Ready on the Field When You Are, D.C. : Chiefs’ Cherry Hopes to Be Celluloid Hero With Starring Performance Against Rams

KANSAS CITY, Mo. —  If you’re planning on dropping by Deron Cherry’s house any night soon, don’t forget the popcorn.

The past few nights, smack dab in the comfort of his own living room, right next to the coffee table, Cherry was hosting a Los Angeles Rams film festival, running with no intermissions after dinner through midnight.

By day, Cherry might well be an All-Pro free safety for the Kansas City Chiefs. But by night, watch his upper lip curl as he turns to Rex Reed. When the sun goes down, he’s Lights, Camera and Action Cherry. Cue the boom man, Cherry baby.

The screening was film noir starring Dieter Brock and the Rams Offense.

So what’s your motivation, Deron?

“The Rams are a team that are on a roll,” Cherry says. “Man, 6-0.”

Cherry and the 3-3 Chiefs play host to the Rams Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium.

Cherry is getting ready in his own way. He needs his own space. Some players prepare for games by beating their heads against lockers or making voodoo dolls of the opposing quarterback.

But Cherry is an artiste. He’s approaching the Rams game the way Fellini would have.

First, there’s editing. Cherry has captured Rams quarterback Dieter Brock in his many moods. He has spliced edited clips of Brock throwing a football in certain situations. He can call up 10 straight plays of Brock tossing a post-pattern. Or he might cue up a short subject, like all the shots of Brock rolling out of the pocket.

“By the end of the week, I’m going to know Dieter Brock real well,” Cherry said. “Intimately.”

Cherry, if you haven’t guessed by now, is a film buff. Football films, mostly.

When reels of celluloid are reported missing in meeting rooms at Arrowhead Stadium, the coaching staff need only turn to Cherry.

“I get criticized sometimes because they wonder where all the film goes,” Cherry said. “Usually, I’m the last guy out of the meeting room. If there’s film left in that room, it’s gone. It’s in my bag. I usually go home with a minimum of four reels a night, sometimes five or six.

It’s the same story every week, whether it’s the Rams or the Dolphins.

Cherry usually gets home from the office at 6 and digs into his pre-film meal. He owns his own screen and projector. By 7:30, it’s time to pull the curtains.

Popcorn time? “That’s right,” Cherry said. “I sit in my recliner (watch out for the gum) and flick it on.”

Most weeknights, the show lasts until midnight. He does take an hour break on Friday night to watch “Miami Vice.”

On Tuesdays, his day off, Cherry watches film. He takes his projector on road trips. He tries to sneak in a reel or two the morning of the game.

No one, save Siskel and Ebert, puts in more theater time.

And not everyone needs to.

“Maybe I am overemphasizing this,” he said. “But any edge I can get, I’ll take.”

The film industry may have saved his career. Cherry (5-11, 190) certainly isn’t the fastest, quickest or biggest safety in the National Football League, but he’s one of the best. All you have to do is check his resume.

He’s been named to the Pro Bowl the past two seasons, which isn’t bad for someone who signed with the Chiefs as a free-agent punter.

Three weeks ago, Cherry tied an NFL record when he intercepted four passes against the Seattle Seahawks.

Again, he had only the industry to thank.

The week before, Deron mostly did a lot of cherry picking in a 31-0 loss to Dan Marino and the Miami Dolphins. The problem was that whenever Marino threw right, Cherry ran left. It was Marino’s eyes. Why didn’t he ever throw where he was looking?

The next week, Cherry hogged up all the film on Seawhawks quarterback Dave Krieg and vent to be alone with his projector.

“A lot of times, it pays off,” Cherry said of star-gazing. “Sometimes you can get a little edge. Sometimes you can be in a great position to make a play just by studying the game plan.”

Cherry studied Krieg’s eyes. He found out they didn’t always work like Marino’s.

Bingo. Four interceptions.

If Cherry doesn’t put in more hours than anyone else, there’s no way he makes it in the NFL. He’ll tell you that.

The Chiefs already had a pretty good punter in Bob Grupp when Cherry tried to tag on as a free agent in 1981.

Cherry, actually, had better credentials in the classroom. He was a straight-A student in high school and graduated from Rutgers with a degree in biology. He had two jobs lined up if football fell through.

Well, it almost did. Cherry was the Chiefs last cut in 1981, but the team re-signed him a couple of weeks later when some injuries opened up a spot on the roster.

Cherry spent the next two seasons as the team’s extra defensive back in passing situations. It was hardly stardom.

He got his big break before the 1983 season when Chiefs’ All-Pro safety Gary Barbaro decided to stay out of camp because of a contract dispute. Cherry stepped in and took his spot, temporarily, of course.

But Barbaro never came back, instead signing with the New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League.

Before Chiefs fans ever had the chance to boo Cherry for dare trying to impersonate a Barbaro, Cherry was leading the league in interceptions. He eventually finished third in the AFC with seven and ended the season in the Pro Bowl.

Last year, he proved it was no fluke when he made several all-pro teams and made his second trip to the Pro Bowl.

Alas, a star!

Cherry, of course, would like to thank the academy and all the wonderful people who made possible the creation of film as an art form.

Without it, life would be a B-movie.

With it, well, let’s roll the film . . .

“I’ll know a lot about the Rams by the end of the week. I look into every little detail. It can get so particular. You know, some linemen, when it’s a run, go down on all five fingers, but when it’s a pass, they’ll only have three fingers down. You can pick up a lot of things on film. You can go through it once, twice, even three times. Then, you can go through it the fourth time and pick up something else. It’s amazing. There’s never too much you can get out of film . . . “

Cut.

Coaching philosophies clash. See Rams Notebook, Page 13.

Rams-Chiefs comparative statistics, Page 13.