Rams’ Silent Star Is Keeping His Distance : Barry Redden Runs Through the Cardinals and Away From the Media
The official word out of the Rams’ locker room Thursday night was that Barry Redden, the star of his team’s 39-7 win over the St. Louis Cardinals, wasn’t talking.
So much for the theory that the “no comment” answer in sport is reserved for superstars who are tired of having notebooks and cameras waved in their faces.
Redden doesn’t fit that description. Not yet, anyway. He’s only a reserve running back who has never had trouble keeping his scrapbook in order.
Perhaps Redden isn’t talking because he knows that there would be no stopping him once he got started.
Everyone’s guessing he’s frustrated. If so, it’s difficult to blame him.
Against the Cardinals, Redden played only a half, but he carried the ball 12 times for 109 yards.
Last week against the Oilers, he carried 17 times for 94 yards.
But he knows he’ll return to the bench once Eric Dickerson returns from his holdout.
Redden, in his fourth year at a position that doesn’t promise a long career, probably is tired of hearing that he’s the best second-stringer in the league.
“He’s the type of person that doesn’t share everything with everybody,” Ram running back coach Bruce Snyder said. “The thing I look for is his practice habits or how attentive he is in team meetings. And he’s super. It would be out of character for him to say anything negative about Eric and the situation. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to play.”
But will Redden ever get the chance?
The theory behind writing biographies in football media guides is to look for the good in every player, even the 14th-round draft choice who’ll be looking for a new job in September.
Redden is no ordinary player, but the opening paragraph of his biographical sketch almost seems demeaning. “Many NFL people feel he is the finest reserve running back in the league.”
The key word here is “reserve.”
You can almost hear Redden saying, “Gee, thanks.”
Of course, Ram Coach John Robinson had nothing but great things to say about Redden Thursday.
“You can tell he’s a runner,” Robinson said. “He had that glint in his eye. I thought he attacked very well.”
But Redden can’t get a break. In the Rams’ final regular-season game against the 49ers last year, he gained 54 yards in just 5 carries for a 10.8 yards-per-carry average.
Redden was running wild on one drive late in the game, and the Rams figured he might need a breather. Ram coaches yelled from the sideline, “Barry, are you tired?” Well, Redden thought they were saying, “Barry, are you OK?”
Redden nodded yes and got pulled from the game.
This is Redden’s fourth season in the big leagues, and you can count his most memorable moments on one hand:
--He once had a 110-yard rushing game against Atlanta.
--He once led the NFC as a kick returner with a 23-yard average.
--He ran for 372 yards and scored two touchdowns in 1983.
Not many people know that Redden was the No. 3 rusher in the country in his senior year at Richmond. The guys ahead of him were Marcus Allen and Herschel Walker.
In Thursday night’s game, the Cardinals were playing without two starting defensive tackles, Mark Duda and David Galloway. Overall, four starting defenders were missing.
And wasn’t it Dickerson who ran for 208 yards against these same Cardinals last year?
Redden will never hear the end of it.
Still, Thursday night was a rare chance to see Redden run and run and run.
He broke the 100-yard mark with 9:12 left in the first half after a 27-yard gain.
A minute later, he was in the end zone after boring up the middle of the Cardinal defense.
In the Rams’ first scoring drive, which ended with Mike Lansford kicking a 27-yard field goal, Redden gained 57 yards in 5 carries.
“It’s a nice problem to have from a coaching standpoint and a team standpoint,” Snyder said of the running-back situation.
By the way, Redden is working on his master’s degree in statistics at Cal State Fullerton. That should make it easier for him to keep track of Eric Dickerson.
