Ironhead Blocking for Rams’ Phillips

ST. LOUIS — Published reports had Ram running back Lawrence Phillips troubled with a swollen knee this week, but he was cutting corners, shooting down hallways and pulling away from a request to interview him like Gale Sayers in his prime.

A year ago this month, his hometown paper made the same journey to St. Louis to chat with Phillips, who resides in Venice after an earlier prep career at Baldwin Park High, and the coach of

the team produced Philips, specifying that this man, on probation for assault, could be asked only football questions.

That was a conversation stopper, of course, but now that coach has been fired, this was a new year, and from everything coming out of this humid truck stop, Lawrence Phillips is a new man.

But after two public relations representatives for the team begged, scolded and stroked Mr. Phillips for several hours earlier this week, he went into hiding in areas off-limits to reporters.

A short time later, Ram running back Craig “Ironhead” Heyward presented himself on behalf of Phillips, and it says in the team’s media guide he grew up in New Jersey, so why talk to him?

“Here you got Lawrence coming into the game dealing with a lot of issues from college, and everybody is going to jump on that,” Heyward said. “People say the Rams shouldn’t have taken him, he’s a problem child, he gets in this trouble in L.A., and I don’t think at any point he thought of the media as his friend.”

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It was brought to Heyward’s attention that Phillips might have misunderstood--there was no invitation to spend time at the house with the wife and kids or take in a movie.

“You have to understand, when the media asks him for an interview, he’s going to say no,” Heyward said. “I would be comfortable if he didn’t speak to the media for a whole year. Over time, people will see if he gets better. The team psychologist is working with him and we see signs of progress, but there will be another off-season coming up and he’s got to be on his own and get through it without getting in trouble.

“You got to understand a lot of things he grew up with. People are so quick to jump to a conclusion on what they read.”

You mean all that stuff about him grabbing a man around the throat, dragging his girlfriend down a flight of stairs by her hair, getting arrested for drunk driving after speeding down a California highway on a flat tire, getting arrested again for cursing at police who came to his hotel to break up a loud party and serving 30 days in jail in April for probation violation?

“No one has taught him the value of a dollar, or how to respect a woman,” Heyward said. “No one taught me. I had to learn the hard way--they gave me a million dollars, but there is life out there with no manual.”

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This would probably be a good time to pause, and consider that comment for potential inclusion in Bartlett’s “Familiar Quotations.”

“OK,” Heyward said, “you got to fault some people he met along the way at Nebraska that catered to it and should have addressed it. And there are probably some people now that feed his ego and let him get away with some issues. . . .”

Like this one, which you are enabling him to do.

“He’s not an adult,” Heyward shot back. “You think a 22-year-old is an adult? I signed my first contract and I had to satisfy every childhood dream. I got the scooter, the BMW, the big gold chain with ‘Ironhead’ on it, all the women and I was married. I didn’t know the NFL was going to be like this; I was in paradise.”

Sober for four years now, he said. Heyward told Sports Illustrated two years ago, “I was all about getting drunk. I thought the bigger the belly, the stronger you are.”

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Reflecting now on his wild life, he said, “Of course, along with all that came regulations while I was playing for the Saints and I didn’t comply.

“They wanted me to see a guy who handled recovering alcoholics and I wanted to know what the hell that had to do with me. They were trying to get to me and I didn’t know it, much like people now are trying to get to Lawrence.

“But he has a right to decline anything. He doesn’t want to do an interview. I don’t care if [NFL Commissioner Paul] Tagliabue comes in here and tells him his contract says he has to give an interview--that’s his right to decline in a professional manner.”

Professional crooks go into hiding to avoid comment. Phillips is a football player and the Rams’ starting running back, and not to interject humor here, but if the Rams ever make a Super Bowl, the NFL will fine him severely for not making himself available. Just part of the job.

Although on the lam, Phillips was finally caught by chance in the Rams’ public relations office at week’s end. His answer to a request to talk after introductions drew a “Nah,” and when asked why he was taking this position, he began screaming, “Tony! Tony! Tony!” for one of the Rams’ PR assistants.

