A Man Of Heft Who's Also Deft

"I support the players in their basic position on the strike," says Rimington, "even though I guess their actions may wind up costing me some money. But I think they're right. It's absurd that a lot of first-or second-year average running backs are making more than linemen who've been in the league and starting for six or eight or 10 years."

If NFL management blanches at Rimington's economic theorizing, it can be heartened by the fact that at 22 Rimington is as mature emotionally as he is physically. He has been married to the former Lisa Shaw since July 1981. They live in an apartment in Lincoln and Lisa, who is a senior in marketing at Nebraska, works as a waitress.

Yet, for all his maturity and dedication, Rimington's personality is almost playful, like that of a year-old St. Bernard. His beefeater complexion turns redder still and he laughs easily as he recalls stories such as the one in which he plopped down so heavily on a water bed that Lisa was washed overboard by the resultant tsunami.

But Lisa certainly isn't alone in being carried away by something her husband has done. If he continues gouging great gaps in various defensive formations and keeping his quarterback's jersey clean the remaining four games this season, it will be a surprise if he fails to receive the same acclaim he got last year. His ability as a lineman is, after all, best described in one word—Outlandish.