Green Is the No. 1 Choice With No Choice at All : Former Bruin Has to Wait on the Sideline Until Rams Find a Place for Him

A year ago, he was the big man on campus, strutting toward the big game on campus--a Heisman Trophy candidate himself. Had Gaston Green contracted measles last November, presses would have stopped, too. He was big news.

Today, he would be just another guy with measles.

Last year, the national press corps descended upon Green, hanging on precious syllables as it converged on the Gardena speed king. He was Gaston, as in Gas.

Today, Green moves freely to and from Rams Park in Anaheim, pausing only for occasional snippets.

Anonymity has its place, and its price.

“I can get a shower and get out of here a lot easier,” Green said, smiling.

Fame has been as fleeting as Gaston Green himself.

“It doesn’t bother me,” Green said of his spiral from the spotlight. “It might if I had an ego problem.”

What Green has here is a playing problem.

The Rams’ No. 1 draft choice, the warp-speed tailback who shifts into gears not found in mortal transmissions, has settled into an unfamiliar one--reverse.

The coaching staff, which earlier in the season had kept Green’s name on the tip of its tongue, rarely mentions him anymore--unless asked. No more promissory notes from the head coach of 10 to 15 carries a game. Not now, kid, can’t you see we’re in a playoff race?

So Green plays on, on scout teams and in meeting rooms. In the meantime, pundits circle the Rams’ draft room, wondering how the 14th pick in America has managed just 30 carries and 98 yards 11 games into the season.

Twice last season, Charles White had more than 30 carries in a game. At UCLA, Green had a string of 8 consecutive 100-yard rushing performances.

The tension mounts: Five games left and Green needs 6 feet for a 100-yard season. Will he get it? It’s not exactly a cinch.

For outsiders, the temptation to unleash the dreaded B-word, bust, is great and growing. Green jumps to his own defense.

“I don’t think it was a bad pick,” Green said. “I haven’t had the opportunity. If I was getting in the games and not getting any yards, or fumbling, then you could say it was a bad pick. I know people do say stuff like that. I’m accustomed to people saying things like that.”

Only one time has Green been allowed more than 5 carries in a game. That was against Atlanta on Oct. 9, and Green responded with 61 yards in 14 carries--a 4.4 average. Green got in when starter Greg Bell bruised a shoulder early in the third quarter.

The Rams swear they haven’t forgotten about Green. They just don’t know where to put him.

“He’s still the best back to come out this year,” insists Gil Haskell, who coaches the running backs. “It just so happens he hasn’t had the opportunity to play.”

Mainly because of the emergence of Bell. Remember, when the Rams took Green last April, Bell was still the great enigma, destined for parts unknown but certainly not the Rams’ starting backfield. Surprise, surprise.

White was the defending rushing champion, yes, but his drug problems left him a security risk, as indicated by his 30-day suspension earlier this season.

At the time, the Green pick didn’t seem far-fetched.

Haskell said Bell’s run for glory and redemption in training camp simply pushed the speed burner, Green, to the back burner.

“Greg’s done so well that he’s taking a lot of the plays,” Haskell said.

With White back after his suspension, Haskell said there aren’t enough plays to go around in practice, let alone games.

A nice problem, unless you’re Gaston Green.

“Not playing is the toughest part,” he said. “You can come out here and say, ‘What’s the use of practicing hard? I haven’t played all year long.’ But coaches can tell when you’re taking that attitude.”

Green is anything but a brooder. His attitude has been exemplary. He says he has never considered taking another course.

But one of the hardest things has been remaining in the town of past collegiate glories.

“People come up to me and ask me why I’m not in there,” he said. “They want me to explain what the problem is. I tell them when I came here, Charles White was the (NFL’s) leading rusher. Then Greg Bell started playing real well. I tell them that’s the way it is.”

Money helps ease the frustration.

“I can buy a lot more clothes,” said Green, who will earn about $1 million from the Rams this season.

Green recently bought the rings for his parents’ 25th wedding anniversary and is taking over the mortgage payments on their home. Life isn’t bad. Really.

Occasionally, though, Green gets blue.

“There have been some lonely times,” he confessed. “You have a lot of time to think about it. I go out with friends and try to get my mind off it. But you still have your mind on it when people come up and ask you about it.”

They say good things come to those who wait. Gaston Green is waiting.

Ram Notes

The San Diego Chargers put kicker Vince Abbott on injured reserve Thursday with a knee injury that will require arthroscopic surgery. To replace him, they signed free agent Steve Deline, who will kick against the Rams Sunday. . . . The Rams fell 18,243 tickets short of a sellout. . . . Ram linebacker Mel Owens (ankle) remains doubtful this week.