Swilling Still a Saint, and Still Sacking : NFL: New Orleans matched Detroit's offer to keep All-Pro linebacker. Division opponents, such as Jim Everett, again must contend with him twice.

By JOHN WEYLER

Oct. 10, 1992 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Can you imagine the New Orleans Saints’ defense without Pat Swilling exploding off the right side as if he had been shot from a cannon?

Jim Everett can . . . but then he always wakes up.

For seven days in March, however, Everett woke up to the pleasant prospect that he really might be seeing much less of Swilling.

The Detroit Lions had presented an offer sheet to Swilling that would have made him one of the NFL’s highest-paid defensive players. And Swilling was already picturing himself in the Lions’ Honolulu blue and silver.

“I was trying to find a home there,” Swilling said. “I wasn’t sure how things were going to transpire, but I was hoping maybe there was going to be a change because I wasn’t sure whether the Saints would make the commitment to pay me that type of money.

“I felt like I was going into a great situation in Detroit and I still feel like I would have been in a great situation. I felt that because those guys were willing to make that commitment and that was important to me at this stage in my career.

“I was looking forward to the change.”

The Saints, who had seven days to match the offer, waited a week and then made Swilling one of the NFL’s highest-paid defensive players, matching the Lions’ three-year, $5.475-million offer.

Everett, who has been sacked by Swilling 11 times and counting--the Rams face the Saints in the Superdome on Sunday--since they both came into the league in 1986, probably uttered an obscenity under his breath. And Saint Coach Jim Mora probably smiled, which in itself is news.

“Was I nervous? More nervous than if they hadn’t made the offer,” Mora said. “(General Manager) Jim Finks called me on the phone the minute he got the offer sheet. Even though we took the whole week to respond to it, I don’t think there was really ever a time where we seriously considered letting Pat leave. Never a time.”

You can bet Mora, who doesn’t have to pay Swilling’s salary, did consider what life after Swilling might be like, though.

Since 1989, Swilling has recorded 50 1/2 sacks, the most in the league during that span. And his penchant for big plays, just ask Everett. Twice in the last two seasons, Swilling has single-handedly preserved Saint victories over the Rams by slamming the Ram quarterback into the turf.

Since signing the contract, Swilling has done everything he can to capture the hearts of Saints’ fans, both on and off the field. He likes to say he’s “happy as a lark” to be living in New Orleans, he’s active in a number of community charities and he’s already got six sacks.

“Everything worked out for the best for me and my family,” he said. “I’m still with the New Orleans Saints and glad to be here. They made a commitment to me and I think it has started things in the right direction. They’ve made commitments to other players and that’s what I wanted to see.”

This is not to say that Swilling is overjoyed with the Saints’ front office. Or, certainly, that Finks is especially fond of Swilling’s wont to say exactly what’s on his mind.

In July, Swilling rushed to the defense of teammate Rickey Jackson, saying the veteran linebacker wasn’t fairly compensated in line with his statistics. Finks responded by saying that Swilling “is as qualified to talk about the business of football as I am about brain surgery.”

Swilling says he no longer will waste any time bickering with Finks. He has his contract, his place in the community, and other priorities. And there’s always a new quarterback to harass each week.

The NFL’s labor system, currently crumbling at the feet of the owners, seems to have worked for Swilling, but he considers himself one of the fortunate few. The players’ recent victories in court have been uplifting, but Swilling says the labor playing field won’t be level until free agency becomes a reality.

“I’m really enjoying seeing (former Eagle, now Dolphin) Keith Jackson and those guys able to move around and render their services to different teams,” he said. “I’m glad to see this system is being torn down. Hopefully, by winning more lawsuits, it will enable us to have outright free agency.

“We deserve it because that’s the American way.”

If Swilling had been an outright free agent this spring, it sounds as if he would have ended up with the Lions.

“I think I would have been very successful there,” he said. “If I went there, they were definitely going to give me the opportunity to make plays. I think I would have been featured there. Here, I’m not featured.”

Not featured?

Don’t tell Everett and the Rams. Swilling is clearly featured in all the films of their games against the Saints. Well, maybe not clearly. It’s more like, “See that black-and-gold blur streaking through our backfield?”

The Rams always come into a game with the Saints with a very specific plan to control Swilling. The plan--and Everett--usually end up in a heap. Still, you’ve got to try.

“It’s like with Lawrence Taylor,” Everett said. “We always prepared for him in a certain way and if you don’t prepare for Pat Swilling in a certain way, you’re fooling yourself.”

Swilling also is a firm believer in preparation. He didn’t make it to the last three Pro Bowls on talent alone.

“You know, the thing about Pat,” Mora said, “is that he’s a very talented football player. But he also works hard in practice, prepares mentally during the week, gets himself ready to play on Sunday and he takes a lot of pride in his performance.

“You combine those assets with his kind of ability and you’ve got yourself a pretty good player.”

Swilling, who earned the NFL defensive player of the year honors last season when he led the league with 17 sacks, says he continues to go about his business the way he always has, sticking to a regimen for success developed long before he was a millionaire.

“Usually this time of year I’m playing pretty well, and right now I think I’m right on course to have another good year,” he said. “There’s nothing I do differently. In the off-season, I maintain my body, stay in great shape and do the things I know I have to do to be a real good football player.

“A lot of people worry about the money, but money is not the biggest motivation in my life. Money pays my bills, but I enjoy playing this game and I like being good at it.”

The Swilling factor is a key component in a defense that must be one of the league’s best if the Saints are to be a playoff contender. As Swilling says: “We basically carry this team. That’s no secret around here or anywhere else in the league.”

But he’s not alone out there on defense. The New Orleans linebacking corps is considered the best overall unit in the NFL, and an opponent that uses too many of its assets on Swilling will pay in other ways. The Saints already have 19 sacks this year. Jackson has 4 1/2 and defensive end Wayne Martin has four.

“This is not a one-man defense,” Swilling said. “We have a lot of great players. I’m having a pretty good year, though, and I think it’s going to get a lot better.

“But this year has been different because people have really paid a lot of attention to me, a lot of double teams, you name it, I’ve been getting it. Somehow, I’ve still been getting to the football. I’ve beaten some guys and gotten to the quarterback and I’m a little surprised.”

He’s the only one.