Lowe Tries to Hold On to His Job : Injured Charger Faces Competition at Linebacker Spots

Woodrow Lowe, his left knee wrapped as tightly as a Christmas present, wanted to practice Tuesday afternoon.

The Chargers wouldn’t let him.

Lowe, who says whirlpools are no fun because you can’t swim in them, wants to play in Thursday night’s game in San Francisco, but the Chargers won’t let him.

Lowe, a linebacker who has played in 164 of the Chargers’ last 165 games, can count his career injuries on one hand.

“Let’s see, I had a hip pointer once, and a hip flexor and a couple of hamstrings,” he said Tuesday, shaking his head as if an injury made him a bad guy. “I think that’s it. I can’t think of any others. Oh, I had a knee one time. It’s the same knee I just hurt. They were talking about (arthroscopic surgery), but I told the doctor to give me three days. Three days later, I played.”

He’s an old-fashioned player, but not old enough, he says, to retire. At 33, he has played more games than any other active Charger, yet he is still mad he missed one.

“It was against Seattle in 1984,” Lowe remembered. “It’s the only game I’ve missed in my career. I had a hip pointer, and I wanted to go, but they wouldn’t let me. I even tried warming up, but they wouldn’t let me. They told me to chill out.”

The real cold news could come this summer. Thanks to Chip Banks, Billy Ray Smith and a kid named Tyronne Stowe, Lowe is battling for a roster spot. Banks, acquired from Cleveland in April, plays Lowe’s best position--right outside linebacker. Smith, who just agreed to a contract Monday, plays Lowe’s second-best position--left outside linebacker. And Stowe, a free-agent rookie, might be young enough and fast enough to make Lowe expendable.

“I don’t know if they’ll let me go or keep me,” Lowe said Tuesday.

The last thing he needed was an injury.

At first, team doctors thought they’d have to operate. But Tuesday evening, they changed their minds. They’ve told Lowe to sit still for a couple of days.

He hurt the knee in Sunday night’s 23-21 exhibition loss to the Rams. He was covering a punt and says he was clipped.

“They didn’t even call the clip,” he said.

Lowe has started 151 NFL games, but it has come to this: He is a fringe player, and fringe players must cover kicks or say goodby.

“I don’t mind,” he said. “I like special teams. I’ve played them before. I played them when I was a starter.”

He began slowing down last year. That’s when he failed to intercept a pass for only the second season in his career. He didn’t record a sack for the first time since 1977.

Coach Al Saunders said last spring in interview after interview that he wanted new linebackers.

So the Chargers acquired Banks.

‘I’m glad they got Chip,” Lowe said Tuesday. “I’m real glad. Anybody who can come in here and help the team win, I’m all for. We’ve been losing the last two or three years, and I don’t like that.”

But Lowe wants to be allowed to practice. He wants to get out of the boring training room.

“I never have fun in there,” he said.

Lowe is so ashamed of limping, he refused Tuesday to see Ron Lynn, his defensive coordinator, or Mike Haluchak, his linebacker coach.

“It’s hard to look them in the eye when I’m not practicing,” he said. “When you’re an employee and you don’t come to work, it’s hard to look your boss in the eyes.”

Haluchak said, “See, Woody’s a pro. Yes, he’s battling for a spot, but he’s been battling for 12 years.”

How many players can say they’ve missed two games in their lives? Lowe, who attended Alabama, missed one game in college and then missed that one against the Seahawks. At Phenix City Central High School in Alabama, he played every down of every play--offense and defense.

“Five or six years ago, I wouldn’t be missing today’s practice,” Lowe said, again shaking his head. “Five or six years ago, I wouldn’t have ever gotten hurt.”