On this episode of Rams Iconic, Rams legend wide receiver Henry Ellard reflects on his career with the Rams. Ellard talks about playing alongside Eric Dickerson, his experience returning to the Rams as a coach, and the unique opportunity to compete at the Olympic Trials following his NFL career.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome to Rams Iconic, presented by eighteen hundred Tequila, the
best taste in tequila. Please drink responsibly. I'm DeMarco far
and this is the podcast where we get to catch
up with some of the greatest players in Rams franchise history.
Our next guest played eleven seasons with the Rams. Over
those eleven seasons, I love this. Five hundred and ninety
three catches nearly ten thousand yards. He's a three time
(00:28):
pro bowler. Only guys named Holt and Bruce have more
receptions and receiving yards in Rams franchise history. Please welcome
to Rams Iconic. The Pride of Fresno. Former Ram wide
receiver Henry Ellard. What is up? Man?
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Hey, Hey, I'm just enjoyed tech. It's a little hot,
but I'm enjoying it.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Well, you're hot. See look at you. You don't age.
You look the same as when you were a player.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
I'll tell you what thank got from my mother. She
passed the gens on to us and we've been carrying
that on.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Sure.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
That's great blood, right, I like it. Great gens. Yeah. So, uh,
this is crazy. So nineteen eighty three, you and Eric
Dickerson come to LA at the same time, right, What
was that like when you guys first landed in Los
Angeles as teammates.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
I'll tell you what you know in President you know,
because I mean I don't know a whole lot about
Eric at the time. Been it as SMU and me
been on Fresno. But then when I started to do
a little research, I was just like, I was like,
oh my god. It was a humbling experience.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
I'll tell you that much.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Well, coming to LA or being with Eric both both
see we're in the ad Era and the a the
Aaron Donald Ara is fun, but the ed Era must
have been Jerry Curle fun man.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Oh hey, we both came in with the Jerry carl
Sure did you had a curl too?
Speaker 1 (01:48):
I don't know you had a curl? No? No, no,
wait a minute.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Between me, Eric and Preston and are we had it covered?
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Oh my god. How much did you spend on Activator?
Speaker 3 (01:58):
A little bit? Yeah, a little bit. I had to
keep it, had to keep it moist, so.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Burn your eyes on game day. I know all about it.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
The funny part about that that you say that, yeah,
I was the punt returner. Of course in one game
I was out there warming up. Sure enough, I went
to catch up a punt, sure enough, don't think it dripped.
The drip the my eye and I had to put
a head ban on from that point on to make
sure that never happened again.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
See that white streak, I know what that is.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
You can't see.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
I know what that is. Speaking of return man, you
made the Pro Bowl in your second year as a
putt returner.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
I mean, yeah, it was a blessing. I mean.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
I did it in high school, did a little bit
in college, and I don't whole lot. But then once
I got to the NFL, when you have Perry Dickinson
in the backfield, you got to find a way to
get your hands on the ball because they wasn't going
to be throwing pass it since we was handing the
ball off so much. So, you know, talking to Gil Haskell,
to the special team coach, that's a coach. How can I,
you know, on a special team say okay, let's do
kick off return and do punt returns. And that's how
(02:57):
I got back into into the special especially the punt returning.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
So you went and asked them to return, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
I mean we talked about it. I mean, he know
and I have a history with it, so we kind
of talked about it.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Okay, And so this was my way to get on
the field because it was more of a ground and
pound type offense.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Yeah, I didn't mind blocking there, I tell you what.
He made my job easy, but to get my hands
on the ball. At that time, we was probably catching
thirty forty balls a year. Yeah, So I just wanted
to find other ways to get my hands on the
ball to help out.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
What makes a good punt returner because I think I'd
be a great putt returner because I'm easily startled.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
No no, I'm not a good thing. That's not a
good thing. No no, no, no. Oh the daredevil.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Growing up, Evil Cane was one of my idols as
a kid, So that was right up my alley, you know,
to take that chance of catching the ball and then
making people missing things like that. So and of course
when you got five older brothers, you get a lot
of practice at that up running.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
And getting chased by people. So yeah, it was a
natural fit for me.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
So punt returning was like you jumping over busting.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
I was jumping over ditches on the bike compared to
jumping over buses.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
On a motorcycle.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Wow, man, So I was gonna ask you that. So
as a putt returner, I mean, when the ball leaves
his foot, you you track the ball only, or do
you look down them the sea who's coming at me?
