A Role Player’s Dream Season : Patriots: Former Charger and Ram tight end Sievers rebuilds his reputation by leading New England in receptions.

Eric Sievers was having an identity crisis.

He had spent the better part of eight seasons with the San Diego Chargers, building a reputation as a solid tight end, a good blocker and a less-than-spectacular receiver.

Shoulder and neck injuries had reduced his ability to slam into linebackers with the same kind of effectiveness, however, and the Chargers let him pass through waivers while attempting to bring him off the injured reserve list late last season.

The Rams claimed him off the waiver wire on Dec. 7, 1988, and Sievers played in one regular- season and one playoff game before becoming an unprotected Plan B free agent at the end of the season.

Sievers signed with New England March 31 and discovered he was one of six tight ends in the Patriots’ training camp.

Dick Steinberg, then New England’s director of player development, assured him that the tight end would be a primary receiver in the Patriot offense and he was very much a part of those plans.

Sievers wanted to believe it, but he couldn’t help being a bit skeptical. After all, he had caught only three passes in three years, and Patriot tight ends had combined for only 21 receptions in 1988.

“If you’re going to cut me,” Sievers told Steinberg, “let me know now and I’ll just retire.”

Sievers got the assurances he needed, and decided to wait and see. The Patriots kept their word.

Now, Eric Sievers, 32, who supposedly couldn’t block anymore and allegedly never could catch, leads the team in receptions. He has a career-high 51 catches for a career-high 583 yards going into Sunday’s game against the Rams at Foxboro, Mass. In his last four games, he has caught 35 passes for 312 yards, almost matching his best seasons, a pair of 41-reception, 438-yard efforts in 1984 and ’85.

“It has been a really fun year for me, even though we haven’t won that many games,” Sievers said. “I’m at least taking an active part in what we’re doing offensively. I’d rather be a guy playing on a team like the Patriots (instead of) on a winner and not getting onto the field.

“If I had stayed with the Rams, I was going to be the backup guy, or maybe the guy who was there to persuade (holdout) Damone Johnson to come into camp. I saw Plan B as a great opportunity. I took less pay here, but I’ve made it up in incentives.”

He also got a new identity out of the deal, going from washed-up run blocker to crunch-time receiver and team leader.

If he had changed his name, no one would have guessed the guy wearing No. 85 for New England was Eric Sievers.

“Eric has been a critical part of our offense all year long,” Patriot Coach Raymond Berry said. “He’s been consistent and made big plays all year long. And if he hadn’t, we’d be even worse off than we are (5-10).”

Three months ago, who would have believed that an NFL coach would be saying those kinds of things about Sievers?

“The last three years, I’ve been pretty much an inactive offensive player,” Sievers said. “Now, I’m pretty much the receiving end, the guy they send in on passing downs, which is quite a contrast to what I was in San Diego, where I was just a blocker and short-yardage receiver.

“It’s also quite a contrast from what the Rams had outlined for me. When I talked to (Ram offensive coordinator) Ernie Zampese before Plan B, he said, ‘If you get a better offer, take it because you’ll be our third guy.’ ”

It’s not as if Sievers hadn’t accepted such a role before, especially in his last three years at San Diego when he played in just 26 games and averaged one catch a season. But Plan B gave him a chance to go shopping. And then he got the surprise call from New England, a place where tight ends traditionally are nothing more than tackles with higher numbers.

“I was certainly a little skeptical when they called because I knew their tight end was really a blocker and I didn’t think they’d want an undersized (6-foot-4, 238-pound) tight end to be their blocker,” Sievers said. “Especially, when I knew they had an excellent blocker in Lin Dawson.

“But they said they planned on using the tight end in the passing game more, and I thought that was probably my strong suit now . . . even though I hadn’t been used that way much.”

Sievers isn’t quite sure why the Patriots decided he was the man for the job, but it has been a task he has relished. Injuries to a number of wide receivers and running backs who had been instrumental in the Patriots’ passing game have made Sievers the primary receiver in clutch situations.

“We had that plan before the season, to work the tight end in a lot more, so it was a timely arrival for Eric,” Berry said. “We’ve had a lot of injuries, but he’s been one consistency in the lineup. We’re set up to utilize the tight end more, and because he’s done so well, we’ve done more to try to get him the ball. He’s getting open and catching it.”

His growing reputation as a sure-handed receiver has been another bit of fulfilled fantasy for Sievers. He sounds as if he’s not sure it’s true.

“I stepped in as a role player, a guy who learned the routes and knew how to run them against different defenses,” he said, “but actually, I’ve even developed a knack for catching the ball here. I actually feel more confident catching the ball here than I did at any time of my career in San Diego.

“I don’t put myself in the same category of ability as Pete Holohan, but as far as confidence in myself to catch the ball (goes), I feel I can make any catch they need me to make.”

The struggling Patriots have needed every catch he has made. It’s not as if they haven’t been moving the ball. They’re just not getting into the end zone enough.

New England is averaging 338 yards a game and has 34 more first downs than its opponents, but the Patriots have been outscored by almost 100 points (367-277).

“Our problem all year long has been our inability to get the ball in the end zone from inside the 20,” Sievers said. “After every game, we’ve felt good about the effort. And we usually have led in time of possession, but that doesn’t always lead to victory. We’ve killed that theory.”

Part of the problem has been the lack of stability at quarterback. Four quarterbacks--Doug Flutie, Tony Eason, Marc Wilson and Steve Grogan--have been given a shot with the Patriots this season. They have combined for 16 touchdown passes and 24 interceptions.

The battle has been heated, more so in the press than on the field, pitting Grogan, the 15-year veteran who leads the club in virtually every career passing statistic, against Wilson, the former Raider, and Flutie, the 1984 Heisman Trophy winner who led New England through a 6-3 stretch late last season.

Eason now is with the Jets.

Sievers, although admitting that “this is the harshest media market I’ve ever seen,” said the quarterback controversy has not filtered through the team.

Meanwhile, Sievers has done nothing but make friends in the Boston area. He has more catches and more yards than either of the AFC’s Pro Bowl tight ends--Rodney Holman of Cincinnati and Ferrell Edmunds of Miami--but don’t even mention the Pro Bowl to him.

“Heck, I’m not even the starting tight end here,” he said, referring to the fact that Dawson starts. “I’ve always been a guy who fills a role, and that’s what made me feel so good about this year. I wouldn’t care if I had only caught 15 balls this year, at least I would know they were counting on me. That’s probably been the biggest boost to my confidence. I have the confidence I can still play football, and that was something I lost during the last couple of years.”

Ram Notes

The Rams placed safety Anthony Newman on injured reserve and activated running back Mel Farr Jr. from their developmental squad Friday. Newman fractured his left elbow last week. The Rams also signed linebacker Jerry Leggett of Cal State Fullerton to a developmental contract. . . . New England placed defensive end Kenneth Sims on injured reserve with a sprained right knee and activated defensive end Peter Shorts.