RAM NOTEBOOK : Punters Try to Get the Votes to Oust Incumbent Helton
IRVINE — Barry Helton came to the Rams’ training camp this summer as the team’s incumbent punter, only to find three other players competing for the sole spot at that position.
Not that competition is anything new to him.
“Hey, my rookie year at San Francisco (1988) we had seven punters in camp,” said Helton, who signed with the Rams in December after being released by the 49ers. “Other years, there would be only one other guy and myself.”
This season, Helton’s competition includes former University of Colorado teammate Tom Rouen, former Green Bay punter Don Bracken and free agent Steven Domingos.
The Rams will keep one punter and one kicker. Although Tony Zendejas is a lock at kicker, the punting job is open for the taking.
“We’re not married to any one of these guys yet,” special teams coach Howard Tippett said. “It’s completely unresolved right now.
“We won’t make a decision until we can see all of them in a game-type situation. We probably won’t make a decision until as late as the third (exhibition) game.”
Why the crowded training camp?
The Rams were last in the league in punting last season, with Dale Hatcher averaging 38.1 yards. He was released in early December, and the Rams signed Helton, who spent his first three seasons in the league with the 49ers.
Helton played in three games with the Rams, averaging a respectable 41.2 yards for 11 punts.
He returned to practice Thursday, sitting out the past three days after straining his right hip in practice Saturday. He punted 15 times during morning workouts, and declared himself fit.
“I’ve been kicking well lately,” he said. “It was early in camp, and I didn’t want to push it (with the hip). I feel OK now.”
Although Helton appears to be the favorite as the starter, Tippett wasn’t making any promises.
“Barry’s the incumbent, and you have to look hard at the guy who’s already here,” Tippett said. “Both Barry and Don have NFL experience, and Tommy has punted in the World League.”
A closer look at Helton’s competition:
--Domingos, who signed last spring, was impressive in mini-camp, Tippett said, and is very much in the thick of the race.
--Bracken, signed by the Rams last April, was Green Bay’s punter for six seasons until he was released before the start of the 1991 season. His career average is 39.7 yards.
--Rouen, who followed Helton as Colorado’s punter, earned All-World League honors last spring with the Ohio Glory, averaging 41.5 yards a punt. The Rams signed him just after the World League season ended.
“With a new staff, one of the hardest things is learning the personnel,” Tippett said. “I think we’ll have this sorted out. Right now, nobody has any more of an advantage than anyone else.”
Tippett said he has started at Square 1 with the special teams.
“We started out working on punt and field-goal protection,” he said. “We’ve been working on our rushing teams some lately, but the first part of camp we’re looking primarily at punt protection.”
Back to fullback: Because of a logjam at the tailback position, Robert Delpino has been practicing at both fullback and tailback.
The move has drawn mixed reaction from Delpino, who won the starting tailback job from Cleveland Gary last season, when Delpino gained a combined 1,305 yards rushing and receiving. He spent his first three seasons with the Rams at fullback.
“I want to play where I can contribute the most,” he said, “and that’s tailback.”
Delpino is battling Gary, David Lang, Joe Campbell, Derek Loville and the injured Marcus Dupree for the starting tailback job. Gary appears to be the favorite so far.
Position changes are nothing new to Delpino. He was a tight end at Dodge City (Kan.) Community College and a wide receiver one year at Missouri before moving to running back his senior year.
“Fullback is nothing new,” he said. “I’m going both ways now, and I don’t feel I have to prove anything.
“People have been criticizing me in the paper, saying I’m not an every-down back. They do that to me every year. They can keep doing that, because I’ll just keep proving them wrong.”
Delpino, a fifth-year veteran, is in the second year of a two-year contract that will reportedly pay him $325,000 this season. He held out of mini-camp and the start of training camp with hopes of renegotiating, but finally reported on Sunday.
“Reporting was bitter,” he said. “But it also was sweet. My goal is to be the No. 1 back, period. It doesn’t matter if it’s at fullback or tailback.”
Memory lane: Ram Coach Chuck Knox was asked to compare this year’s Ram team to the one he took over in 1973.
“The team I took over 19 years ago was more talented than this one,” he said.
The Rams were 6-7-1 in 1972 and improved to 12-2 the next year under Knox. He offered no predictions of a turnaround this season.
“That (1972) team won six games, and this one has won three last season and eight over the past two seasons,” he said.
Ram Notes
The Rams will scrimmage the Chargers at noon Saturday at UC San Diego and open the exhibition schedule Thursday at Seattle, against Coach Chuck Knox’s former team.
