European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 10, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Rams chiefs Drill and thrill 4-Power by Walt Morrissette staff writer Berlin a foggy football weather descended onto the los Angeles rams and the Kansas City chiefs thursday As if on Cue As preparations continued for the first Ever american bowl Here. Workers had not yet painted the Gridiron onto the turf nor erected the goalposts. But in shadows of the cavernous olympic stadium the teams worked out on four football held watched by enthusiastic american British French and German fans who were allowed into the Maifield stands for Allied forces Day. The service members talked to their favorite players posed with them for snapshots and got their autographs after the 90-minute workouts. There were drills drills and More drills with Behemoth linemen smacking into each other wide receivers running patterns and defensive backs practising coverage. Then the crunching Contact. The rams offence went against the chiefs defense with Curt Warner practising his slashing moves. Then it was the chiefs offence against the rams defense on the adjoining Field All under the watchful eyes of coaches who barked out Praise for a diving catch or corrected flawed execution. Some fans May have doubts about the value of exhibition games. But practice sessions like these in Berlin bring together great football minds and athletes who can Sec the game within the game. Dick Menbere and Bill Walsh the Abc broadcasters who will be calling saturdays game an to at 7 . Get roamed the sidelines. Enberg carried his color coded depth charts looking for player tendencies that will help the commentators give the fans More insight during their telecast. A i end up spending a lot of time with the players learning a lot of personal things and also finding out what Guys do better than other Guys a said Ahmad Rashad a former Minnesota wide receiver who is an analyst on no cd steam. A practice is where you get your insight. This is where it All Breaks Down to. Practice is where you find out who can play or who can to so there a a Way to watch practice. A Yea you break it Down a Rashad said. A you watch certain positions the Way Guys move. You watch How Quick they Are off the Ball. Those Are things you done to have a Chance to catch up with once a game bowl in Berlin los Angeles rams running Back Gaston Green lunges through Kansas City line during combined practice in Berlin. A you break it Down by position during the course of a practice. I watch Guys running routes i watch Guys doing linebacker drops i watch linemen coming off the Ball fast. I watch quarterbacks being Able to pick up reads and throw the Ball to the right so How do you watch a lineman what separates a pro bowl lineman from an average lineman a if you watch film you la know who a the pro bowl lineman. The pro bowl lineman runs Over even though these players Are Only practising once a Day instead of doing the two a Days in stateside Camps these players know what sat stake. A a a there a a misconception about preseason games a Rashad said. A a everybody a trying to get a Job. There is no easy Way to play football. You can to play it half up cd. So when you play you have to play All out. So the Chance of injury is always there. Football is a physical game. It has collisions and the collisions Are going at 100 Miles an hour. So you worry about injuries All the time. I done to think that Ever during a recent appearance on the Arsenio halt show in los Angeles Rashad accurately foretold that injuries would derail the comeback of 41-Ycar-old Lyle Alzado who missed the raiders 17-10 loss to the saints in London a american bowl saturday. A it Wasny to personal. 1 did t really mean that so much for Lyle Alzado. I meant that for anybody 43 years old. You Sec How big and fast these kids Are a you can to go out and play with these kids at 40-somcthing years old it just does no to happen. The game is just too Good too fast and too advanced to come Back at that age and try to play. Does Rashad miss the game a no. Playing no not at All. I spent my Lime j enjoyed myself while i played but i Don t want to play anymore. In a one of those 40-year-Olds who realizes he can never go Back and injury note a rams wide receiver Anthony Sargent will miss saturdays game because of a hamstring injury suffered in thursdays kicker Lansford a believes in his crafts by Rob Staggenborg staff writer Berlin a Mike Lansford kicks a football Lor the los Angeles rams for a living. The jobs not difficult a you Are spared for the most part from cartilage carnage. A Guy holds the Ball in place. You take five to seven Steps Back run up and Bam As unimpressive As the Job sounds it gets pretty risky at times. You Are tossed into a no win situation and must win to stay alive. Your Peers come and go like Liz Taylor a husbands. You Are cheered one minute then nearly Burnt at the stake a minute later. So Why Mike Lansford do you do it a it might be a fear of working out in the real world a said Lansford the nine year Veteran out of Washington. A i believe in my Craft i try to perfect it As much As Call 702 career Points picture perfect. Lansford a soccer style kicker holds the team record for individual Points. Toss in 143 Field goals going into his 10th season. His 120 total Points last season lopped ram scorers with the now , Raider Greg Bell a Distant second with 90 Points. All this from a Guy who a Only As Good As his last kick As kickers lend to say. The common perception of kickers among the Gritty linemen quarterbacks and receivers is that a kicker is Well different. Lansford denied that kicking is a crazy Job despite the fact that he kicks Bare footed even if the temperature tells him it May not be in the Best interests of his instep. A actually i think its a pretty smart thing. There a a lot More wild characters in the locker room than the kickers. It goes Back to the fact that the kicker does no to play a real Active part of the each year a new obstacle is placed before the incumbent. This year its David Caylor a 23-year-old, 193-Pounder from Cal state Long Beach. Longshot is not Strong enough. A i just Hope i can open a few eyes this preseason Quot he said crediting Lansford a longevity As an obstacle that could prove to be too Lough to overcome Caylor a presence in Camp adds a Little pressure on Lansford but underneath his dark Black Oakley sunglasses he a not worried. Pressure what pressure a Well i certainly Welcome pressure a Lansford made a kick Hack in s3, which put us in the play otly a. F rom that kick in be been Able to kind of build up an immunity to pressure situations. A a in be turned that nervousness into anxiousness. This team. J mean we Are rarely on the winning end or losing end of a big score so that s told me that in a always a Factor in the tide that binds by Walt Morrisse Ite staff writer Berlin a the teams practising this week for saturdays american bowl created an Alabama reunion Between linebackers Derrick Thomas of Kansas City and George Bethune of the los Angeles rams both class ot"89. Thomas and Bethune were roommates for four years starting with the 1985 season when Cornelius Bennett was continuing the Alabama tradition of Quad Werbuck Ter Rozma linebackers. Thev look Oon Osite Bama rookies reunited in Berlin paths from College rosters to the pros. Thomas is Alabama s All time leading Sacker who signed a multimillion Dollar contract As the chiefs no. 1 draft Choice in 1989. Bethune made the rams roster As a seventh round draft Choice. A Derrick got All the hype coming out of Alabama a Bethune said. A a you be got to go Back to �?T88.�?� a no you done to Thomas interrupted. A a you be got to go Back to �?T85. What people did no to realize a Thomas said a was that we started off together in 85 behind Cornelius As coach a Desien fun my a Hon Lemk he was going to bring us up through the system together a we played Strong and weak Side Linc Hatker our freshman and Sophomore years a Thomas said. A in our Junior year lie moved to a Bandit Alabama a term for Strong safety. Up until then we were getting the same Ink. But once he came Back to linebacker in our senior year it was like he was never except to the rams scouts of course. Both had respectable Rookie campaigns. Thomas led the a is with 10 sacks and stalled All Honfi Rama on Pooh 27