Apparently he’s never heard the expression, “Meet me in St. Louis.” When last seen, he was still yelling, “Tony! Tony! Tony!”

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Heyward, meanwhile, continues to provide defense.

“It’s totally different,” he said. “If you went out and raped somebody you wouldn’t have to head for cover [from the media], but just because he’s an athlete, let’s not put him on a pedestal. He’s something a little better than you, but he should be treated like a normal human being. It should be football, and football only with him, and his personal life should not be the public’s business. I’m quite sure you haven’t lived a righteous life, and there are things you wouldn’t want publicized.”

There was that time . . . never been arrested . . . never been imprisoned. . . .

“He’s been in jail--does that make him a bad person?” Heyward said. “I’ve been arrested, I’ve been locked up for a year and a half . . . been locked up for two years at one time. Does that make me a bad person? The way you categorize prison as a bad thing.”

It’s not exactly one’s idea of home away from home.

“If you don’t agree with me, that’s cool,” Heyward said. “Back in earlier times I would have beaten the [heck] out of you. But I’m not going to do that.”

Progress.

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“You have to understand my way of dealing with things was physically attacking it--that was the only way I knew how to reason,” Heyward said. “I got tired of the lawsuits and the billy clubs and I matured.

“I learned to deal with things myself, and that’s what I’ve been talking to Lawrence about. Eventually he has to come around, be a man, look someone in the eye and politely say he’s not going to do an interview rather than ducking and dodging.”

Come on, this is routine business every day in the NFL, and it’s all about asking questions, and there is no such thing as a tough question. The only thing that matters is the answer, and if Phillips proves human and demonstrates any kind of remorse, he’s probably on his way to even being a hero in some people’s eyes.

“Don’t you think there are readers out there saying, ‘Here’s a writer that has nothing to do, that is so dissatisfied with his own life that he’s going to chase after pitiful Lawrence?’ ” Heyward said. “That’s a conclusion a lot of people come to when they read about Lawrence, and don’t even know the background. You never even talked to him, and you’re still going to write an article about him? Who’s the bad person?

“He’s been living a normal life, he’s been a productive citizen, he’s been coming to work on time, he’s going to a psychologist. What more do you need? It’s like he needs to check in with ESPN, CNN, all the news stations, and say, ‘Do I meet with your approval?’ ”

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How do we know he’s been coming to work on time? A year ago, Ram President John Shaw had to sign weekly probation papers testifying to Phillips’ good behavior. The team’s coach and general manager reported to Shaw “every week that his behavior was exemplary,” but when the season was over, Shaw learned that Phillips had been fined thousands of dollars for being late or missing almost 30 team meetings.

How many things has Shaw yet to learn about Phillips?

“I can sit here and compare two people--the fat 340-pounder who damn near was out of the league, who was on his way to wasting it all like Charles White and Sammie Smith,” Heyward said in speaking about himself. “What made me stop? My weight’s down to 265 pounds, I go to a team in Chicago where I’m appreciated, a lot of born-again Christians are there and everybody’s helping me.

“That’s where Lawrence is--in the middle of where I was headed and where I am right now. It can go either way.”

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Phillips, notorious for telling reporters he will be right back to answer questions, never to be seen again, has received the support of new Coach Dick Vermeil, although he continues to embarrass the team.

When local officials at the team’s training camp site in Macomb, Ill., had a dinner to honor the Rams, Phillips refused to sit with the local citizens, as did every other player. According to a published report, he then brushed off a high school student who approached him.

“There was this book I read in rehab,” Heyward said. It was, ‘Why Am I Ashamed To Let People Know Who I Am?’ It’s all about being afraid to let people know too much about you for fear they will discover it’s all bull and you can no longer get away with it. I think that’s a little bit of what’s going on with Lawrence.

“He’s still got that shield up, still wants to isolate himself from certain things. You know, I was a terrible alcoholic, abusive, yelling, cussing, spitting at women, and if you came into my circle, I attacked you. I had to become comfortable with who I am first, and until he starts feeling comfortable, I think that shield will remain up.”

Does that mean there will be no interview after Sunday’s game against New Orleans?

Of course there will be--if Phillips scores the winning touchdown.