Speaker 2 (04:15):
I'll check the flight of the ball and the point
to tell me where the ball is going. Didn't mind
come back down and look at the outside guys and see.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
If they got free releases. That tells me the.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Time in that I have to catch the ball, and
of course the flight of the ball, I'm gonna have
time to catch it and get a chance to return it.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
So how do you know? Do you how do you
remember which way the return is going?
Speaker 3 (04:36):
But you know what set it up?
Speaker 2 (04:38):
We talk about it, you know, and sometime depending on
the flight of the ball, you know, you stay with
the cords with right, left, right, you know, left or
off the middle.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
It just all depends.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
So you're with the Rams. They're running the football and
they had to, like you said, it's smart because they
had Eric Dickerson and they had a great offensive line
in the great defense. And what ye what year did
you lead the league in receiving?
Speaker 2 (04:58):
That was eighty eight, eighty eighty eight eighty Yeah, eighty eight.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Was that year.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
Okay, did they just realize we got Henryello's receiver or
like what changed?
Speaker 2 (05:09):
The offense changed? We brought in Ernie Zampezzi from San Diego. Ah, okay,
and so funny because my first conversation with him, of course,
up until that point, I may had caught fifty balls
in one year. He came up kidding, Henry, you know
in this offense, you can catch seventy eighty balls. And
I looked at him, I think, coach, I know you're good,
but I don't know about all that.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
And sure enough I caught a six ball that first
year he was there.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
So I just he just liked to throw the football.
I mean that he just changed with the with the times,
the raw was changing.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
I mean, like I say, once we traded Eric away,
we were like, okay, where we go from here? And
then you know, we brought in Jim Everett coming in,
and then all of a sudden they just started to
court that Philip Anderson the air and cocks.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
So we had the weapon. We just had to put
him to use.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Big oak Tree quarterback and a bunch of receivers. Just
throw the football. I saw this and I told the guys,
this has to be a typo. So you against Indianapolis,
you had twelve catches for two hundred and thirty yards
and three touchdowns. Who were you playing, Joe Bagga Donuts.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
A funny part about that is that was Eric's first
game back in Anaheim Stadium, and I kind of felt bad,
to tell the truth. You know, he was coming in
making his debut against us. But yeah, just things just
clicked for us and we had fun.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
What did you feel bad about?
Speaker 3 (06:28):
It? Was? Eric? I mean, are coming back home? You know,
I have to being traded and things. You know.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
You know he had a decent game, that's for sure,
But I just I don't know. I just didn't want
to show all. I mean to show off in front
of my buddy.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
Wait a minute, now, come on now, come on now,
two hundred and thirty yards, come on, come on now.
That had to be on purpose.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
Yeah, I mean, I didn't play it. I just made
the play.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Wow. Wow, you know what, We've been doing the show
for a couple of years now, and this is funny.
This is the first guest. You're the first guest I've
ever had that actually played against when you were in Washington.
I played you three years ninety five, ninety six, and
ninety seven. Okay, yeah, yeah, I mean it's like, wow,
this dude has been playing that long that I actually
(07:12):
played with him, and now he's a RAMS icon. At
the same time, this is amazing. We've made history today.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Yeah, I'll tell you what. It was a blessing. It
really was.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
North Turner gave me an opportunity to continue my career
when the RAMS guy thought I was over the hill
at that point in time. So it was fun, especially
the last game of the year in ninety four when
I had a chance to come back to Anaheim statement.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
Play that last game in Anaheim State.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
That was that was I was out for that game.
I remember that. That was our goodbye to La. Yeah.
That was a trip.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
Yeah, day before Christmas.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
And and I tell you what, the script couldn't have
been written any better because my wife we stayed at
a home in California in La.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
So my wife flew home.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Early, took all our stuff, and I told Norma, I'll say,
look it, since we're going out there day before christ
I'm gonna just stay. And sure enough, after the game,
my wife drove to the stadium. I jumped in the
car and I drove.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
We drove home in an Orange County crazy.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Wow, you couldn't write a better script than that. Yeah. See,
we just missed each other twice. Do you know this?
