By Ron Borges, Globe Staff, 2/3/2002

EW ORLEANS - You could excuse Kole Ayi if he had split allegiances today. The Patriots' rookie linebacker doesn't, but you certainly could understand it if he did, because he's in a most unusual position.

The former University of Massachusetts standout signed with New England as a free agent Nov. 15 and was active for two games, but he ended the season on the injured reserve list.

But the first six weeks of the season was a very different story.

Ayi was then a productive member of the St. Louis Rams' special teams, until they tried to slip him onto the practice squad for a week to make room for an additional running back, and the New York Giants claimed him. Because of that, Ayi will be the beneficiary today of an odd quirk in the collective bargaining agreement. Although he will get whatever jewelry he earns in the Super Bowl from the Patriots, he'll be paid by the Rams.

''I think I should write a book about how to be on both teams in the Super Bowl and not play for either,'' said Ayi, laughing mightily.

Ayi lasted two games with the Giants before they tried to slip him onto their practice squad and he was reclaimed by St. Louis. Ayi's bag was going down the belt at the airport check-in when his cellphone rang and his agent informed him his plans had changed. The Patriots had claimed him, too, and because they had a worse record than St. Louis, he was now New England's property.

The Patriots were playing the Rams that night, and Ayi pulled a groin on the game's final kickoff, which meant he would end his season on the Patriots' injured reserve list and the Rams' pay sheet.

''There's a lot more to the NFL than what you see on television,'' said Ayi. ''That's the tip of the iceberg. I never knew they had a thing like a one-week contract. When I was with the Giants, we had four kickers on the active roster at the same time.''

According to the collective bargaining agreement, if a player is on a team's active roster for eight weeks, he gets a full share of its playoff earnings. If he is on seven or less, he gets a half-share. But if he switches teams and is not on the active roster when his new team reaches the playoffs, he is paid by his new team for the first two rounds but by his original team thereafter, unless he qualifies for both teams, in which case he gets the higher pay.

In Ayi's case, he earned a full share of the Patriots' playoff check for the divisional win over Oakland but received nothing from their share of the AFC Championship game pool. He received a half-share of the Rams' playoff pay for winning the NFC title and will earn a half-share of whatever they win today.

So if the Rams win, Ayi gets half the winner's share and a ring from the Patriots for winning the AFC title. If the Rams lose, he gets a Super Bowl champion's ring from the Patriots but half the loser's share from the Rams. This year, a full winner's share is $63,000; a loser's share is $34,500.

So what is he rooting for, his wallet or his jewelry box?

''Oh, come on!'' Ayi shouted. ''I'm rooting for my damn team. Who cares about a few thousand dollars when you can have a Super Bowl ring?''

Frankly, a lot of people. As one NFL agent said when told of Ayi's story, ''Tell him I've seen a lot of Super Bowl rings for sale on eBay, and they go for a lot less than half the winner's share of the Super Bowl.''

Perhaps, but Ayi doesn't care about that. He's 23, single, and newly educated about the business side of pro football, an education that began when he learned hours after the spring draft that he had not been selected but that the Detroit Lions, his favorite team as a kid, wanted to sign him.

Unfortunately, before Ayi could get through to his agent, Detroit had given the contract to someone else. That's how he ended up in St. Louis, making the team as a rookie free agent - the only one to do so - even though the Rams had imported about half a defense in the draft.

''I was doing good on special teams but they wanted to put me on the practice squad for a week to make room for a running back,'' Ayi said. ''I was there for about an hour and a half when Coach [Mike] Martz came in and said the Giants had signed me to their 53-man roster. When you're a rookie free agent, you're the last man on the roster, I guess. So when they make a change, you're the one they move.''

That's what got him into one of the oddest situations in Super Bowl history.

''This is kind of fitting that it ended up so strange,'' said Ayi, who is the ultimate good luck charm. His teams are 15-2 with him on the roster. ''I kind of felt like a pinball all season.

''But money isn't everything. I'm in New Orleans. I'm in the Super Bowl. Guys like Roman Phifer and Bryan Cox played their whole careers and just got here. I got here my rookie season.''

He certainly did. With two teams.

Here's the ultimate proof that the NFL is a copycat league. After a story appeared in the Globe about fight trainer Teddy Atlas consulting with Rams special teams coach Bobby April twice a month on motivational tricks, Atlas got a call from the Browns. Now Cleveland coach Butch Davis wants Atlas to address his team at some point. If the Rams win today, Atlas may be giving the Gettysburg Address throughout the NFL next season rather than working as a boxing analyst on ESPN2 ... First-year Rams defensive coordinator Lovie Smith had an interesting way of explaining his approach this season. ''The first thing we talked about was how we were going to be different,'' Smith recalled. ''We are going to have 11 guys around the football every play. That is elementary. Most people don't want to hear that, but that is what we talked about. We showed them tapes and we started practice with a pursuit drill. We decided that we were going to play like a lot of colleges talk about playing.'' Defensive end Grant Wistrom remembered one thing about that first drill: ''All he did was yell. Lovie was not going to be satisfied. We knew right then things were going to be different.'' ... Smith had an insightful comment on the Patriots' alleged quarterback controversy, from a defensive coach's standpoint: ''We think they are basically the same type of quarterback. Both are pocket quarterbacks. It's not like you're going from Donovan McNabb or Michael Vick to one of them.'' ... As always, ticket scalping was in the news at the Super Bowl, and the New Orleans Times-Picayune had an excellent story on how NFL owners scalp tickets through travel agencies while making season ticket-holders sign pledges not to resell tickets procured in lotteries. Among the first to get into this ugly business was former Browns owner Art Modell, who in the early 1980s bought a half-interest in a travel agency so he could put together packages using the tickets he would get each year. That type of direct link to the resale business has been discouraged in recent years by the NFL, so now travel outfits pay teams a flat sum (often $500,000 or more) to handle all their travel arrangements for the Super Bowl. In exchange, those agencies get the team's Super Bowl tickets at face value and then resell them at inflated prices.

