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Playoff appearance within reach, Gandy says

09/05/98

By Jim Thomas
Of the Post-Dispatch Staff

Hey, if talk king Larry King can predict a wild-card appearance for the Rams -- as he did last week in USA Today -- why can't Wayne Gandy?
Actually, Gandy didn't predict a playoff berth. The Rams offensive tackle merely says it's within the realm of possibility.
``We just need to get a little winning spirit going on,'' Gandy said. ``We've lost so much that when we lose, we keep saying, `OK, here we go again.' We might not ever be 13-3. But I think we can make a good 8-8 push, a good 9-7 push, and be right there on the cusp of the playoffs. But it has to be a thing where you get some early success.
``You have to beat the teams that you're even in talent with, and then steal one or two against teams that maybe have better talent. And when you go down our schedule, there's not really any big superheroes on there this year except for maybe San Fran and Minnesota, or somebody like that.''
The Rams were 2-7 last season in games decided by eight points or fewer. Had they gone 5-4 in those games, they would have finished 8-8. Had they gone 6-3, they would have finished 9-7 and contended for a wild-card berth.
``One thing we learned from last year . . . is not to beat ourselves, which we have had a tendency to do for the last three or four years with interceptions, or giving up the big play,'' Gandy said. ``So I think if we just play smarter football, we can make a run at the playoffs.''

Gone, not forgotten
Craig ``Ironhead'' Heyward made an impact on the Rams far beyond his 34 carries for 84 yards last season.
``He's a guy that's going to be missed in here,'' wide receiver Isaac Bruce said after Ironhead's release. ``We loved him in the locker room.''
They loved his ``boombox'' even more. Heyward left his portable stereo at Rams Park, and even sent some CD mixes to his successor at fullback, Derrick Harris. ``But everybody got tired of pitching in on the batteries, so it's a little quiet around here right now,'' Harris said.
Imagine that. The Rams have 18 players whose average salary exceeds $1 million annually. But not enough spare change for batteries.

Last ad, Ironhead
How's this for honesty from Harris, on the release of Heyward? ``I thought of Ironhead as a great friend,'' Harris said. ``But I'd be stupid to tell you I'm not somewhat relieved.''
Harris didn't play a down last season as Ironhead's backup. This year, with Heyward no longer around, Harris is the starter.

Carolina crushers
The Carolina Panthers already had been hard hit by injuries on their offensive and defensive lines before three players were lost for the season in their preseason finale against Pittsburgh.
Center Bucky Greeley suffered a lacerated kidney/spleen and cracked ribs on the Panthers' second offensive play. Greeley had been forced into a starting role for at least the first two weeks of the regular season due to Frank Garcia's sprained knee.
On the Steelers' third offensive play, rookie defensive end Chuck Wiley suffered a ruptured Achilles' tendon chasing down Pittsburgh quarterback Kordell ``Slash'' Stewart. Wiley became the Panthers' starting left end when Shawn King suffered a season-ending biceps tendon injury earlier in the preseason.
Late in the first quarter, right offensive guard Jamie Wilson suffered a severe ``stinger'' -- a burning sensation in the neck and shoulder area. When it was determined that he would miss at least eight weeks, the Panthers decided to place him on their injured reserve list, meaning he's out for the season. Wilson was the Panthers' top backup at guard and tackle. He started against Pittsburgh only because Corbin Lacina was in St. Paul, Minn., with his wife for the birth of their third child.

Name game
Pittsburgh has a ``Slash'' in Kordell Stewart. The Giants have a ``Dash'' in Nate Hobgood-Chittick. That's what coach Jim Fassel nicknamed the rookie defensive tackle, rather than refer to him as ``Hobgood-Chittick'' all the time.

The amazing Barry
What can Detroit's Barry Sanders do for encore? Well, he's not ruling out an even better season than 1997, when he rushed for 2,053 yards, the second-highest total in NFL history.
``I don't think last year was a year that was so perfect that it can't be surpassed,'' Sanders said. ``I don't have any predictions, but if I stay healthy, and we play well, then no one knows how far that bar will raise.''

Sound bites
> ``We were at a king's feast, and only got a piece of bread. Then we were asked to leave.'' -- DT Warren Sapp on Tampa Bay's two-game playoff experience last season.
> ``You can't eat an elephant in one bite. We just have a long ways to go. . . . It's going to be a rough year.'' -- Chicago VP of player personnel Mark Hatley.
> ``I think this year we get exposed. I think this year is going to tell how good or how bad we are.'' -- Dallas QB Troy Aikman.
> ``Am I shell-shocked? Shell-shocked is not even a description for it. I've been H-bombed.'' -- Philadelphia coach Ray Rhodes, on a 1-3 preseason that included one TD by the first-string offense.

Two-minute drill
Hopefully, there's some extra padding in Gus Frerotte's helmet Sunday in the Meadlowlands. The last time the Washington quarterback played the New York Giants, he head-butted the stadium wall after a TD run -- and was rushed to the hospital with a sprained neck. . . . Speaking of Redskins QBs, with Jeff Hostetler injured, Vianney High's Trent Green is their No. 2 quarterback. . . . Green Bay is replacing five starters from last season's Super Bowl team; the Rams are replacing five starters from last season's 5-11 team. . . . Safety LeRoy Butler is the sole survivor among the 57 players GM Ron Wolf inherited when he joined the Packers in 1991.

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