So you left the Rams in ninety three. I came
in in ninety four.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Okay, yeah, yeah, So.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Your teammates were my teammates. Flipper Anderson was my vet. Yes,
a guy that you talked about this game was teaching
me about this game. So we got we had a
lot of the same teammates. And then when you came
back to coach in Saint Louis, I had just retired
and you got there in two thousand and one.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
Right exactly. Yeah, that's crazy. That's the small world.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Small world, and you you're coaching Isaac Bruce and Tory Holt,
the other guys that have as many catches and yards
in a RAMS uniform as you have. That's got to
be an honor and weird at the same time.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
That was a blessing.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Were the first NFL experience as a coach to walk
into a room and see an Isaac Bruth of Torrio,
the Wicki pro Oazac King. I couldn't add for an
easier job than that, because I mean they took a
lot of pride in what they did and they went
to work.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
See they told me. See Isaac Bruce, right, He's my
favorite teammate by far, one of the best players I've
ever seen in my life. Orlando paces up there, Marshall Fowk,
definitely Jackie Slater for his longevity. But Isaac Bruce was
special and he never broke character. I've only seen him
break character twice, once going into the Hall of Fame
when he saw his childhood idol, Dan Marino, Isaac turned
(09:31):
into a kid. The other time was with you when
Isaac said, I'm the other eighty and I'm like what
he refers to you as the eighty. That is a
big deal to be man.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
Yeah, and that's Isaac grew.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
That's Isaac Bruce and just fortunate to the part of
his life and get a chance to coach that young man.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
How do you help them? How do you help Hall
of Famers get better?
Speaker 3 (09:57):
I mean it's just all about the game.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Yeah, And it's neat in the room because it's like
a veteran player talking to the younger guy. We were
bouncing ideas off each other's head. Okay, what do you
see here? What would you do here? And this is
like this based on how these guys are playing us
and things like that. So it was neat to be
in a room with these guys and just talking. So
it's all like we're talking as a group of wide
(10:20):
receivers how we can get better doing the detail.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
That's really what it came down to.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
So it's like teammates, except you're not playing. That's the
only difference that's special. That's special. So I mean, going
back to the start, you're in a ground offense, running offense,
and then you take off in the late eighties and
you have a Hall of Fame caliber career. I mean,
do you still think about the Hall of Fame? You
(10:46):
coach a couple of guys, you know, a lot of
Hall of famers. I mean, you're of that same ilk.
Do you still think about the Hall of Fame?
Speaker 2 (10:52):
I know, I try not to, you know, and I
hate the time of the year when it comes around
because everybody start talking and bringing it up. You know,
was blessed to play the game not only a couple
of years, but sixteen years. So I have no complaints
if it happens, it's meant to happen, it not, you know,
like I say, I was blessed man.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
I mean, what do you find more rewarding playing or
coaching somebody? Like coaching somebody making them better.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
The coaching part was hard for me because I felt helpless.
I'm not out there being to control things. But of
course when you got guys I Guts and Ricky and
the other gig, they take care of it. Been, but
it was still hard for me the first year or
so to get used to that. You know, hoping they
you know, they trust what you tell them, and then
sure enough they carried it out from one step to
(11:42):
the next. But being on the field, as a player
you can control things, you know, as a coach you can't.
You got to rely on your guys to prepare and
hopefully do with the things you talked.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
About and pray they do it. Yeah, definitely, absolutely. Okay,
So every show we do on Ramsay Contic we do this.
You call it my favorite play? Do you have a
favorite play as a ram something you can remember? You
have to describe it, Tell me about it, who were
who was covering you? What happened?
Speaker 3 (12:08):
It was?
Speaker 2 (12:09):
As a punt returner against the New Orleans Saints in
New Orleans where we were fighting for a playoff spot
and we had to win that game.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
So sure enough, the guy kicks the ball off to
my left side.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
I kind of slid over, called it pushed up field,
moved a little bit to the left, and all of
a sudden there was a wall and I just went
through the wall. I ran the punter and ended up
scoring a touchdown. We ended up winning that game and
sure enough getting into the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
Wow wow, running through the wall, just running through the
smoke following the trail, Wow wowow. And something else I
didn't know. You were a triple jumper.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Yeah, I enjoyed track with another part of my kept
me in shaping the off season.
