Ramsdell takes pass on credit

By Jim McCabe, Globe Staff, 2/3/2002

EW ORLEANS - There is a front-row seat to one of pro football's greatest shows ever, and John Ramsdell could boast about his role in it, but he prefers to deflect praise and remain anonymous.

Just don't suggest that he and his coaching colleagues have an easy job.

''We have a high, high level of expectations, and it's tough to meet that all the time.'' said Ramsdell, the quarterbacks coach for the St. Louis Rams. ''So we have plenty of challenges.''

It has been an adventurous road for Ramsdell, a native of Lancaster, Pa., who chose to attend Springfield College partly because his father went there and partly because of the college's acclaimed physical education program.

''I wanted to play football,'' said Ramsdell, who became a two-year running back for coach Ted Dunn, ''but more than that, I knew I wanted to coach football.''

Dunn had a big influence on his career, said Ramsdell, but so did Vic Rowen and Rich Brooks. Rowen gave Ramsdell his first job, as wide receivers coach at San Francisco State in 1976, and after stops at Long Beach State and Pacific, it was off to Oregon to work under Brooks. For 12 years (1983-94), Ramsdell was the wide receivers coach for the Ducks, finally leaving in 1995 when he went with Brooks to St. Louis.

Ramsdell was tight ends coach his first two years with the Rams under Brooks, and he remained in that capacity in 1997 when Dick Vermeil took over. In 1998, Vermeil assigned Ramsdell to the quarterbacks job and he hasn't been moved out. Considering that the Rams have made it to the Super Bowl in two of the four years Ramsdell has been quarterbacks coach, you could say that he deserves some credit. But he's rather humble about it.

''There's a lot of tools to work with,'' said Ramsdell. ''We have the personnel, no bones about it. We have great players. We just try not to screw it up.''

Living up to the expectations is perhaps the toughest part of the job, said Ramsdell, but there's no doubt about the easiest aspect: Dealing with Kurt Warner.

''How he is portrayed in the media, all of that is accurate,'' said Ramsdell. ''He's all of that and more. He's an enjoyable guy to work with, a very focused guy.''

When Warner walked into camp in the summer of 1998, Ramsdell knew nothing about the kid other than he had been scouted while playing for Amsterdam in NFL Europe. The Rams had Tony Banks starting at quarterback, with Warner penciled in as third-string. Yet Ramsdell remembers, ''He had a burning desire to just have an opportunity to play. Get a chance, that was all he wanted.''

The chance arrived the next spring, but not until Trent Green - brought in to be the No. 1 quarterback - got hurt. The rest, as the saying goes, is history. Just don't try to rewrite it to say that Ramsdell had a lot to do with it, because he'll correct you.

''There's a whole lot of guys trying to take credit for that,'' Ramsdell said with a laugh. ''I was with the organization at the time, but I didn't have anything to do with [bringing in Warner].''