Is This Guy the World’s Biggest Cinderella? : Chuck Rogers, All 343 Pounds of Him, Has Everything--but Experience--to Play in NFL

The Chargers will do nearly anything to protect quarterback Dan Fouts, even if it means auditioning a former University of Dayton tuba player from Pittsburgh with more experience as a steam fitter than as a blocker.

They don’t know if he will make the team--the odds are significantly against him--but Chuck Rogers would become the biggest and probably the most unlikely player ever to appear in a Charger uniform.

At 6 feet 9 inches and 343 pounds, Rogers is too big to ignore, so the Chargers have assigned offensive line coach Ed White to try to mold him into a blocker. The most immediate problem is Rogers’ nearly total lack of experience.

He didn’t play a down in high school or college. A broken thumb in practice sidelined him one year in high school and a kidney injury stopped him another time, so he gave up football and joined the band. As a result, all he knows about football is what he picked up in semipro ball in Pittsburgh.

“Everybody would like to see a Cinderella story come true, but Chuck will be competing against people who have been playing a long time,” White said. “This will seem obvious, but the best thing going for him is his size and the way he carries himself. When he gets all that mass moving, he’s pretty darn impressive. I’d have to say he looks as quick as Washington’s Joe Jacoby (who is three inches shorter and about 40 pounds lighter).”

The choice of White to tutor Rogers is appropriate in several respects. He was an all-pro blocker for most of 17 years before retiring and joining the coaching staff last year. And the Chargers never would have found Rogers had it not been for White.

About a month ago, Dave Epperson, an acquaintance of White, was sitting in a Mission Valley saloon when a human eclipse walked in and blotted out the already dim light.

“My good fellow, you should go see my friend Ed White about a job,” Epperson said, or words to that effect.

When he sent Rogers to the Charger office, receptionist Stella Viets nearly bit a chunk out of her headset in her haste to summon John Hinek, an administrative assistant. After gawking at the enormous specimen for a microsecond, Hinek called in Ron Nay, the team’s head scout.

The Chargers were quick to offer Rogers a free agent contract, even though he was not listed in their extensive computer printout of prospects, projects, suspects and rejects.

When Nay and his colleagues examined Rogers on the practice field, they found a man who is able to put one foot in front of another with some consistency. He also proved capable of reciting name, rank and serial number without getting confused, which put him ahead of some of the job seekers who have wandered into San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

These things are hard to quantify, but Rogers would have to go down as one of the most inexperienced players in pro football annals. He has worked as a steam fitter, installing sterile equipment in hospitals, and as a bouncer at Pittsburgh nightspots, not to mention his years as a tuba player in the high school and college bands.

“This has got to be the most unusual thing that ever happened to me,” Nay said. “We travel all over the country looking for talent, and here this guy just walks in our door.”

When Rogers’ signing was reported here recently, Nay was quoted as saying, “This could set back scouting about 100 years.” The quote appeared in newspapers across the country.

The story is amusing, but it’s no joke to Rogers. He believes he can play in the NFL.

“I want to strike a blow for all the ordinary guys out there with a dream,” he said, smiling. “That makes my heart beat fast to think about.

“My role model is the guy in the ‘Rocky’ movie. I need to go catch a flick to get some more incentive. I want to be a role model for young kids, too.”

The Chargers have cautioned Rogers to tone down his public remarks, fearing that other players may resent such a completely untested athlete’s receiving so much publicity.

Rogers seems willing to oblige, not wanting to hurt his chances of sticking with the team.

But he is so happy to be here, and so naturally outgoing, he seems to have a hard time putting his tongue in neutral.

“I haven’t played the tuba in about two years, but I think I’ll have to practice in case they want me to play on TV,” he said.

Charger fans are going to have a hard time rooting against this guy.

“He’s got a chance to make it,” Nay said. “He has some body control, agility. He can bend his knees, he seems alert and has the capacity to learn. Now, can he put all those things together and be a football player?

“So far, we can’t say, but football is a big man’s game, and he is a very big man. We have to take the time to try to make him a player. We still don’t know much about his temperament or how tough he is, but we do he know has no bad habits to break. There’s nothing he has to unlearn.”

Actually, there is one little thing. When he worked as a bouncer, he always preferred to sweet-talk the obnoxious drunks rather than employ his superior mass. What the Chargers don’t need is a silver-tongued 345-pound wimp trying to protect their 36-year-old quarterback.

There is a precedent for such an inexperienced player making it in pro football, according to Nay. The late Gene (Big Daddy) Lipscomb became a star defensive lineman after having played only service ball, Nay said.

Rogers, 24, wasn’t even born when Lipscomb, at 6 feet 6 inches and 290 pounds, was the reigning pass rusher in the NFL in the late 1950s and early 60s.

Rogers was nearly as big as Lipscomb by the time he was in 10th grade. The summer after his sophomore year, he had a growth spurt, adding 3 inches and 30 pounds, and he didn’t stop spurting until the Chargers got hold of him.

White, with strength coach Phil Tyne, has already trimmed 20 pounds from Rogers. The goal is to get him down a slim 325 by minicamp in May.

“He doesn’t really look all that big,” said White, tongue in cheek. “Actually, he reminds me of Louie Kelcher. Nah, on second thought, he’s a whole stage bigger than Louie.”

All his life, people have been telling this big guy he should be playing football. Whether he makes it or not, Rogers will at last have the satisfaction of telling people, “I was in the NFL,” and never mind if he has to stretch the truth a bit.

The unreality of his situation has struck home.

“About four or five times a day,” he said, laughing. “The thought just pops into my mind. ‘Wow!’ It’s a great opportunity.”