NFL PLAYERS STRIKE: DAY 23 : Chargers : Mack Moore Only Charger to Defy Union Picket Line

What began as a simple pledge to team unity by the Chargers has become a goal-line stand.

Eighty-nine NFL players crossed the union picket line Wednesday, fracturing clubs and the union, but the Chargers remained as virtually one team. And that team, with one exception, remained on strike.

Backup defensive end Mack Moore, who has completed rehabilitation for a knee injury suffered Aug. 25, became the second Charger off injured reserve to cross the picket line. But he’s the first who is actually healthy enough to play. Third-year safety Jeff Dale defied the strike, but he has been unable to play with an injured back.

But other than wavering by starters Vince Abbott, Mike Charles and Terry Unrein, whose names appeared on a league-wide list of strikebreakers before they changed their minds, no other Charger crossed the line before the 10 a.m. deadline to become eligible for Sunday’s game against the Raiders.

Because their names are on that eligibility list, Abbott (kicker), Charles (nose tackle) and Unrein (defensive tackle) could be eligible Sunday if they change their minds again and walk in this morning.

“I just called the office for some information, I did not cross a picket line, and I did not ask for my name to be put on a list,” said Unrein Wednesday night. “ I have not made up my mind about whether I will come in today or not.”

Abbott and Charles could not be reached for comment.

If things don’t change, the Chargers would have 24 fewer regular players who have crossed the picket line than the Raiders, and fewer than all but three NFL teams.

“A lot of guys I know on this team, they want to come back, their money is getting tight, times are getting hard,” said replacement team running back Keyvan Jenkins. “But because they want to go along with everybody, they can’t. I’m real surprised. Holding so strong to a belief, it’s rare.”

“I don’t get it anymore. It’s gone beyond my understanding,” said Steve Ortmayer, Charger director of football operations.

Asked if he thought players were not crossing because they were afraid of teammate reprisal, Ortmayer said, “It’s just like Al Davis told Howie Long before Howie crossed for the Raiders--what in the hell is there to be afraid of?”

The Chargers voted Tuesday night to stay on strike, but so did many other teams. While those teams were losing many players Wednesday, the Chargers were displaying the most force they have shown since the first day of the strike, as 39 players picketed a late-morning replacement team practice.

The most notable exception was Moore, a third-year defensive end. He came in before 8 a.m., before any picketers arrived, and walked through the San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium front door called Gate F. He dressed and drove across the parking lot to the practice field.

Fewer than 20 yards from the stares of the picketers, he exited his car and entered the fenced-in field. The picketers said nothing.

“We all saw him, but we’re a pretty low-key group,” said defensive back Gill Byrd, the team’s alternate player representative. “Mack didn’t come to any of our practices or attend any of our meetings, so we just figured he wasn’t informed, or he wouldn’t have done that.”

Moore, who has a wife and three children, was subdued afterward. “‘I hope those guys (strikers) are still my friends, but I’m doing what is right for me. My family played a big part of it.”

It was not so cut and dried for the other three players. According to a source in Charger management, Abbott, Charles and Unrein called the front office Wednesday and expressed a desire to return to work. Their names were promptly sent to the league office for eligibility purposes, and late Wednesday their names were included in a memo released by the league.

But the players later changed their minds and did not report. Byrd said the union was unaware of the three wavering players.

But some of the replacement players said they were surprised that more regular Charger haven’t crossed.

“I’m amazed that at least more young guys aren’t coming in,” said replacement receiver Al Williams. “Times have got to be getting hard, no paycheck, nothing coming in.”

“It’s fine to be unified at first,” said replacement quarterback Rick Neuheisel. “But as the strike goes on and on, you’d think it would become a more individual decision. You have got to be wondering, what are you fighting for?”

All is not roses for Neuheisel’s team, either, as it will face 14 Raiders who were on their 45-man roster when the season opened. This includes most of the defensive line.

“You block the man, not the name,” said Neuheisel. “I think we all realize this is our big chance to make a name for ourselves.”