Brush With the Law Paints Clear Picture for Charger Rookie

The Chargers are still trying to determine if he is sufficiently mobile and agile, but there’s no question about his being suitably hostile.

First-year guard Bill Searcey is 6-1, weighs 291 and can bench-press 560, which makes him the strongest man on the squad. He is given to adorning his massive pectorals with T-shirts that say “Kill a Commie for Mommie” and “Kill ‘em all and let God sort ‘em out.”

If he doesn’t make the team, he could always get a job tossing around luggage in TV commercials, or perhaps wrestling bears, as his college coach, Paul Bryant, once did.

His short-term goal, earning a job with the Chargers, is not totally incompatible with his larger goal, which he defined as leaving the aggression on the field.

It was his inability to marshal that aggression that almost got him a long jail sentence, or worse.

Searcey is just happy he lived to tell about his scrape with the law in a bar in Huntsville, Tex., last year.

Along with some teammates on the Houston Gamblers, he was out celebrating a night without curfew during training camp.

The beer, the cowboys and the athletes didn’t mix too well. One of Searcey’s companions became involved in a disagreement. Searcey tried to intervene, and eventually, so did the constables.

When the gendarmes were unable to reason with him, canine assistance was required.

“It was the dog that finally got me down,” Searcey said. “I knew I couldn’t talk him out of going to jail. I’m glad I wasn’t shot and killed.”

Sitting on a bench in a shady spot on the UC San Diego campus, Searcey seemed amicable enough. Straight forward, too. He didn’t waste any breath trying to convince a listener of his intention to become a monk should he fail as a pass blocker.

“I still like to have fun but that incident really changed me, embarrassed me, woke me up,” he said. “I realize now it could have been a lot more serious.”

Searcey said he was fined, and still has three months of probation to serve as a result of that night in Texas. On the brighter side, he only has a couple more weeks in limbo, wondering if he’s going to have regular employment with the Chargers.

The 27-year-old veteran of two United States Football League teams is one of 11 offensive linemen on the Charger roster. No more than eight will be retained.

Searcey’s aggression and strength are in his favor, but his pass blocking techniques are not the most advanced. His college team, Alabama, ran almost exclusively. His last USFL team, Houston, leaned heavily on rollout passes.

“I don’t think my height is any problem, since I’m just as tall as Ed White and Don Macek,” Searcey said. “But I’ll admit I need to improve my technique with my hands and feet.

“I’ve got no choice but to learn all I can and keep fighting because nothing is going to be handed to me. I can’t afford for any of the coaches to think I’m loafing.”

Searcey knows this is his last opportunity to extend his career. He had all but written off his future after being released by Houston following the 1984 season.

He had moved home to Savannah, Ga., and was working as a carpenter, framing houses, when it struck him there were other ways to earn a living.

“I didn’t see much future working construction,” he said. “All the time I was playing football, I just never realized what the rest of the world has to do for a living.”

Searcey talked by phone with a friend from his college days, Bill Elko, a Charger lineman who had played at LSU. Elko convinced him he had nothing to lose by trying out in San Diego.

It wasn’t a simple thing for Searcey to persuade the Charger coaches he was worth a look. After all, he wasn’t 21-years-old, fresh out of college. And he had that brush with the law to explain.

But Searcey placed calls to offensive line coach Dave Levy and chief scout Ron Nay, saying all he wanted was an hour to demonstrate his ability. Searcey flew to the West Coast at his own expense, and showed enough to be invited to mini-camp in May. He’s still here, and has been reimbursed for his expenses.

The unsettled state of the Charger offensive line has worked to his advantage. Veterans and newcomers alike are shifted from position to position almost daily, and Searcey’s talents as a center and guard have earned him consideration for a place on the roster.

He played most of the second half of last week’s exhibition opener against Cleveland, but isn’t certain how much time he will get this week against Dallas.

He reasons, with undeniable logic, that success against either Randy White or John Dutton would not hurt his chances.

Searcey wasn’t drafted by the National Football League when his college career at Alabama ended, and he wasn’t a superstar in the USFL.

He tends to view himself as a working stiff, a guy with a lunch pail and a well-developed taste for the night life.

Because of these tendencies, he never became a favorite of the late Paul (Bear) Bryant at Alabama, and that’s something he has always regretted.

“I wish we had been closer,” Searcey said. “But I just didn’t concentrate enough on football for Coach Bryant’s liking.”