Speaker 3 (12:55):
I was a jumper, long jumper, high jumping, triple jumper.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
And almost made the went to the trials.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
I went to the trials, and that was something because
I think it was in ninety two when Magic Jonathan
and the basketball team they became. They gave us the eligibility.
And the perfect example is that Ron Brown came out
the same year I did eighty three. Yeah, Cleve was
drafted by Cleveland Brown. He decided to sit out because
of the eighty four Olympics because he was a professional athlete,
(13:22):
so they wouldn't let us compete back then. But football
was my first love. So I was like, I'm going
I'm going to the football and played the game. But
Ron set Out got the gold medal course at the
world record in the four bout one.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
I went on and played, and.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
So all then eligible up until ninety two when I
read about the Dream Team becoming eligible, and I said, okay,
you know what.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
I was going.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
In I think my tenth year in the league, I said,
I'm gonna train for football, but I'm gonna do a
little bit of track on the side, just to see
what happens, because I did a dream of mine to
be able to go to the Olympic trials.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
And sure, now if I qualified for Olympic trilds jumping four.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Feet after ten years in the NFL, after ten years
in the NFL, I'll just do a little track on
the side, and you go to the truck. Come on, Henry,
come on, man. Wow, See this is what reminds like Isaac.
Are you like you and Isaac are the same guy.
You guys are so humble, so humble, do you know
(14:21):
how special you are as a player. That's unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Yeah, I'm just blessed. Like I said, I was just blessed,
you know, to have that opportunity, and I was the
mama broying.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
I want to always please my mom.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
I heard that, man, Henry. This has been special.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Man.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Thank you for coming on the show. This has been great,
great to catch up with you.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
That's a wrap on this episode of RAMS Iconic presented
by eighteen hundred Tequila, the best taste in tequila. Please
drink responsibly. Hope you enjoyed our conversation with the Iconic
wide Receiver, Henry Ellard. I'm DeMarco Farr and we'll see
you next time. See him
Welcome to Rams Iconic, presented by eighteen hundred Tequila, the
best taste in tequila. Please drink responsibly. I'm DeMarco far
and this is the podcast where we get to catch
up with some of the greatest players in Rams franchise history.
Our next guest played eleven seasons with the Rams. Over
those eleven seasons, I love this. Five hundred and ninety
three catches nearly ten thousand yards. He's a three time
(00:28):
pro bowler. Only guys named Holt and Bruce have more
receptions and receiving yards in Rams franchise history. Please welcome
to Rams Iconic. The Pride of Fresno. Former Ram wide
receiver Henry Ellard. What is up? Man?
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Hey, Hey, I'm just enjoyed tech. It's a little hot,
but I'm enjoying it.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Well, you're hot. See look at you. You don't age.
You look the same as when you were a player.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
I'll tell you what thank got from my mother. She
passed the gens on to us and we've been carrying
that on.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Sure.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
That's great blood, right, I like it. Great gens. Yeah. So, uh,
this is crazy. So nineteen eighty three, you and Eric
Dickerson come to LA at the same time, right, What
was that like when you guys first landed in Los
Angeles as teammates.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
I'll tell you what you know in President you know,
because I mean I don't know a whole lot about
Eric at the time. Been it as SMU and me
been on Fresno. But then when I started to do
a little research, I was just like, I was like,
oh my god. It was a humbling experience.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
I'll tell you that much.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Well, coming to LA or being with Eric both both
see we're in the ad Era and the a the
Aaron Donald Ara is fun, but the ed Era must
have been Jerry Curle fun man.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Oh hey, we both came in with the Jerry carl
Sure did you had a curl too?
Speaker 1 (01:48):
I don't know you had a curl? No? No, no,
wait a minute.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Between me, Eric and Preston and are we had it covered?
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Oh my god. How much did you spend on Activator?
