Rams Profile: Offensive Tackle Irv Pankey -- Rams Appreciate Mr. Unknown -- Pankey Gets Little Notice

LOS ANGELES - Irv Pankey plays on the best offensive line in football. He plays on a line with three guys - Jackie Slater, Doug Smith and Tom Newberry - who have earned a collective 15 trips to the Pro Bowl.

Trying to get noticed on such a line is like trying to get noticed in a movie with Newman, Hoffman and Pacino. Irv who?

``It's kind of depressing,'' admitted the Los Angeles Rams' 6-5, 295-pound left tackle. ``This is my 10th year in the league and I still haven't gotten voted'' to a Pro Bowl appearance. ``I'm still waiting for my due. I don't know what else it takes.''

Pankey once again won't be going to the Pro Bowl this season. But he helped take his team one step closer to the Super Bowl with an outstanding performance against the Giants' Lawrence Taylor in the Rams'dramatic 19-13 overtime win in the NFC semifinals last Sunday.

Taylor, healthy again after being slowed in the latter half of the season by a broken bone in his ankle, had two early sacks against the Rams, but was effectively kept away from quarterback Jim Everett for the better part of last three quarters as Everett completed 25 of 44 passes for 315 yards and two touchdowns, including a game-winning 30-yarder 1:06 into overtime to Willie ``Flipper'' Anderson.

``What we did to stop Lawrence Taylor today is sitting right over there on that stool,'' said Slater, pointing to a smiling Pankey. ``Irv is a Pro Bowl-caliber player. He plays hard every down.

``He pitched a shutout against L.T. earlier this year (a 31-10 Rams win) and L.T. was determined not to let it happen again. He studied the film real well and made some adjustments against Irv. But Irv made the adjustments he had to make to have success against him.''

Early on, it looked as if Taylor was headed for one of his monster games. He killed a Rams scoring drive in the first quarter when he beat tight end Damone Johnson and knocked the ball loose from Everett on the New York 6-yard line.

On the Rams' next possession, Taylor sped past Pankey and nailed Everett for an 8-yard loss, a play that effectively killed another drive. But except for an occasional near-miss, that was the last Taylor was heard from for the rest of the afternoon.

``It was like a 15-round fight,'' Rams Coach John Robinson said. ``Taylor got in some punches. But Irv won most of the rounds.''

Even though he virtually played the final four regular-season games on one foot, Taylor still notched 15 sacks this season and was named to his ninth consecutive Pro Bowl. As a team, the Giants had 39 sacks. But they found the Rams' front five of Pankey, Slater, Newberry, Smith and right guard Duval Love as impenetrable as the Eagles had the week before.

``We've got a little tenacity to us,'' Pankey said. ``We pride ourselves on being able to get it done, whatever it takes. We have a confidence that we can go out and win the game when he have to.

``Me, Jackie and Smitty have been together 10 years now. Newberry's been with us four years. We know each other. We can handle any situation.''

Pankey proved he can hold his own against a man many regard as the greatest pass-rushing linebacker the game has ever known.

``We have a mutual respect for each other,'' Pankey said of Taylor. ``He was coming off the ball today. He had a good first half against me. He made some big plays. But I just kept working. Lawrence Taylor is a true champion.''