A Charger in Demand : Despite His Performance, They All Want More of Gary Anderson

Like a protective mother who wants her child to eat heartily and grow stronger, Tim Spencer of the Chargers recently invited Gary Anderson to his home for dinner.

Spencer, a muscular 223-pound running back, wants to see Anderson, his rather lean 183-pound teammate, add about 10 pounds. Anderson would thus become more durable and faster, Spencer believes.

“My wife served up the works--pork chops, chicken, cabbage, corn bread and dessert,” Spencer said. “The boy can eat, but with his metabolism I don’t think Gary’s ever going to get any bigger.”

Only the expectations seem to get bigger.

It is part of Anderson’s fate that everyone--including close friends such as Spencer--seems to want more of him and from him: gain weight, catch more passes, return more kickoffs, learn more plays, drop fewer balls, get smarter, speak out more.

No matter what he does, it never seems enough.

“We all have such expectations of Gary,” Coach Al Saunders said. “We all tend to put him in a superhuman category. It’s not fair.”

Part of it is anatomy. “He’s got all the right neuromuscular connections,” said Dr. Lee Rice, the team physician.

Part of it is a flair for the spectacular. No one who saw it live or on the endless TV replays will forget Anderson’s play against the Miami Dolphins in the season opener, when he leaped five yards from the goal line, soared majestically and catapulted into the end zone.

Part of it is hype. Lester Hayes has called him the second coming of Gale Sayers. San Diego running back coach Hank Bauer agrees, saying, “Gary has something you can’t teach--the ability to make people miss. And after he’s by them, they can’t catch him.”

Anderson, in his second year with the Chargers after playing in the United States Football League, has been the team’s most productive offensive player this season.

He leads all backs in the National Football League with 75 receptions. He also leads the Chargers with 123 carries for 435 yards, 767 yards receiving, 24 punt returns and 20 kickoff returns.

And yet, it never seems enough. He always seems so close to breaking a long play that coaches, teammates and fans expect it to be routine. Saunders himself had predicted that Anderson would be the most exciting player in the National Football League this year.

“I don’t know if they expect me to jump over somebody on every play,” Anderson said. “I hope I’m not letting anybody down. I do as much as I can, as hard as I can. I give all I can give.”

Never mind that he can’t go 80 yards every time he touches the football. The critics pick on his tendency to muff some easy passes, his ineffectual blocking, the failure to gain more yards as a running back.

Certainly, there are flaws in his game. Anderson is the first to admit he has a tendency to drop some routine passes. In his haste to put a move on a would-be tackler, he takes his eyes off the ball.

There’s general agreement among coaches and teammates that it’s simply a lack of concentration that contributes to Anderson’s occasional stone hands. To make certain it wasn’t something physical, such as a visual problem, the Chargers recently had his eyes checked. No problem there.

Saunders refuses to criticize Anderson’s hands.

“He’s caught more passes than any back in football this year, hasn’t he?” Saunders said.

“Heck, even a guy like Todd Christensen of the Raiders will muff an easy throw sometimes. Pete Holohan has the softest hands among our receivers, but the ball ricochets off his hands every now and then, too.”

Anderson doesn’t dodge the issue.

“I just been thinking about running before I get the ball in my hands,” Anderson said. “I’m thinking, ‘This is six.’ ”

Tight end Kellen Winslow says he, too, has a tendency to drop easy passes. “You’re rarin’ to go before you get the ball,” he said. “It’s just a matter of patience and concentration.”

Winslow has watched Anderson’s career since his junior year of high school in Columbia, Mo. Winslow was enrolled at the University of Missouri when Anderson was growing up.

“Gary is such a great talent,” Winslow said. “He still has a way to go to reach all of his potential. It’s hard to say just when he will get there, but I think he is climbing steadily upward.”

Anderson is bound to improve with another training camp, according to Bauer, who says the most difficult thing for a back is learning to run pass routes and make adjustments. Anderson has neatly accomplished that feat in his first full year with the team.

Spencer, an admirer since their days in the USFL, says Anderson is football’s most elusive back.

“Gary, Trumaine (Johnson) and I hang together,” Spencer said. “We know each other pretty well. I can’t say I know Gary totally, but if I were Gary I’d have to feel good about all his accomplishments. I think he’s really just at the beginning of an illustrious career.”

Others have to do the bragging for Anderson, an exceptionally quiet, introverted man.

“There is no question in my mind that he wants to be a dominant player,” Bauer said. “He is really a confident guy, but he is just so unassuming, you don’t get that impression.

“There’s always been a knock on him because he’s so quiet. People have said he couldn’t learn a lot quickly. But we have found that’s an absolute falsehood. Gary is a bright guy. He doesn’t volunteer much information, but he’s a hell of a lot smarter than people think.”

Anderson may have monumental goals, but they remain private. He says his only goal this year was to play 16 games without serious injury.

Because of injuries to fellow running backs Lionel James, Buford McGee and Spencer, Anderson has been required to play nearly every role in the backfield. His slight build, along with the demands of running from scrimmage, have resulted in a succession of nagging injuries.

“I don’t think about the bumps and bruises in a game, but during the week they’re enough to notice,” said Anderson, who has a knee injury but is listed as probable for Sunday’s game against Seattle. “I have to hold back a little in practice.”

If the Chargers ever have the luxury of using Anderson exclusively in the open field, there would seem to be few limits on what he might accomplish.

“Everybody wants to do a little better” was all Anderson was willing to predict.

Somebody has to set a limit on the promise of a new, even better Gary Anderson.