Speaker 3 (01:58):
A little bit? Yeah, a little bit. I had to
keep it, had to keep it moist, so.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Burn your eyes on game day. I know all about it.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
The funny part about that that you say that, yeah,
I was the punt returner. Of course in one game
I was out there warming up. Sure enough, I went
to catch up a punt, sure enough, don't think it dripped.
The drip the my eye and I had to put
a head ban on from that point on to make
sure that never happened again.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
See that white streak, I know what that is.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
You can't see.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
I know what that is. Speaking of return man, you
made the Pro Bowl in your second year as a
putt returner.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
I mean, yeah, it was a blessing. I mean.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
I did it in high school, did a little bit
in college, and I don't whole lot. But then once
I got to the NFL, when you have Perry Dickinson
in the backfield, you got to find a way to
get your hands on the ball because they wasn't going
to be throwing pass it since we was handing the
ball off so much. So, you know, talking to Gil Haskell,
to the special team coach, that's a coach. How can I,
you know, on a special team say okay, let's do
kick off return and do punt returns. And that's how
(02:57):
I got back into into the special especially the punt returning.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
So you went and asked them to return, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
I mean we talked about it. I mean, he know
and I have a history with it, so we kind
of talked about it.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Okay, And so this was my way to get on
the field because it was more of a ground and
pound type offense.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Yeah, I didn't mind blocking there, I tell you what.
He made my job easy, but to get my hands
on the ball. At that time, we was probably catching
thirty forty balls a year. Yeah, So I just wanted
to find other ways to get my hands on the
ball to help out.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
What makes a good punt returner because I think I'd
be a great putt returner because I'm easily startled.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
No no, I'm not a good thing. That's not a
good thing. No no, no, no. Oh the daredevil.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Growing up, Evil Cane was one of my idols as
a kid, So that was right up my alley, you know,
to take that chance of catching the ball and then
making people missing things like that. So and of course
when you got five older brothers, you get a lot
of practice at that up running.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
And getting chased by people. So yeah, it was a
natural fit for me.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
So punt returning was like you jumping over busting.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
I was jumping over ditches on the bike compared to
jumping over buses.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
On a motorcycle.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Wow, man, So I was gonna ask you that. So
as a putt returner, I mean, when the ball leaves
his foot, you you track the ball only, or do
you look down them the sea who's coming at me?
Speaker 2 (04:15):
I'll check the flight of the ball and the point
to tell me where the ball is going. Didn't mind
come back down and look at the outside guys and see.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
If they got free releases. That tells me the.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Time in that I have to catch the ball, and
of course the flight of the ball, I'm gonna have
time to catch it and get a chance to return it.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
So how do you know? Do you how do you
remember which way the return is going?
Speaker 3 (04:36):
But you know what set it up?
Speaker 2 (04:38):
We talk about it, you know, and sometime depending on
the flight of the ball, you know, you stay with
the cords with right, left, right, you know, left or
off the middle.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
It just all depends.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
So you're with the Rams. They're running the football and
they had to, like you said, it's smart because they
had Eric Dickerson and they had a great offensive line
in the great defense. And what ye what year did
you lead the league in receiving?
Speaker 2 (04:58):
That was eighty eight, eighty eighty eight eighty Yeah, eighty eight.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Was that year.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
Okay, did they just realize we got Henryello's receiver or
like what changed?
Speaker 2 (05:09):
The offense changed? We brought in Ernie Zampezzi from San Diego. Ah, okay,
and so funny because my first conversation with him, of course,
up until that point, I may had caught fifty balls
in one year. He came up kidding, Henry, you know
in this offense, you can catch seventy eighty balls. And
I looked at him, I think, coach, I know you're good,
but I don't know about all that.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
And sure enough I caught a six ball that first
year he was there.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
So I just he just liked to throw the football.
I mean that he just changed with the with the times,
the raw was changing.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
I mean, like I say, once we traded Eric away,
we were like, okay, where we go from here? And
then you know, we brought in Jim Everett coming in,
and then all of a sudden they just started to
court that Philip Anderson the air and cocks.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
So we had the weapon. We just had to put
him to use.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Big oak Tree quarterback and a bunch of receivers. Just
throw the football. I saw this and I told the guys,
this has to be a typo. So you against Indianapolis,
you had twelve catches for two hundred and thirty yards
and three touchdowns. Who were you playing, Joe Bagga Donuts.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
A funny part about that is that was Eric's first
game back in Anaheim Stadium, and I kind of felt bad,
to tell the truth. You know, he was coming in
making his debut against us. But yeah, just things just
clicked for us and we had fun.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
What did you feel bad about?
