Playing in the middle of the tough NFL trenches, Rich Saul earned
many purple hearts for the Los Angeles Rams in the team's glory days of
the 1970s, never missing a game in 12 seasons.
But these days, Saul, the former All-Pro center who snapped to
quarterbacks Roman Gabriel and Vince Ferragamo, could use a few blocks
of his own in the game of life.
Saul, 51, was diagnosed with colon cancer and underwent surgery in
April. In May, he began an eight-month chemotherapy program following the removal of four lymph nodes. "Hey, it's the hand you're dealt and you just go out and do the best you can," he said. "Ain't none of us getting out of here alive."
the way for powerhouse running back John Riggins, the MVP of Super Bowl XVII.
Saul, who wore jersey No. 61, was selected by the Rams in the eighth round of the 1970 NFL draft and went on to play in six Pro Bowls from 1976 through '81.
Nolan Cromwell, Larry Brooks, LeRoy Irvin and Lawrence McCutcheon were some of Saul's teammates in the later years, while Pro Bowlers like Tom Mack, Merlin Olsen, Isiah Robertson and Charlie Cowan dotted the Rams' playing field in his earlier seasons.
"(In 1973) Carroll Rosenbloom was the owner and Chuck Knox was the head coach, and I'd played my rookie year under George Allen (in 1970)," Saul said. "In 1970, our defense had Richie Petibon, Jack Pardee, David Jones and Olsen.
That's what kind of team we had. I was running around trying to get guys' autographs. "I had the best of both worlds. My rookie year I played with all those guys, then when George Allen left, he took a lot of guys with him. So you had the old Rams and the new ones.
Those, as many fans like yourself feel, were the real Rams.
Those were the Rams people remember -- the glory years." A Corona del Mar resident and one of the few former Anaheim-based Rams who still live in Orange County, Saul is the latest member of the Daily Pilot Sports Hall of Fame, celebrating the millennium.
With Saul at center, the Rams dominated the NFC West, capturing seven straight division titles from 1973 to '79, capped by the Super Bowl season.
"We won our division but we had to go play Dallas at Dallas, then Tampa Bay at Tampa Bay, but then the Super Bowl was here," he said. "It was like we were on our home turf.
We had a tough regular season that year, finishing 9-7, so it was nip and tuck between us and New Orleans." Super Bowl XIV, played in front of 103,985 fans at Pasadena and a worldwide television audience, featured seven lead changes, with the Rams leading at halftime and at the end of the third quarter.
They even led with about 10 minutes to go in the game, but Pittsburgh came back and won its fourth Super Bowl of the decade. "It was not a one-sided game," Saul said. Saul, who has always made his family a top priority in his life, and his wife, Eileen, celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary on Flag Day, June 14. Their daughter, Jaime, graduated this year from Notre Dame, while their son, Josh, is a sophomore at Northwestern, where he's on a wrestling scholarship and studying biomedical engineering. "Josh needs to make a better mouse trap, and I've got a lot of buddies who need it. I've got a lot of candidates," said Saul, referring to his son's chosen field, in which many of Saul's former teammates could no doubt benefit with advanced medical engineering.
Jaime Saul has joined the working world in Chicago, not far from where her brother attends college. "I see both of our kids doing well," Saul said. "I speak to a lot of kids, and they haven't been as fortunate or something, but I think it's the parents not staying together. Once in awhile you have a kid who goes sideways, but that probably won't happen if you're really spending time with them, and really encouraging them." Saul, who is involved in numerous charities, including Orangewood and ChildHelp USA,
Oct. 4, he'll serve as celebrity chairman of the 10th annual Corporate Challenge Cup at Santa Ana Country Club, a golf tournament that benefits the American Cancer Society (Orange County Region).
"The only thing that matters, when you get right down to it and when you're faced with (afflictions such as colon cancer), is how many people did you really help out?" Saul said. "It's a blessing, though. It really is. Already there are people doing a lot of praying. It jolts you back to the Lord when that happens, and it's even that way for other people, because they think, 'Wow, this guy's in good shape.' Their prayer life has gotten better and they're going in and getting themselves checked (for cancer).
"For however long I'm here on earth, all that matters is, 'Did I make a difference in some peoples' lives?' I'm a poster child now. I'm gone from the sidelines, but I'm in a game now."
