He Won’t Skate Through This Camp : Charger Mike Guendling Has Task of Rehabilitating Knee
A football player with a Northwestern background is going to hear more snickers than oohs, and Mike Guendling is no exception, until he starts recounting all the hockey goons he crushed against the Plexiglas or sent sprawling across the ice.
“My pals used to finesse people, like Bobby Orr, but I was always more of a bully,” said the Chargers’ second-year linebacker, who packs 240 pounds on a 6-foot 3-inch frame.
“I seemed to attract a lot of cheap shots from players on the other side who wanted to take out the big guy. I wound up getting a lot of stitches, and I can still feel all of ‘em, but they kept me stimulated. Besides, I was pretty good at settling the score with an elbow or a stick in the face.”
As it turns out, Guendling might have been better off sticking to hockey, which his mom encouraged him to play as a youngster because she thought it less violent than football.
Based on his experiences in the two sports, she was right. Guendling received a devastating knee injury last July shortly after reporting to training camp as a second-round draft choice who was viewed as a possible starter.
After three operations, all the hardware has been removed from his knee, and Guendling is nearly ready to resume his quest, which is to become the fastest linebacker who ever laced a pair of skates.
Until now, the highlight of his career was playing a round of golf with Wayne Gretzky at Singing Hills in El Cajon. But if he can keep his leg from again getting twisted like a paper clip, Guendling may score a few thrills at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.
The heart is willing if the joint is.
“The game of football is all in the heart,” said Guendling, who is working out once a day and hoping to take part in full-contact drills before the regular season opens in September.
“It’s easy to be a dreamer, but it isn’t so easy to be the best, which is what I desire. My first objective is just to get back on the field. Deep down I know that if I work hard enough, I can play in the NFL, and that would be best feeling I know.”
Guendling, who grew up in Arlington Heights, Ill., was a three-year starter at linebacker and also played two years of hockey at Northwestern, where he majored in engineering.
He has always considered himself an over-achiever, and recovering from his leg injury won’t be any exception.
He was hurt when he was accidentally pushed into a pileup by linebacker Linden King. The next day the Chargers instituted a rule that all linemen and linebackers must wear knee braces. Guendling believes his injury would have been much less severe if he had been equipped with such a device.
The recuperative period was stressful. Aside from the pain, there was an element of loneliness. He was part of a football team, but not to the extent that he really belonged like the 49 players who suited up each Sunday.
He showed up at the stadium each day for treatment and meetings. Beyond the camaraderie with teammates, his social life was limited because he lacked mobility and was in a new town.
Bible study helped, and so did the VCR he bought to watch movies and take his mind off the daily routine.
“I’m no goody two-shoes, but I’m an easy guy to please,” Guendling said. “I’m happy just taking a drive and watching the sunset, or drinking a beer with the guys.”
Another player in his situation might have looked at cocaine as a crutch, but not Guendling.
“I’ve never even thought of trying the stuff,” he said. “If a man wants to do it, I hope to God he’s sane enough to realize he may use it three or four times, and pretty soon he’s going to be living around it. That scares me.”
Guendling has made appearances in schools to educate youngsters on drugs.
He finds some of the questions difficult.
“Why do athletes use coke?” he said. “I usually try to explain that we’re in a job that’s limited to a little segment of time, but it’s a job that you can build on for your entire life. One day a player is here, the next day he’s gone.
“A guy can be a starter for six years then vanish from the face of the earth the next. Once you’re through, you’ve still got to feed your family. That pressure builds and builds inside some guys. This can be a cut-throat business. You can never feel safe about a job. And because of that, some guys develop a dependency on drugs.”
Guendling hasn’t even played a down in the National Football League, but his words ring true. The first thing he learned about pro football was to take nothing for granted.
He is sufficiently well along in his recuperation that he finds it hard to hold back in practice. The old juices start to flow, and he wants to deliver a blow. But the trainers won’t allow it yet.
“He’s running as well straight ahead as he did before the injury,” said Phil Tyne, the team’s strength coach. “He isn’t moving quite as well laterally or with the same degree of confidence, but we think it’s just a matter of time.
“It’s tough to say if he will be ready for the first game, but in another month he should be feeling very comfortable, and we’ll have to re-evaluate his condition.”
Even if he were 100% recovered, Guendling would by no means be guaranteed a starting job. The strength of the Charger defense is at linebacker, a position that includes King, Billy Ray Smith, Mike Green, Woody Lowe, Shane Nelson, Vince Osby and Derrie Nelson.
Before he was hurt, Guendling had made such a good impression, the defensive staff was making noises about his potential as a starter. That’s on hold, depending on how he looks when he starts swatting ballcarriers again.
“You have no friends on a football field,” said Guendling, sounding like a latter-day Sam Huff. “You have to play with reckless abandon. Go out and kill.
“Once you fulfill your responsibility, it’s back to everyday life. But you have to be on top of your job every day if you’re going to last in the NFL.”
Charger Notes The Chargers will maintain their pursuit of running back Gary Anderson of the Tampa Bay Bandits, even though the prospective owner of the team said he isn’t interested in selling or trading the rights to Anderson. Lee Scarfone, who heads a group that holds a 30-day option to buy the Bandits from John Bassett, said he would entertain a serious offer for Anderson. . . . The Chargers will scrimmage the Los Angeles Rams at 3 p.m. Friday at UC San Diego. . . . Coach Don Coryell pronounced Wednesday morning’s session a very good one, considering it was the fourth day of two-a-days, a time when lethargy is normally apparent. . . . One of the more vigorously contested areas involves kickers Rolf Benirschke, Maury Buford and rookie Ralf Mojsiejenko. Coryell dismissed the idea that one man can’t handle the responsibility for punts, kickoffs and field goals. “Emotional strain? The hell with that,” Coryell snorted. “I don’t believe in it.”