Q & A WITH RICH SAUL:

NEWPORT BEACH — One of the toughest Rams of all time, Rich Saul, came to support the latest Mr. Irrelevant, David Vobora.

The Daily Pilot caught up with Saul, a Newport Beach resident, at the Lowsman Trophy Banquet and Rams Reunion at the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel and Spa Wednesday night.

Question: What do you think of this whole experience with Irrelevant Week and being back here?

Answer: It’s a great opportunity for Dave to be the Irrelevant guy. It’s big for sports, it’s good for Orange County for sports. It’s a good time to get together with some of the ball players, former ball players.

Q: How does it feel to be back here with your old teammates being able to reunite with them?

A: It’s always good because at the end of the day we played football but the real things that lasted was the camaraderie. A lot of these guys we laughed together, we cried together at different games, wins losses, we sweated, we bled and we hurt. It’s hard to describe. It’s camaraderie. You’re going out to do battle in those games. You have the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Dallas Cowboys and you go out to battle it’s nice to know somebody has your back. You’re going out in front of 80 million people, 100 million people are watching instant replays and there is a lot of pressure. It’s just like the military, being in a fox hole with guys, unless you’ve been there, the average person can’t really grasp that until you’ve been part of it.

Q: Do you keep in touch with any of your old teammates?

A: Oh yeah I keep in touch with Jack [Youngblood] … Dennis Harrah and Tom Mack. I get to see them once or twice a year and Lawrence McCutcheon, it’s always good to see him, ‘Double Clutch.’ Just all the guys, Jackie Slater, a real solid ball player. There is an unspoken camaraderie, a togetherness, we did battle together, and we were teammates, part of a team.

Q: What can Vobora bring to the Rams?

A: He has his work cut out for him. There is no All-Tokyo team after the NFL and these are the greatest guys in the world. There is nobody going to be out there with a red shirt and a white beard giving him anything, this will not be Christmas. I think he’ll learn it and I would encourage him not to get hurt being a rookie, he can’t get hurt and don’t make mistakes, mistakes will kill you. It’s all right to make a mistake but don’t make the same one twice. Try to be an example to young people. Just go out there and do your best and hopefully things will work out and he’ll make the team.

Q: I hear you have leukemia and you’re still fighting against that, how is that going for you?

A: It’s good. I’m in remission, I’ve had three different kinds of cancers, from colon cancer and leukemia ramped up, but I have good doctors and they keep an eye on me. I go in about every three months to get checked and watch things. It keeps your feet firmly planted on the ground, on solid ground not dangling in mid air. I’m not kidding myself. There is nobody getting out of here alive in these bodies.

God gives you today and I’m enjoying each day that he gives me. And it is fun to give back and I want to make sure I do that.

Q: You’re a motivational speaker, where do you go and what do you talk about?

A: I talk to different groups, different church groups about Christ, and what he has done in my life. And I’ll talk to the kids, like football teams. And I go and talk to different football teams up in Washington, they asked me to come and different things about trying to give back, tell them about some of the experiences that I’ve had and what I think is important in life.

Q: What do you think is important in life?

A: First of all, I think Christ. You need to have that, life’s tough. Life’s tough with Christ, life’s tough without Christ. With Christ, you have a purpose and hope. Without Christ, people don’t have Christ and life’s just tough. I don’t know how they do it. When you get a lump on your arm or your kid gets hit and you don’t know if he is going to make it or not, I don’t know how they do it without Christ.

And then I think family. Family is very, very important. I love my kids, my son graduated from Northwestern and my daughter from Norte Dame, they are both doing extremely well and I’m proud of them. My wife, she is a sweetheart and she works with me. We’ve been together 43 years, 39 married and dated four. I think that’s important and I don’t make excuses.

JESSICA IRIZARRY may be reached at (714) 966-4616.