Friday, September 17, 1999

Heath's strange trip: West Hi to NFL

---

Bengals' surprise corner has seen it all in between

BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Rodney Heath will get his first NFL start against the Chargers. (Jeff Swinger photo) | ZOOM |

        Cinergy Field has always had the most notorious Astroturf in the NFL. But to Bengals rookie cornerback Rodney Heath, it's a red carpet welcoming him to the big time.

        “It looks great to me,” Heath said Thursday. “Compared to what I've played on? It's great.”

        A year removed from playing in something called the Indoor Football League, Heath makes his first NFL start Sunday at left cornerback against the San Diego Chargers. His improbable journey to the NFL began a fly pattern away at Western Hills High, but his story is the stuff of Hollywood.

        Last year, Heath's Minnesota Monsters played on turf that wouldn't stay stuck to the floor. So they had to use duct tape. Smoke hung above the field like fog. Once, the Monsters refused to play be cause there were no pads on the walls.

        “Then they put some billboards up there, a Budweiser sign,” Heath said.

        It was nuts. But then, so was the idea of Heath coming to the NFL out of there, which wasn't even the major indoor league. The 5-foot-7, 170-pound Heath's size sentenced him to the minor league of the Arena Football League despite productive seasons for the University of Minnesota in 1995 and 1996.

        Heath's ascent to starter says something about the Bengals' cornerback situation (Ashley Ambrose

        gone, top free agents going elsewhere, season-ending injuries to Charles Fisher and Ric Mathias).

        But it also says something of Heath, who almost stole the opener last Sunday in Tennessee, forcing a fumble from two-time Pro Bowler Yancey Thigpen and stepping in front of former No.1 pick Kevin Dyson for an interception.

        He could run and he could cover. The only question was if he could hit, and Heath has answered this past month by hitting backs from Jamal Anderson to Eddie George.

        Now Heath is staring at 245-pound Charger running back Natrone Means with a smile on his face.

        "The backs keep getting bigger,” Heath said. “That's another guy I've been watching my whole life: Natrone. That's what's cracked me up about it. Now I've got to go out here and stop these guys. I've seen it from the outside looking in. Now I'm in looking out and I feel like I can be one of those athletes or just as good as they are and tackle those big boys.”

        Bengals President Mike Brown says admiringly, “He shows no fear.” But it was Bengals secondary coach Ray Horton who showed no fear when he recommended signing the tiny indoor refugee after viewing videotape Heath sent him last year.

        “I sent it right to Ray. No scouts,” Heath said. “Ray stuck his neck out for me.”

        Horton called Jimmy Turner, Heath's secondary coach at Western Hills, for a scouting report. Turner had been Horton's roommmate at Bengals training camp in 1983, when the Bengals drafted Pac 10 cornerbacks 2-3 in Washington's Horton and UCLA's Turner, respectively.

        “He vouched for his character and for his intelligence,” Horton said. “You dream of finding somebody like that. You dream of drafting anybody like that. He works hard, he's athletic, has good hands, smart. Ideally you want him three inches taller and 20 pounds heavier, but you can't have everything.

        “He's not afraid, he's not in awe and he's not intimidated,” Horton said. “Those are three things cornerbacks need.” Which is why Horton is unfazed Heath may find himself Sunday covering 6-5, 240-pound Mikhael Ricks.

        “I don't expect problems,” Horton said.

       

---

Bengals Stories

Heath's strange trip: West Hi to NFL No sellout, no local TV BENGALS NOTEBOOK Chargers remade roster CHARGERS SCOUTING REPORT

CUBS 7, REDS 6
Sosa: Victory better than homer
Lindner knows Reds' success won't come easily
Box, runs
REDS NOTEBOOK
Scouting report: Reds at Pirates
How Reds, Astros, Mets finish
Chalmers to stay at XU
Elder-Highlands sells out Pit
Highlands QB filling big shoes
Beechwood, CovCath renew rivalry
Small Landmark Christian wins big
CINCINNATI FOOTBALL PICKS
N.KY. FOOTBALL PICKS
CINCINNATI HIGH SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTS
CINCINNATI HIGH SCHOOL RESULTS
N.KY. HIGH SCHOOL RESULTS
Miami announces basketball schedule
Channel 12 switches to Vols-Gators
Playing it safe is not for Bellisari