Speaker 3 (06:28):
It? Was? Eric? I mean, are coming back home? You know,
I have to being traded and things. You know.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
You know he had a decent game, that's for sure,
But I just I don't know. I just didn't want
to show all. I mean to show off in front
of my buddy.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
Wait a minute, now, come on now, come on now,
two hundred and thirty yards, come on, come on now.
That had to be on purpose.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
Yeah, I mean, I didn't play it. I just made
the play.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Wow. Wow, you know what, We've been doing the show
for a couple of years now, and this is funny.
This is the first guest. You're the first guest I've
ever had that actually played against when you were in Washington.
I played you three years ninety five, ninety six, and
ninety seven. Okay, yeah, yeah, I mean it's like, wow,
this dude has been playing that long that I actually
(07:12):
played with him, and now he's a RAMS icon. At
the same time, this is amazing. We've made history today.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Yeah, I'll tell you what. It was a blessing. It
really was.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
North Turner gave me an opportunity to continue my career
when the RAMS guy thought I was over the hill
at that point in time. So it was fun, especially
the last game of the year in ninety four when
I had a chance to come back to Anaheim statement.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
Play that last game in Anaheim State.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
That was that was I was out for that game.
I remember that. That was our goodbye to La. Yeah.
That was a trip.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
Yeah, day before Christmas.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
And and I tell you what, the script couldn't have
been written any better because my wife we stayed at
a home in California in La.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
So my wife flew home.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Early, took all our stuff, and I told Norma, I'll say,
look it, since we're going out there day before christ
I'm gonna just stay. And sure enough, after the game,
my wife drove to the stadium. I jumped in the
car and I drove.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
We drove home in an Orange County crazy.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Wow, you couldn't write a better script than that. Yeah. See,
we just missed each other twice. Do you know this?
So you left the Rams in ninety three. I came
in in ninety four.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Okay, yeah, yeah, So.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Your teammates were my teammates. Flipper Anderson was my vet. Yes,
a guy that you talked about this game was teaching
me about this game. So we got we had a
lot of the same teammates. And then when you came
back to coach in Saint Louis, I had just retired
and you got there in two thousand and one.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
Right exactly. Yeah, that's crazy. That's the small world.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Small world, and you you're coaching Isaac Bruce and Tory Holt,
the other guys that have as many catches and yards
in a RAMS uniform as you have. That's got to
be an honor and weird at the same time.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
That was a blessing.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Were the first NFL experience as a coach to walk
into a room and see an Isaac Bruth of Torrio,
the Wicki pro Oazac King. I couldn't add for an
easier job than that, because I mean they took a
lot of pride in what they did and they went
to work.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
See they told me. See Isaac Bruce, right, He's my
favorite teammate by far, one of the best players I've
ever seen in my life. Orlando paces up there, Marshall Fowk,
definitely Jackie Slater for his longevity. But Isaac Bruce was
special and he never broke character. I've only seen him
break character twice, once going into the Hall of Fame
when he saw his childhood idol, Dan Marino, Isaac turned
(09:31):
into a kid. The other time was with you when
Isaac said, I'm the other eighty and I'm like what
he refers to you as the eighty. That is a
big deal to be man.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
Yeah, and that's Isaac grew.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
That's Isaac Bruce and just fortunate to the part of
his life and get a chance to coach that young man.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
How do you help them? How do you help Hall
of Famers get better?
Speaker 3 (09:57):
I mean it's just all about the game.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Yeah, And it's neat in the room because it's like
a veteran player talking to the younger guy. We were
bouncing ideas off each other's head. Okay, what do you
see here? What would you do here? And this is
like this based on how these guys are playing us
and things like that. So it was neat to be
in a room with these guys and just talking. So
it's all like we're talking as a group of wide
(10:20):
receivers how we can get better doing the detail.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
That's really what it came down to.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
So it's like teammates, except you're not playing. That's the
only difference that's special. That's special. So I mean, going
back to the start, you're in a ground offense, running offense,
and then you take off in the late eighties and
you have a Hall of Fame caliber career. I mean,
do you still think about the Hall of Fame? You
(10:46):
coach a couple of guys, you know, a lot of
Hall of famers. I mean, you're of that same ilk.
