THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 17, 1996 TAG: 9610170546
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ASHBURN, VA. LENGTH: 109 lines
One, two, three. Plant, turn, catch. That's the rhythm Henry Ellard has used so well in 13-plus seasons as pro football's Fred Astaire.
One, two, three. Plant, turn, catch.
He did the dance eight times last Sunday, gaining 152 yards and scoring a touchdown in the Washington Redskins' 27-22 victory over the New England Patriots. And just when you thought it might be time for the 35-year-old Ellard to switch from rumba to waltz, for Ellard entered the game with just 11 catches, 210 yards and no touchdowns.
``With me, it's all about rhythm,'' Ellard said Wednesday at Redskin Park, where he began preparations for Sunday's game against the New York Giants. ``Once I get comfortable, I could close my eyes and run certain routes and wind up in the same place every time.
``I don't think Sunday's game was so much a matter of being in a `zone.' I've been there before and this didn't feel like that. This felt more like just having the opportunity to do make some plays.''
The game turned on two plays, both by Ellard. The first was a 40-yard catch-and-run to give Washington a crucial late first down. The second came a few snaps later, when his diving, fingertip catch for 15 yards put the Redskins in position for a game-sealing field goal.
``Henry's definitely an inspiration to me,'' fellow receiver Leslie Shepherd said. ``What he does in terms of preparation, how he does the job each Sunday. He's a great route-runner. No one will ever be able to run routes like him. It's great to watch him play.''
``He's the best route-runner ever,'' Redskins coach Norv Turner adds. ``No one's better at it.''
His big game Sunday gave Ellard 742 career catches, nine from replacing Hall of Famer Charlie Joiner in fifth place on the all-time receiving list. With 12,527 yards, Ellard trails the man he replaced in Washington, Art Monk, by just 196 yards for fourth place in that all-time category. Since joining the Redskins as a free agent in 1994, Ellard has 149 catches, 139 for first downs. Thus, the nickname ``Hank The Bank.''
``The first time I saw him, you knew Henry knew what he was doing,'' said quarterback Gus Frerotte, who admits he never saw Ellard play during his 11 seasons with the Los Angeles Rams. ``He didn't make mistakes. He was very exact in the way he ran his routes. And nothing's changed about Henry the last three years, except the color of his uniform.''
Ellard says the precision he exhibits on the field is merely an extension of the way he is at home.
``The clothes in my closet hang a certain way,'' he said. ``I try to arrange things like my sweatsuits and shoes in a certain order. I like order.''
When the Rams hired business-like Chuck Knox in 1992, Ellard was quoted as saying he liked Knox's highly regimented practices because ``everything's clockwork. . . . I think it helps teach us the discipline of being where we need to be at a certain time.''
Also in 1992, Ellard told the Los Angeles Times that he wanted to play four more years ``then just play it by ear from there.''
Following consecutive 1,000-yard seasons with the Redskins, he's already altered that plan a little. Instead of making a decision whether to retire at the end of this season, Ellard will honor the contract extension he signed two years ago and wait until the end of 1997.
``From then on, it's going to be year-by-year,'' he said. ``If I'm not having fun, and the body starts to show wear and tear, then it's time to walk.''
Make no mistake, Ellard is having fun. The Redskins are 5-1, first in the NFC East, and ``just starting to scratch the surface,'' he says. ``We get Michael Westbrook back and healthy and the sky's the limit because we've got a lot of young guys.''
And Ellard's body has baffled even him. It hasn't lost any of its quickness, his key ingredient for success. The bruised back he suffered against New England is his most serious injury in a couple of years, and that's mild. He knows conventional wisdom says that it's time to move on, make use of that degree in criminology or take a full-time plunge into the counseling work he's done with imprisoned juveniles in his native Fresno, Calif.
``But it's hard to say what stage of my career I'm in,'' Ellard said, laughing. ``When you say 35 and the NFL, you're saying, `That's old.' But I don't feel old. I don't know how I'm supposed to feel, but I don't think this is it.''
Ellard joined Turner, who briefly was his receivers coach with the Rams, because Turner asked him to teach the young receivers his offense.
``I built up all this knowledge in 14 years that I'm obligated to pass on; I can't keep it to myself,'' he said. ``People say what if someone learns so well that they take my job. I can't play forever. It would be a great compliment to have someone learn so well that they did it better than I did.''
He enjoys playing the role model. One reason he became involved with juveniles in Fresno is that he grew up in utter poverty in that city, the youngest of nine children, raised by his mother, a registered nurse who worked the night shift. He desired to tell them that if he could do it, they could, too.
``I want to sit down and talk to kids, not chase them down in the streets,'' he says. ``As long as I have the ability to touch someone, tell them something that may help change their life, that's what I want to do.
``I was lucky, I guess. I had a very strong mother. She stands just 5-feet, but we feared that woman. She kept us in line. I saw how she handled the other, older children and I told her, `Mom, you don't have anything to worry about with me.'
``That's what playing pro football was all about, taking advantage of my skills so that I could take care of her.''
He laughs when told he may be the most underappreciated receiver to someday make the Hall of Fame.
``I don't care about that,'' he answers, meaning fan adulation. ``I'm not one for a lot of attention. I'm the guy you have to look hard to find.''
At least until he finds his rhythm. Then he's almost impossible for defensive backs to miss - and cover. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by HUY NGUYEN, The Virginian-Pilot
``With me, it's all about rhythm,'' says Henry Ellard, who had eight
catches for 152 yards and a TD last Sunday. by CNB