When the Chargers agreed to pay Marty Schottenheimer $10 million over the next four years to be their head coach, many were surprised because Schottenheimer stood to collect $7 million from Redskins owner Daniel Snyder, who fired him weeks earlier. But the Chargers were warned that if they tried to sign Schottenheimer below market value Snyder might sue or seek intervention from commissioner Paul Tagliabue. Schottenheimer now will earn $2.5 million a year in San Diego, with an extra season added to what would have been his contract in Washington. His replacement with the Redskins, Steve Spurrier, instantly became the league's highest-paid coach when he signed a five-year, $25 million deal ... Low men on the coaching totem pole are newly hired Minnesota coach Mike Tice, who will earn $600,000 next season, and New Orleans's Jim Haslett, who is entering the final year of a three-year, $2.55 million deal that will pay him $900,000 next season. Haslett is trying to get an extension, but the way the Saints collapsed the last four games may preclude that. In recent weeks, the team has been swept by rumors of internal chaos. Pro Bowl tackle Willie Roaf acknowledged taking a paternity test to be sure the baby his wife recently had was his and not one of his teammates'. Oh boy. In addition, rumors have swirled around wide receiver Albert Connell ever since he was arrested and charged with stealing money from rookie Deuce McAllister. Connell has claimed it was merely a prank being played on a rookie, but others have said there were more sinister motives. The NFL Players Association has yet to step in because Connell was arrested. NFLPA attorney Richard Berthelsen said, ''If the matter is resolved, then we'll act. It's always better for the criminal process to go first.'' Connell was suspended after the incident, which involved the theft of $4,363. It cost Connell $147,058 in lost wages and fines. Good investment ... Speaking of coaching salaries, Bill Belichick is 21st on the list at $1.55 million, but a contract extension is expected to increase that figure. He is still well behind the coach he beat to win the AFC championship, Pittsburgh's Bill Cowher. Cowher earns $3.4 million a year, fourth-highest in the league behind Spurrier, Mike Holmgren, and Mike Shanahan... Don't be too concerned about the possibility of Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weis joining new coach John Fox in Carolina. Weis was enough of a gambler to refuse a one-year contract extension last season, making him the only Patriot assistant free to roam after this game. But Weis knows he's in a better situation working with Belichick in New England than with the mess that exists in Carolina, and since his aim is to become a head coach, Weis will go where the stage is best for him to do that. If New England pays him right, he'll stay.

Terry Glenn filed suit in federal court against the Patriots and the NFL, claiming he was discriminated against because his problems with chronic depression were not taken into account when he was suspended. That led to this comment from teammate Terrell Buckley: ''He just needs a little love. We as athletes need support. We're under enough pressure as it is from the beginning from all different types of angles. It's tough for some guys. He's a great guy. You give him a lot of love and I think everything will be all right.'' That's good to know. It was also before Glenn called to ask for the 15 Super Bowl tickets he was entitled to as part of the team's roster for half the season. He'll also get a full share of the playoff money, even though his actions made it more difficult for New England to reach the playoffs ... There are many areas in which the Rams seem stronger than the Patriots, and not just on the field. At least one area is no contest. Belichick is a friend of Bon Jovi, who can sing a little. St. Louis general manager Charley Armey is friends with Bono, lead singer of U2, who can sing a lot ... New England fullback Marc Edwards, comparing his former coach, Steve Mariucci of the 49ers, with his current coach, Belichick: ''They are just polar opposites. Mariucci is a younger, real energetic coach. He's all fired up and all over the place. It's almost like he has ADD. He's like `bam, bam, bam' all over the place, where Belichick is more of an old school, grind-it-out coach.'' ... Edwards did not play for Belichick in Cleveland but he heard plenty about Belichick's tenure there, and not much of it was complimentary. ''I really can't repeat what I heard in Cleveland about him,'' he said. ''They are really upset about the Bernie Kosar thing. The people there hold a grudge. I don't know which team they hate more, the Baltimore Ravens because of Art Modell or the New England Patriots because of Bill Belichick. He had 70,000 people booing him in that stadium the week we played them.'' ... The Rams face the free agency of defensive end Leonard Little, middle linebacker London Fletcher, and wide receiver Az-Zahir Hakim. They will not be able to retain all three, but it is clear what they'll do. Little and Fletcher will be re-signed and Hakim will be looking for a job. St. Louis president of football operations Jay Zygmunt has the unenviable task of balancing the Rams' cap, something he has done deftly enough to ensure their competitiveness for several years. But he conceded that the inevitable is approaching. ''It gets everybody,'' Zygmunt said. ''That's just the reality. The system helped us get where we are today, and it will help remove us eventually. When things are going well for you, you better have a lot of respect because the cap humbles everybody. You can make some moves and push your bills out two or three years, but there is always a day of reckoning that comes.''

Material from personal interviews, wire service reports, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report.