Record Catches Joiner in Usual Subdued Mood : Charger Veteran Plays Down Becoming All-Time Leader in Receiving Yards

Eddie Robinson, the Grambling football coach, turned to one of his assistants Monday morning and said: “All players must watch ‘Monday Night Football’ tonight. Pass it on.”

So the assistant passed it on, and when Grambling alum Charlie Joiner caught his big pass in Seattle Monday night--setting the National Football League record for most career receiving yards--all the Grambling players jumped up and down.

Charlie Joiner did not.

As usual, Joiner--stone-faced, but not stone-handed--caught the pass, looked to see if he had the first down and began walking back to the huddle. Luckily, quarterback Dan Fouts moved the huddle out to where Joiner was, as a mass of Chargers got in Joiner’s face and celebrated.

Joiner smiled--only for a second--and began pointing to the sidelines. He was signaling for receiver Trumaine Johnson to replace him.

“I wanted to come out of the game and shake hands with all the defensive guys,” Joiner explained later. “I wanted the whole team to get involved in it. I didn’t want them to think this was an individual thing.”

Charlie Joiner is being a big bore about this record.

“Well, that’s just my nature,” he said.

Others were more hyper about it. Robinson, his college coach and friend, said Tuesday: “I had a hell of a thrill last night when he broke it. I was patting him on the back, too. To me, I caught it, too. And every other Grambling man had to feel like he caught it, too. That’s how we feel about things here. I was running that pattern with him.”

In El Paso, Tex., Don Maynard tried not to feel depressed. It was Maynard who held that record for 18 years until Monday night.

“Eighteen years wasn’t bad for an old country boy,” Maynard said.

Maynard, once a New York Jet, had been made famous by quarterback Joe Namath, who had an uncanny ability to read defenses and Maynard’s mind.

“I’d run two-part patterns,” Maynard said. “If you were open on the first part, Joe would hit you. If you weren’t, there’s a good chance Joe would get you on the second part. I broke patterns with a signal from him. Whenever Joe pumped the ball, that was an indication for me to go into the second phase of my route.”

Maynard remembers when he became the all-time leader in receiving yardage, surpassing Raymond Berry.

Nobody stopped the game.

“I saw when Charlie broke my record, a guy from Canton, Ohio was out there giving him recognition,” Maynard said. “Why, I never knew any of those Canton people existed when I played.

“But, listen, I got the record I wanted. I was the first man to gain 10,000 yards and also the first to gain 11,000. It’s kind of like Roger Bannister, when he broke the four-minute mile. A lot of people come along and do it, but they can’t take the record away from you. You were the first.”

Former Redskin receiver Charley Taylor watched Joiner break the record on TV Monday night, too. Taylor had caught more passes than any other NFL receiver until Joiner surpassed him last year.

“When the rule changes came on, Charlie was in his prime years,” Taylor said. “Before, you had to fight for the first 10 yards (off the line of scrimmage). Nowadays, they give it to you. It had to be a plus for him. Smaller guys came alive. . . . And what we have today in football is a lot of role players. Charlie’s not in for 60 minutes. He’s in and out, in and out. You can play longer that way.”

But Joiner knows how to avoid injuries. He’ll study the films, find out which defensive backs hit you hard when you cross over the middle and knows which shoulder they’ll hit you with.

“I just try to stay away from a guy’s strongest side,” he said. “Defenders tend to hit with their strongest shoulder. I try to catch the ball, do what I can with it and get down--without taking the lick.”

This is why he can still walk at 39.

On Monday night, he broke the record with a simple crossing pattern. He was the second or third option, but had studied films and knew where the Seattle defenders were going to be. He split the zone, caught the pass, knew he would be tackled directly from behind and avoided the big hit.

“Sooner or later, I know the record will be broken,” he said. “I’m just glad my name is up there now for one or two or three years. (Steve) Largent is having good years, and he’s very close to all the records. I give him two years to break this one.

“Sure, I think in years to come, this will mean a lot to me . . . . I just wish it was under different circumstances. I wish we’d won. But I’m also glad it was a pass that counted. It wasn’t just a token pass.”