Saul, who played for the Rams from 1970 to 1981 and made All-NFC three times, was the team's captain in Super Bowl XIV and called the coin toss at midfield at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, where the Pittsburgh Steelers eventually won, 31-19, in a thriller not reflected by the final score.
"I loved playing with those guys, like Jack Youngblood, (Jack) Hacksaw Reynolds, Dave Elmendorf and Fred Dryer," said Saul, who grew up in Butler, Pa., and played college football at Michigan State, because the Spartans also gave his twin brother, Ron, a scholarship.
His older brother, Bill, played nine years in the NFL with the Colts, while Ron ended up playing six years as an offensive lineman and, eventually, becoming one of the "hogs" on the Washington Redskins, paving the way for powerhouse running back John Riggins, the MVP of Super Bowl XVII.
Saul, who wore jersey No. 61, was selected by the Rams in the eighth round of the 1970 NFL draft and went on to play in six Pro Bowls from 1976 through '81.
Nolan Cromwell, Larry Brooks, LeRoy Irvin and Lawrence McCutcheon were some of Saul's teammates in the later years, while Pro Bowlers like Tom Mack, Merlin Olsen, Isiah Robertson and Charlie Cowan dotted the Rams' playing field in his earlier seasons.
"(In 1973) Carroll Rosenbloom was the owner and Chuck Knox was the head coach, and I'd played my rookie year under George Allen (in 1970),"
Saul said. "In 1970, our defense had Richie Petibon, Jack Pardee, David Jones and Olsen. That's what kind of team we had. I was running around trying to get guys' autographs. "I had the best of both worlds.
My rookie year I played with all those guys, then when George Allen left, he took a lot of guys with him. So you had the old Rams and the new ones.
Those, as many fans like yourself feel, were the real Rams.
Those were the Rams people remember -- the glory years." A Corona del Mar resident and one of the few former Anaheim-based Rams who still live in Orange County, Saul is the latest member of the Daily Pilot Sports Hall of Fame, celebrating the millennium.
With Saul at center, the Rams dominated the NFC West, capturing seven straight division titles from 1973 to '79, capped by the Super Bowl season.
"We won our division but we had to go play Dallas at Dallas, then Tampa Bay at Tampa Bay, but then the Super Bowl was here," he said. "It was like we were on our home turf. We had a tough regular season that year, finishing 9-7, so it was nip and tuck between us and New Orleans."
Super Bowl XIV, played in front of 103,985 fans at Pasadena and a worldwide television audience, featured seven lead changes, with the Rams leading at halftime and at the end of the third quarter.
They even led with about 10 minutes to go in the game, but Pittsburgh came back and won its fourth Super Bowl of the decade. "It was not a one-sided game," Saul said.
Saul, who has always made his family a top priority in his life, and his wife, Eileen, celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary on Flag Day, June 14.
Their daughter, Jaime, graduated this year from Notre Dame, while their son, Josh, is a sophomore at Northwestern, where he's on a wrestling scholarship and studying biomedical engineering. "Josh needs to make a better mouse trap, and I've got a lot of buddies who need it.
I've got a lot of candidates," said Saul, referring to his son's chosen field, in which many of Saul's former teammates could no doubt benefit with advanced medical engineering.
Jaime Saul has joined the working world in Chicago, not far from where her brother attends college. "I see both of our kids doing well,"
Saul said. "I speak to a lot of kids, and they haven't been as fortunate or something, but I think it's the parents not staying together.
Once in awhile you have a kid who goes sideways, but that probably won't happen if you're really spending time with them, and really encouraging them."
I first met Rich Saul on television, like a lot of Southern California sports fans in the 1970s. I grew up loving the Los Angeles Rams and felt betrayed every December when they'd come up short against Dallas or Minnesota in the playoffs.
Then they made it to the Super Bowl following the 1979 season and all was right with the world, as guys like Vince Ferragamo, Jack Youngblood and Rich Saul carved a special place in our memory with a season for the ages, even though we didn't win it all. We finally got to the big game (losing to Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XIV at the Rose Bowl).
Fast-forward to the 1990s. I'm covering the new expansion Arena Football League team in Anaheim, and Saul is the director of football operations. There was warmth, passion and admiration for Saul as I listened to him and learned more about his character, which is the mind and heart, the most important fabric of any athlete.
