ATLANTA _ The athleticism that attracted the Los Angeles Rams to tight end Gerald Everett was on full display throughout the season.
The second-year pro caught a pass from behind the line of scrimmage and powered his way across the goal line for a two-point conversion. He dived for a short touchdown reception, carried the ball on fly sweeps and jetted past a defensive back for a long touchdown catch, tiptoeing the final five yards along the sideline to stay in bounds.
But Everett's agility and body control were perhaps never more evident than after Greg Zuerlein kicked a game-winning field goal in the NFC championship game.
The 6-foot-3, 240-pound Everett dashed from the sideline, took about a dozen loping strides, and then hurdled over stunned and squatting New Orleans Saints linebacker A.J. Klein. Everett continued on his way to celebrate with teammates.
The victory sent the Rams to the Super Bowl in Atlanta, near Everett's hometown of Lithonia, Ga.
On Sunday, the Rams will play the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LIII at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Not surprisingly, Everett has been inundated with phone calls and texts from Atlanta area codes.
"It's been crazy, to say the least," Everett said after the Rams' final practice in Thousand Oaks, Calif. "Didn't expect that many people to contact me, but sure enough they did."
Everett's journey from Atlanta to the Rams and back to Atlanta for the Super Bowl included several high school and college transfers, a rookie season of acclimation, and a training camp shoulder injury that slowed his progress.
But he began hitting his stride about midseason and has become a key component for a team that dispatched the Dallas Cowboys and the Saints en route to the NFL's biggest stage.
Rams coach Sean McVay said Everett was developing into the player the Rams envisioned after he impressed them with his smarts and physical talent as a college senior.
"He's a great player," McVay said. "He's getting better and better, and he's only going to become more important to us as he gains that experience."
Everett, 24, said he played recreational-league football while growing up but he did not play the sport in high school until his senior year. Everett played basketball and participated in track and field for three years at Martin Luther King High in Lithonia before transferring to Columbia High in Decatur, Ga., where he starred for the football team.
"I was just trying to get a scholarship senior year, get one more shot," he said. "And that's literally how it was and looked up from there."
Everett made college stops at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas, Alabama-Birmingham and South Alabama, developing into a catch-and-run threat with pro potential. The Rams, without a first-round pick in the 2017 draft, selected Everett in the second round with the 44th pick.
Everett caught 16 passes for 244 yards and two touchdowns as a rookie, and had 33 receptions for 323 yards and three touchdowns this season.
In the NFC championship game, Everett caught two passes. The first helped set up a second-quarter field goal, the Rams' first points after falling behind 13-0. In the fourth quarter, he caught a midrange pass from quarterback Jared Goff in front of the Rams bench, and then raced diagonally for a 39-yard gain. The play set up a field goal that tied the score 20-20.
"We can exploit some different things with lesser athletes on him," Goff said.
Said McVay: "Very rarely can I think of any time I've seen the first player take him down in the open field."
Everett is looking forward to playing in the Super Bowl close to home. But he considers it a business trip.
"I feel like we worked really hard to get to this point, and we expected to be here and we're fortunate to have the opportunity," he said, "but we want to finish the story."
_ Gary Klein
