Spanos Says Lachey Subject of Talk Trade

Charger owner Alex Spanos said Monday the Chicago Bears contacted his team earlier this month in an attempt to pry loose the team’s best offensive lineman, Pro Bowler Jim Lachey.

Bill Tobin, Bear personnel director, said he had talked with Steve Ortmayer, Charger director of football operations, as late as Monday about the possibility of making a trade.

Meanwhile, Lachey failed to report to training camp for the fourth straight day amid published reports that he was seeking a trade to a team closer to his Columbus, Ohio, home.

“We expected him to be here,” Ortmayer said. “We don’t have anything to say at this point.”

“If Lachey were available, a lot of teams would be interested,” Tobin said. “But our conversations with San Diego are private.”

Actually, Spanos had plenty to say.

“I want people that want to be in San Diego,” Spanos said. “If he doesn’t want to play in San Diego, then, hey . . . I can’t understand somebody having a problem with San Diego. It’s the best place in the country to be.”

“Quite candidly, I don’t know where we’re headed on this,” Ortmayer said. Asked if Lachey was “untouchable,” Ortmayer said, “I don’t feel that way about anybody.”

Lachey was unavailable for comment. Sources say the Bears are one of at least six teams to express recent interest in Lachey.

But the Bears’ need for help in the offensive line is more glaring than most at present. Their starting tackles--Jim Covert and Keith Van Horne--are both nursing injuries that prevented them from practicing Monday.

Covert, also a Pro Bowl lineman, has a wrenched back and wasn’t even able to bend over to turn on his television set Monday. Van Horne had arthroscopic surgery on both shoulders during the off-season and hasn’t fully recovered. Lachey’s position with the Chargers is left tackle, the same spot Covert occupies for the Bears.

Lachey, Covert and Van Horne are all former first-round draft choices.

Ortmayer said he wasn’t sure why Lachey had chosen to stay away from the team’s UC San Diego training camp. And he wouldn’t say whether the team is prepared to start fining him.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” he said.

Money doesn’t appear to be the problem. Lachey is currently under contract through 1989. His base salary this year is $350,000 followed by $400,000 in 1989. He was the 10th highest paid player on the team last year.

And, said Stan Glick, “Jim has the highest regard for Al Saunders, Steve Ortmayer and the Chargers.”

Glick appears to be a key figure in the Lachey intrigue. He is a Columbus, Ohio, furniture entrepreneur who helped set Lachey up as a partner in a Pittsburgh rental company, Delta Furniture.

Glick describes himself as Lachey’s “godfather and financial adviser.”

“Jim doesn’t do anything without first checking with me,” Glick said Monday.

Lachey and Glick met six years ago in Boca Raton, Fla., when Lachey and Jack Groza, then a Lachey teammate at Ohio State, befriended Glick’s son, Brad, while swimming in the ocean off the Boca Beach Club.

Glick and his son became even closer with Lachey and Bear quarterback Mike Tomczak, also an Ohio State player at the time. During the past six years Lachey has spent time during vacations at Glick’s house.

Lachey’s agent is California-based Leigh Steinberg. But Glick says he persuaded Lachey to donate $100,000 to a scholarship fund for Ohio State students.

Steinberg, meanwhile, was in New York Monday with client Dave Cadigan, where the Jets announced Cadigan’s signing. Like Lachey, Cadigan is an offensive lineman.

After the press conference, Steinberg received a call from San Diego. When he learned the caller wanted to ask him about Lachey, Steinberg told a New York reporter: “I don’t need to deal with that .” Glick characterized the Lachey mystery as “something they ought to make a sitcom out of.”

But Glick refused to elaborate on why Lachey was still refusing to report.

“We’d love to have Jim Lachey on this football team,” Spanos said. “But not if he doesn’t want to be here.”

The Chargers made Lachey the 12th player selected overall when they chose him in the first round of the 1985 draft. He has started 43 of 44 games since joining the team.

There was speculation that the Bears were interested in working wide receiver Willie Gault into a trade. Gault is a free agent and far apart in contract talks with the Bears.

But the Chargers don’t need help at wide receiver. And, said a league source, speculation that Gault and Lachey might be part of a three-team deal involving the Chargers, the Bears and another team is “a false rumor.”

Charger Notes

There are still five unsigned Chargers. They are linebacker Chip Banks, running back Curtis Adams, defensive lineman Mike Charles, defensive lineman Joe Phillips and defensive lineman Lee Williams. Steve Ortmayer, the team’s director of football operations, talked with Banks’ agent, Harold Daniels, Monday. But, Ortmayer said, “We didn’t make any further progress.” Banks is reportedly seeking a $300,000 bonus to report. “I don’t know if or when he (Banks) will be here,” Ortmayer said. As to the others, Ortmayer said: “Several of these people are really hurting themselves by not being here at this point. They are really missing some very valuable time and they’re missing some very valuable situations that may not be available when they do get here.” . . . Running backs Tim Spencer and Gary Anderson did not practice Monday. Anderson suffered a thigh bruise Sunday. Spencer was hobbled by a sprained ankle. Charger Coach Al Saunders expected both to be practicing again in “a day or two.” . . . The Chargers will scrimmage the Dallas Cowboys in Thousand Oaks Wednesday and Thursday. . . . Saunders won’t rule out the possibility that running back Lionel James could fill the role of a fourth wide receiver once the season begins. The top three wide receivers at the moment are Anthony Miller, Jamie Holland and Quinn Early. Between them, those three have one year of NFL experience. “It’s a possibility but not a probability at this point,” Saunders said when asked if James could serve as a receiver and running back. . . . Ortmayer said the Chargers will not pursue safety Nolan Cromwell, released by the Rams Monday. “We have no interest in him,” Ortmayer said. . . . The Chargers signed Bob Johnson, a free-agent running back from the Canadian Football League. . . . The Chargers officially placed offensive lineman Sam Clapham on waivers at his request.