As our relationship grew through the years, my respect and appreciation for my friend, the former All-Pro center, grew immeasurably as I continued to observe how he spoke and interacted with people, how he treated them, and the kindness and love he displayed with everyone with whom he came in contact. This man's heart is filled with love and joy, and I am blessed to know him. That, not football, is what's important in life.
Many years later, after I got married and had two children with my wife, Andrea, I called upon Rich Saul for a special favor, one that I didn't take lightly because it entailed the seriousness of cancer in my own family. Saul has battled the disease numerous times and gone through the wringer so often, I just couldn't imagine going through something like that. But there I was with my son, Julian, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and a few months later there was a fundraiser called "Jammin' for Julian," and Saul was the halftime guest speaker. He understands life's trenches, especially cancer.
Saul on that first day of spring 2009 at "Jammin' for Julian" was surrounded by children and music, a concert benefit with 27 different acts in which he waited patiently, about two hours, before his time as speaker commenced in the middle of the show. Here he was, a 6-foot-3, 250-pound professional football player, and he's sharing the pew with children and their instruments, and then speaking frankly to the halftime audience about life and cancer.
He was fantastic. Saul, even though he'd always hiked the football and never passed or ran with it, scored a touchdown on this day and won over the entire congregation.
But that's something Saul has been doing for a long time, wowing crowds with his wit and wisdom, speaking from the heart, while praising the Mother Teresas of the world, not the chest-thumping guys on the ESPN highlights who act like they've never before scored a touchdown. A longtime Newport Beach resident, Saul, 64, has been on the charity campaign for years, lending a hand whenever and wherever he's asked, which is frequent, while managing his business and family affairs.
As a retired NFL player, instead of a lot of golf trips to Hawaii and Scotland, Saul spent much of his time undergoing radiation and chemotherapy treatments. As a player, he made All-Pro in six of his 12 seasons, and never missed a game, earning purple hearts for the Los Angeles Rams in the glory days of the 1970s, snapping the pigskin to quarterbacks Ferragamo and Roman Gabriel.
His wife, Eileen, said that he came home Monday, April 2, for hospice care after a 10-day stay at Hoag Hospital. The leukemia he has battled since 2003 recently progressed to his brain. "The doctor said there was nothing more they could do," Eileen said. "He's waiting for the Lord to take him." Tributes can be written on www.caringbridge.org.
Richard Dunn can be reached at dunnwriter@yahoo.com.
Two great Ram veterans, Charlie Cowan and Joe Scibelli took the rookie Saul under their wings.
Just as Deacon Jones and Merlin Olsen did with Jack Youngblood.
Rich was dedicated to succeeding as a team player. He always thrived on tough,hard-hitting, aggressive football. Saul said "You have to feel dedication, determination, self-sacrifice and pride.
You have to love to compete daily, you have to want to rise to the occasion, and you have to do your best in the fourth quarter.
You run the last 110 yards faster than the first 110, even though you're dying. Wanting to win. Those kinds of feelings have to be part of you."
Rich played his entire career for the Rams.
During those 12 seasons he played several positions, all on the offensive line: guard, tackle and center. His versatility earned him the nickname "Supe," or "Super-sub" by the mid-1970s.
Rich was the Ram's rookie of the the year in 1970. Played guard and tackle.
In 1976 he was Rams outstanding offensive lineman.
Saul was named All-NFC by Pro- Football Weekly in 1979, all-NFL by AP in 1980, and all-NFC by UPI in 1980.
He served as offensive co-captain of the Rams 1979-1981, and was selected to six consecutive Pro Bowl teams from 1976 to 1981.
"You look back on your years in football, and you remember that you sweat, you bled, you laughed, you cried, you did it all.
Every week you were going into battle, counting on the next guy. It's something which you just have to experience."
Forget that I am a die-hard Ramfan and throw out the fact that Eileen and Rich Saul are two of the best human beings on this planet.
I have collected over 90 entire games from the 60's, 70's and 80's
I just focused on Rich Saul's every play.
Rich Saul's performance was Hall of Fame.
He was the anchor to one of the best offensive lines ever.
He did that year after year
With changing players on the left and right of him
Rich belongs in Canton
Rich went head to head with some of the greatest defensive tackles ever to play in the NFL.
Mean Joe Greene, Randy White and Alan Page.
Voters, don't take my word for it.
I will be glad to send you those games.
Better yet, go ask White, Page, and Greene should Rich Saul be in the Hall of Fame.
God bless you Rich