Spotlight Shines On San Diego : At 7-1, Chargers Lead AFC West, Go Nationwide

All Mike Humiston did was fall on a football.

It must be noted, however, that the ball in question happened to be lying in the Chargers’ end zone--having been pried free from the arms of Indianapolis’ Eric Dickerson by Billy Ray Smith and Elvis Patterson with four minutes to play and the game tied at 13-13.

Humiston’s recovery gave the ball back to the team that has the American Football Conference’s best record and set up the winning drive in the Chargers’ 16-13 victory over the Indianapolis Colts Sunday.

Afterward, the Chargers’ linebacker was the first player in the interview room, as a San Diego television news station turned on the bright lights and asked him about the big play.

About an hour later, Humiston was one of the last Chargers to leave the locker room. He had stood at his locker for 45 minutes answering questions from local and national media members.

“It’s been a while since anybody other than local media has had any interest in me,” Humiston said.

He could have been speaking for the entire team.

All of a sudden, the Chargers are nationwide news. That’s what a 7-1 record will do for you.

Last week, both the CBS and NBC morning pregame shows did stories on the Chargers and Lionel James was featured in a halftime interview on ABC’s Monday Night Football. The Chargers were supposed to be featured on Sports Illustrated’s cover last week, but when Dickerson was traded to the Colts, the Chargers were knocked off.

Next week, HBO’s Inside the NFL show will originate from San Diego. Before the season began, most figured football in San Diego wouldn’t be getting much attention until Super Bowl XXII.

“I think it’s just the natural course of events,” Charger Coach Al Saunders said. “Success breeds interest. And I think it’s appropriate that some of our players are getting some national attention.”

The entire team will get more attention Sunday night when ESPN televises the Chargers-Raiders game in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium for a national cable audience.

The Chargers have yet to be on national television this season, even though this weekend NBC affiliates in Dallas, Boston, Baltimore, Charlotte, N.C., and Richmond, Va., requested that the network beam the Chargers-Colts game into their markets instead of the previously scheduled Raiders-Vikings matchup.

“We’ve talked to the players in terms of trying to be the best they can be, to become Pro Bowl quality,” defensive coordinator Ron Lynn said. “The only way to do that is to get national attention.”

Players such as Dan Fouts, Kellen Winslow and Wes Chandler are used to the attention. They were here the last time the Chargers were making national headlines as annual playoff contenders in the early 1980s.

But there are several new Chargers who aren’t used to the media crunch. How are they handling it?

“To me, it’s great,” Humiston said. “The way I look at it, football can be an awfully short part of your life so you might as well get it when you can.

“Coach Saunders has told us that we are professionals and things that are expected of you in dealing with the media and the public. Plus, we have a lot of veterans and we can see how they deal with it.”

If the Chargers keep winning, the attention will keep growing. This week, for example, national football writers from newspapers in San Francisco, Denver and New York have already called in and asked for credentials. More are expected.

Soon, the 45-minute interviews after games could become the rule rather than the exception.