Rams News

Flannery's start at center repays years of toil and trouble

Wednesday, September 9, 1998

By Jim Thomas
Of The Post-Dispatch

In 1991, John Flannery was the first center taken in the NFL draft, chosen midway through the second round (44th overall) by the Houston Oilers.

That was the year Seattle chose San Diego State quarterback Dan McGwire No. 16 overall. You may have heard of Dan's brother Mark, a baseball player of some repute.

It was the year the Los Angeles Rams selected Todd Lyght and Roman Phifer, who now pay taxes in Missouri, with their first two picks.

Charles McRae, Antone Davis, Pat Harlow, Stan Thomas, and Ed King were the five offensive linemen chosen ahead of Flannery. Only Harlow remains in the league.

As for Flannery, he has since survived two left knee reconstructions, a 15-month stint of unemployment, and worn the uniforms of three teams. And now, eight years removed from his last college game, Flannery finally can say he has started an NFL contest at center. With Mike Gruttadauria sidelined with a knee injury, the former Syracuse All-American started Sunday for the Rams against New Orleans.

Was it worth the wait?

"Oh yeah," Flannery said. "In '96, I was volunteering as a high school football coach at a private school in Houston."

Hoping someone would call. The Oilers had released him in August 1995. One month later, he underwent his second reconstructive knee surgery. (The first came two years earlier.)

"Rehabbing is a long, boring, monotonous process," Flannery said. "When I got through it the first time, I thought, `God, I hope I never have to go through that again.' "

He was going through it again - in 1995 and '96 - as a volunteer coach and unemployed player when the Dallas Cowboys phoned. "They resurrected my career," Flannery said.

Signed midway through the '96 season by Dallas, Flannery played briefly in the regular-season finale that year. In '97, he played in all 16 games for Dallas, including four starts at guard. But the Cowboys showed little interest in re-signing him as an unrestricted free agent.

He was more than happy to a sign a two-year, $1.175 million contract with the Rams in April.

"There weren't a whole lot of people calling," Flannery said. "There's not a whole lot of demand for an eight-year center-guard with two reconstructions."

So far, Flannery has made the most of his opportunity in St. Louis. He started the final two preseason games at center, and then the New Orleans game, after Gruttadauria underwent arthroscopic knee surgery. He is expected to start again Sunday against Minnesota.

The Saints game marked his 65th NFL contest, and his 32nd start. But in all of the previous starts, and most of those other games, he played guard. Flannery always considered himself an average guard, but a better center. For one reason or another, he almost always ended up playing guard.

"I guess it helps a little bit to be versatile," Flannery said. "But I think I'm most confident and most comfortable at center. That's no big secret. Every coach tells me it's obvious on film."

Flannery's long overdue start at center wasn't without its rough spots Sunday. For starters, it was Flannery's man, La'Roi Glover, who forced the first Jerald Moore fumble - the one that Joe Johnson returned for a Saints touchdown.

"That was just a breakdown in technique," Flannery said. "I didn't get my head across (Glover). It was not so much a mental error as a technique error that enabled him to get the penetration and beat the block. I felt bad about that. . . . But you learn from your mistakes."

Midway through the second quarter, injury was added to insult when Flannery ruptured a bursa sac in his left knee. "Another injury for my knee repertoire," he joked.

Flannery had the fluid drained from the knee in the locker room and was back in the game before halftime. "There's no pain or anything," he said. "It's just that the fluid builds up and limits my range of motion. That's the only concern, really. There's really nothing structurally wrong."

This week, he's keeping the knee iced and wrapped to keep the swelling down.
Anything to extend his streak of consecutive games started at center. To two.

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