Do you still think about the Hall of Fame?
Speaker 2 (10:52):
I know, I try not to, you know, and I
hate the time of the year when it comes around
because everybody start talking and bringing it up. You know,
was blessed to play the game not only a couple
of years, but sixteen years. So I have no complaints
if it happens, it's meant to happen, it not, you know,
like I say, I was blessed man.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
I mean, what do you find more rewarding playing or
coaching somebody? Like coaching somebody making them better.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
The coaching part was hard for me because I felt helpless.
I'm not out there being to control things. But of
course when you got guys I Guts and Ricky and
the other gig, they take care of it. Been, but
it was still hard for me the first year or
so to get used to that. You know, hoping they
you know, they trust what you tell them, and then
sure enough they carried it out from one step to
(11:42):
the next. But being on the field, as a player
you can control things, you know, as a coach you can't.
You got to rely on your guys to prepare and
hopefully do with the things you talked.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
About and pray they do it. Yeah, definitely, absolutely. Okay,
So every show we do on Ramsay Contic we do this.
You call it my favorite play? Do you have a
favorite play as a ram something you can remember? You
have to describe it, Tell me about it, who were
who was covering you? What happened?
Speaker 3 (12:08):
It was?
Speaker 2 (12:09):
As a punt returner against the New Orleans Saints in
New Orleans where we were fighting for a playoff spot
and we had to win that game.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
So sure enough, the guy kicks the ball off to
my left side.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
I kind of slid over, called it pushed up field,
moved a little bit to the left, and all of
a sudden there was a wall and I just went
through the wall. I ran the punter and ended up
scoring a touchdown. We ended up winning that game and
sure enough getting into the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
Wow wow, running through the wall, just running through the
smoke following the trail, Wow wowow. And something else I
didn't know. You were a triple jumper.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Yeah, I enjoyed track with another part of my kept
me in shaping the off season.
Speaker 3 (12:55):
I was a jumper, long jumper, high jumping, triple jumper.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
And almost made the went to the trials.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
I went to the trials, and that was something because
I think it was in ninety two when Magic Jonathan
and the basketball team they became. They gave us the eligibility.
And the perfect example is that Ron Brown came out
the same year I did eighty three. Yeah, Cleve was
drafted by Cleveland Brown. He decided to sit out because
of the eighty four Olympics because he was a professional athlete,
(13:22):
so they wouldn't let us compete back then. But football
was my first love. So I was like, I'm going
I'm going to the football and played the game. But
Ron set Out got the gold medal course at the
world record in the four bout one.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
I went on and played, and.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
So all then eligible up until ninety two when I
read about the Dream Team becoming eligible, and I said, okay,
you know what.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
I was going.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
In I think my tenth year in the league, I said,
I'm gonna train for football, but I'm gonna do a
little bit of track on the side, just to see
what happens, because I did a dream of mine to
be able to go to the Olympic trials.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
And sure, now if I qualified for Olympic trilds jumping four.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Feet after ten years in the NFL, after ten years
in the NFL, I'll just do a little track on
the side, and you go to the truck. Come on, Henry,
come on, man. Wow, See this is what reminds like Isaac.
Are you like you and Isaac are the same guy.
You guys are so humble, so humble, do you know
(14:21):
how special you are as a player. That's unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Yeah, I'm just blessed. Like I said, I was just blessed,
you know, to have that opportunity, and I was the
mama broying.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
I want to always please my mom.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
I heard that, man, Henry. This has been special.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Man.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Thank you for coming on the show. This has been great,
great to catch up with you.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
That's a wrap on this episode of RAMS Iconic presented
by eighteen hundred Tequila, the best taste in tequila. Please
drink responsibly. Hope you enjoyed our conversation with the Iconic
wide Receiver, Henry Ellard. I'm DeMarco Farr and we'll see
you next time. See him
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