Chargers : He’s Not Too Happy With Life on Line : Because of the Strike, NFL Turns Out to Be Financially Unrewarding for Rookie Scott

Charger running back Kevin Scott has eaten lots of cold cereal the past 18 days. He’s doing his laundry at coin-operated machines and bumming rides from linebacker Gary Plummer. He was going to sleep on cornerback Gill Byrd’s couch, but the striking Chargers are using a player fund to pay for his hotel bills.

Such is the life of a 23-year-old NFL rookie who is on strike.

“It’s just like being back in college,” said Scott, who redshirted one year before graduating from Stanford in June. “I was in college five years. When you get out, the first thing you think is: I’ll get a job so I can get set, get some income, buy some new clothes.

“Now I have to watch how I spend money. My financial situation is hurting.”

Scott, who has been on the injured reserve list with a pulled hamstring since Sept. 1, has received just two paychecks from the Chargers, totaling about $2,000 after taxes. He said he was being paid at a lower rate until he came off injured reserve.

Since the strike began 18 days ago, Scott has been living off that $2,000, because he had “nothing” before he signed with the Chargers. Scott is not eating out--or going out--much. Instead, he’s practicing with the striking players, lifting weights, picketing, reading lots of “gory stuff” and playing the guitar in his hotel room.

“It’s (the money) not going to last too long,” Scott said. “But I’m surviving.”

Scott, who was a free agent, had a simple goal in training camp.

“I didn’t care how I made the team,” said Scott, who appeared in two exhibition games and ran 74 yards for a touchdown against Dallas. “I would have carried water.”

He made the team, but after collecting just two checks, he had to decide whether to go on strike. Despite being on the injured reserve list, Scott was back practicing with the Chargers before the season opener against Kansas City. He is not eligible to come off injured reserve until Oct. 19, but he could have crossed the picket line and thereby picked up a check.

“I sat down with the running backs, and they said, ‘You do what’s best for you.’ I really respect that. . . . Five or six of the guys said, ‘If you get strapped, we’ll help you financially.’ ”

Scott decided to stick with his teammates and strike. And he said he would have made the same decision if he hadn’t been on the injured reserve list.

But what if he had been cut by the Chargers and hadn’t been on an NFL team when the strike was called?

“I thought of that,” Scott said. “I would get a quick bunch of cash. But it’s more than a question of economics. It’s a matter of conscience. I don’t think I could go in and play and then reap the benefits gotten by the guys who stayed out on strike.”

After deciding to strike, Scott had to decide where to live. The Chargers provided housing during training camp. Once they broke camp, Scott got a team rate at a local hotel.

“The possibility of a strike was imminent, so I thought I better not get a place if I can’t finance it,” Scott said.

Byrd said Scott could sleep on his couch, but then the striking players decided to pick up the tab for Scott’s hotel room by using money collected from informal player fines. There was just one catch: Scott would be staying at the same hotel where the non-union players were being put up by the Chargers.

“It’s not the ideal situation,” said Scott, who is not on the same floor as many of the non-union players. “I’ve talked to some of them. I know a lot of the guys from training camp. I’m trying to let them know where I’m standing. But they’re still my friends. That’s the hard thing.

“I was talking to a couple of guys from the scab team in the hotel,” Scott said, “and I saw how much they made. I said, ‘I wouldn’t mind having that check.’ ”

Some non-union players have even offered to lend Scott money during the strike, but Scott has yet to take them up on it. At the start of the strike, Scott figured he could survive for a month before he would move back to the Bay Area to get a job and live with his brother. But Scott, an electrical engineering major who had a 3.07 grade-point average at Stanford, hopes it doesn’t come to that.

“Kevin, I’ve got that loan approved,” yelled offensive tackle Jim Lachey, after 32 Chargers played touch football Friday morning.

Scott laughed. And then he quickly looked around to make sure Plummer hadn’t left yet. After all, he needed a ride back to the hotel.

Charger Notes Coach Al Saunders said he will decide today whether Rick Neuheisel or Mike Kelley will start at quarterback Sunday against Tampa Bay. . . . Saunders said Calvin Muhammad, a former Raider wide receiver, will be activated this week.