When Joiner graduated from high school in Lake Charles, La., most major football schools were taking token blacks. But Robinson convinced Joiner to sign at Grambling, an all-black school.

Joiner supposedly ran a 4.3 second 40-yard dash at Grambling, but he really got by on his ability to run patterns. Defensive back Willie Brown of the Oakland Raiders would come down and work out at Grambling in the off-season, and he would tell Robinson, “If I can defend this kid Joiner, I can defend any receiver in my league.”

There was one memorable game in Joiner’s senior year. Grambling faced a fourth and 11 on its 25, and it trailed by two points. The quarterback, James Harris (who later played with the Rams) went to the sideline and wanted to go for the first down, but Ernie Ladd of the Kansas City Chiefs, who was a sideline visitor that day, started screaming at Robinson.

“Coach, you have to kick a field goal!” Ladd said. “That’s what they’d do in the pros!”

Robinson asked Harris: “What about a field goal?”

Harris: “We need a touchdown.”

Robinson: “But it’s fourth down, James.”

Harris: “Just let me throw to Charlie. That’s all we need to do. Just have everybody block and give me enough time to hit Charlie. All I want is enough time to let Charlie make his moves.”

Ladd: “No, coach!”

Robinson: “James, we may not get this opportunity again.”

Harris: “Charlie is going to catch it.”

And he did.

Grambling scored a touchdown, and Ladd said to Harris: “I don’t know whether to slap you or kiss you. I just didn’t know you had all that confidence in Charlie.”

Later, when Joiner was drafted by the Houston Oilers of the old American Football League, it was Robinson who negotiated his contract. Joiner told Robinson he didn’t give a damn how much money he got, just so he could buy his mom a new house.

Negotiations went slowly, until Robinson told Houston’s Bud Adams: “He needs this much money because he wants to buy his mom a house.”

Adams: “Are you kidding? We’ll sign him.”

Robinson says he needs to ring a bell in the players’ dorm to get them out of bed and to class on time. But he says Joiner never needed a bell.

“No, I didn’t,” Joiner said. “But I had a couple of roommates who wouldn’t go to class, and Coach Robinson would knock on the door every morning at 6 o’clock. He’d even wake us up Sundays to go to church.”

But when Joiner--or any other former star--returns to Grambling, he’s treated like a conquering hero. A whistle is blown to stop practice, the players retreat to the end zone and they all kneel on one knee. An offensive player stands up and tells Joiner how much fun it is to watch him play. A defensive player does the same. Joiner then gives them a speech about life.

And that’s why they all jumped for joy Monday night. One day last year, after one of Joiner’s speeches, a Grambling player promised Robinson: “I’m going to come back like Charlie one day and stop practice.”

Charger Notes

The Chargers, well aware of the Kingdome’s acoustics, didn’t dare call audibles at the line of scrimmage Monday night. “It (the noise) has an effect,” Coach Don Coryell said Tuesday. “Very often, we’ll call two plays (in the huddle) and check off to the one we like the best when we get to the line of scrimmage. But we couldn’t do any of that type of thing. No shotgun, no audibles. You just can’t hear. In the shotgun, the linemen just can’t hear (the quarterback). . . . Coryell, after examining game films, said running back Lionel James’ first fumble Monday appeared to be after his knees touched the ground. And he also said Buford McGee appeared to have crossed the goal line in the third quarter, though officials ruled no touchdown. Instant replays could have been used to reverse both calls, but were not. “Again, I’m in defense of the instant replay,” Coryell said. “It’s not going to catch all the mistakes, but even if it catches one or two a game, it justifies its purpose, I believe.” . . . Coryell said offensive tackle Sam Claphan (back) and linebacker Billy Ray Smith (ankle), both of whom missed the Seattle game, will be in the lineup Sunday against Denver. Also, running back Tim Spencer (knee), who came off the bench for some brief action Monday, can play regularly Sunday . . . As for the Broncos, defensive back Mark Haynes (thigh injury) likely will be activated for Sunday’s game.