback, also got some work at                    the halfback position.
                   Tight end Ernie Conwell watched in the afternoon because of a bruised neck.
                   ``He's very stiff,'' Vermeil said. ``I think a facemask or something got caught back there.''

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