Chargers : Former Dolphin Charles Gets Another Chance
The Chargers claimed nose tackle Mike Charles off the waiver wire Wednesday, the same Mike Charles who was so out of shape two weeks ago that he collapsed during a Miami Dolphin practice session.
Miami Coach Don Shula, disgusted that Charles didn’t participate in any off-season workouts, waived Charles the next day. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers gave him a tryout, but they released him, too.
The Chargers are taking a look because their own nose tackles--Chuck Ehin (ankle) and Terry Unrein (knee)--are bothered by injuries. Gunther Cunningham, Charger defensive line coach, liked Charles when he coached him during the 1983 Senior Bowl. Plus, Charles is big, 6-feet 4-inches, and who knows how many pounds.
“At one point, he was a good player,” said Ron Lynn, Charger defensive coordinator. “Whether he is now is the question. But figuring what it costs us to look at him, it’s a reasonable investment.”
It cost the Chargers $100 to acquire Charles. Denver also claimed him, but the Chargers got him over the Broncos because they had a worse record in 1986.
“Hey, you never know what happened (in Tampa Bay and Miami),” Lynn said. “Maybe it had to do with their defensive system. It doesn’t hurt to look.”
Most of the time, the Dolphins thought Charles looked fat. After being voted the Dolphins’ most valuable lineman in 1985, Charles reported to the 1986 training camp at 310 pounds. The Dolphins sent him to a dietitian, and he got down to a svelte 290.
At about that time, he showed up late for two practices and the Dolphins asked him to take a physical examination, which included a drug test. He refused, so they suspended him for four weeks. Eventually, he took the physical, passed the drug test and was reinstated.
His first game back, he sprained his left knee and went on the injured reserve list.
Charles, who played at Syracuse, gave Shula problems from the beginning. He was selected in the second round of the 1983 draft and was fined for smoking marijuana during his first Dolphin training camp. But Shula said his real pet peeve was Charles’ hesitancy to work out. Charles lived 15 minutes from the Dolphin training facility but never came to lift weights the past off-season.
He reported to this year’s training camp weighing slightly more than 300 pounds, and he had little endurance. He collapsed during a drill, and Shula vowed he’d either trade him or waive him.
Charger Notes
The Chargers on Wednesday waived two rookies, defensive back Thomas Wilcher, their No. 9 pick out of Michigan, and free-agent wide receiver Larry Shepherd. They also waived one veteran, defensive back Kevin Wyatt, who played mostly on the Charger special teams last season. “Others were making more progress,” Coach Al Saunders said of Wyatt. Wilcher was a running back at Michigan, but the Chargers were convinced he could only make the team as a defensive back. . . . Steve Ortmayer, director of football operations, contacted linebacker Thomas Benson’s agent for the first time in two weeks. The Chargers and Benson are $70,000 apart, but Benson’s agent, Steve Feldman, said there was no progress to report. Ortmayer, however, did not talk to George Kalafaitis, agent for unsigned linebacker Billy Ray Smith. . . . Saunders said quarterbacks Mark Herrmann, Rick Neuheisel and Mark Vlasic would all play in Sunday’s exhibition against the Rams. . . . Tight end Kellen Winslow (knee) and running back Gary Anderson (ankle) will resume practicing Monday. . . . Punter Jeff Hayes, waived by the Chargers on Tuesday, was claimed Wednesday by the Los Angeles Raiders.