Bartkowski Wonders What the Fuss Is About Back in Atlanta

Ram quarterback Steve Bartkowski swore he wasn’t going to get into the whole vengeance angle this week.

Yes, he is going back home on Sunday to face his old teammates, the Atlanta Falcons.

But, really, he says, it’s no big deal.

And granted, he was leading the league in passing efficiency when, after 11 seasons, the Falcons released him last year with little explanation.

But Bartkowski says he harbors no ill feelings toward the Falcons, and all the proding and baiting in the world won’t change his opinion.

“I don’t have any bitter feelings,” Bartkowski said Wednesday. “But people keep saying ‘You’ve got to be bitter, the way they got rid of you and everything.’ Well, I’m sorry, but I’m not.”

The bitter feelings, it seems, are all coming from the other end in Atlanta, where a few Falcon offensive linemen have taken some old Bartkowski quotes and twisted them into bulletin board material.

Back in training camp, Bartkowski made references to how the Rams put more emphasis on pass protection than Atlanta, which translated back in Georgia as meaning “Bartkowski No Longer Has Bimbos for Blockers.”

The Falcons led the league in sacks allowed in 1985 with 69. There were many years in Atlanta when Bartkowski spent games with a prime view of the Georgia skyline.

After the Rams’ win over Indianapolis earlier this year, a game in which Bartkowski was neither sacked nor even touched by a defender, he mentioned that the game had a “different perspective from an upright position.”

Bartkowski said the comments weren’t meant as slams against his old teammates, but some interpreted the comments differently.

Falcon offensive tackle Brett Miller went on an Atlanta radio program last Monday and said he wished he could play defense against the Rams Sunday, which would give him a shot at nailing Bartkowski.

Guard Bill Fralic had this to say to an Atlanta writer Wednesday: “If he (Bartkowski) feels we didn’t put a premium on pass blocking here, well he must not think much of himself.”

Bartkowski, of course, said the whole issue is ridiculous.

“They were innocent comments,” he said. “Hey, I know I’m not the easiest guy in the world to protect. I don’t know what people make out of statements. They certainly weren’t meant to be derogatory in any stretch of the imagination.”

Bartkowski had five knee operations in 11 seasons in Atlanta, limiting his mobility greatly.

He came to the Rams as a free agent in the off-season and started the first four games here. Two weeks ago, he re-injured his right knee against Philadelphia and was forced to sit out last week’s game against Tampa Bay.

Bartkowski is expected to start Sunday against the Falcons, one of the league’s big surprises with a 4-1 record.

Bartkowski did his best to quell the rumblings that were coming out of Atlanta. In fact, he blamed many of the sacks on himself.

“I’d hate to pass block for me,” he said. “What a war that would be.”

But he didn’t deny that there were problems.

“In Atlanta, they just didn’t keep people off me,” Bartkowski said.

The Falcons released Bartkowski after five games last year and in his place started David Archer, one of the league’s better scrambling quarterbacks.

Quarterback Dieter Brock will receive the third in a series of epidural injections into his back today. The anti-inflammatory shot, largely a cortisone base, is designed to shrink the nerves surrounding the degenerative disc in Brock’s lower back. Brock, who has been on the injured reserve list since the beginning of the season recovering from a knee injury, has recently been plagued by his chronic back problem. Brock said the injections have helped ease the pain and that he will try to practice next week.

“I’m never totally going to be pain free,” Brock admitted Wednesday.

And what if it doesn’t work?

“I don’t know,” Brock said. “I’ve tried everything that’s been suggested. I’ll wait to see how this thing goes.”

Ram Notes Can you guess which congressman’s son and former Ram reserve quarterback is leading the NFC in passing efficiency? It’s Jeff Kemp, now starting and starring with the San Francisco 49ers. He ranks first in the NFC with a 97.9 rating, second in the NFL only to New England’s Tony Eason, who has a rating of 107.9. . . . Andre Waters, the Philadelphia Eagle safety who put the hit on Steve Bartkowski’s right knee two weeks ago, was ejected from Sunday’s game against Atlanta for taking a low shot at Falcon quarterback Dave Archer. . . . The Rams on Wednesday released linebacker Garrett Breeland, who has spent the season on injured reserve. . . . Ram Coach John Robinson spoke with holdout wide receiver Henry Ellard Monday, but had nothing new to report. . . . It has been suggested by some throughout the Ellard ordeal that Robinson has no real power in the negotiations or in the organization. Is it true? “I have no power when it comes to money, that’s true,” Robinson said. But if the Rams decided to trade Ellard before the NFL’s Oct. 14 deadline, Robinson said he would have something to do with it. . . . Ram linebacker Carl Ekern did not practice Wednesday because of the groin pull that has forced him out of the last two games. He’s still listed as questionable for Sunday’s game in Atlanta, though Robinson said Wednesday that he was “very hopeful that he’ll play.”