Campbell in a Rush to Learn : Rookie Needs Advanced Course to Get to NFL Quarterbacks

When Joe Campbell attended New Mexico State, he did a lot of studying.

College students majoring in psychology have to do that.

College linebackers learning to rush the quarterback don’t have to study quite as much.

“When I was in college, I would just wait for them to snap the ball, and then I would take off,” Campbell said. “I’d try and beat the blocker around the corner and see if I could get there. A lot of times, I really wouldn’t know what I was doing.”

Still, Campbell did pretty well. As a senior, he piled up 19 sacks. Though New Mexico State did not win a Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. game, Campbell was named first-team all-conference.

The Chargers made him the first of their three fourth-round draft picks in 1988. At 21, he is the youngest member of the team.

And you know how youngsters spend much of their time.

Studying.

“He’s really in a mental quagmire right now,” said Gunther Cunningham, the Chargers’ defensive line coach. “He’s trying to learn to play outside linebacker, defensive end and how to rush the passer. All the thinking has gotten to him a little bit.”

But Campbell is performing well. He had two sacks in the Chargers’ 27-6 loss to the Los Angeles Rams Saturday, and he leads the team with eight solo tackles through two exhibition games.

“In the first game (against the Dallas Cowboys), I was too wound up, and I was thinking too much,” Campbell said. “Whenever I think, I mess up. Now I’m starting to settle down some.”

Campbell has had a chance to settle in because of some unexpected problems at linebacker.

Pro Bowl player Chip Banks, one outside linebacker, has been holding out. David Brandon, another outside linebacker, missed the first two weeks with a shoulder injury. Campbell thus has had a chance to play.

“He’s been fortunate, and we’ve been fortunate that he’s gotten a lot of work,” Cunningham said. “He needs to learn all of these things if he’s going to make it in this league.”

The Chargers were planning to start a now-healthy Brandon at left outside linebacker this week against the San Francisco 49ers and Billy Ray Smith at right outside linebacker. But Smith suffered a hamstring pull during practice Monday, so it looks as if Campbell will be playing a lot again.

“It looks like the Joe Campbell voodoo doll is back in action,” said Ron Lynn, the defensive coordinator.

In college, Campbell was more a wind-up doll. All they did at New Mexico State was wind him up and turn him loose when the ball was snapped.

Opposing quarterbacks often paid, but so did Campbell. His all-out athletic style was effective, but he came up a bit short when it came to the technical aspects of the pass rush.

“I’ve learned so much here in training camp, it’s unbelievable,” Campbell said. “If I had known all this in college, it would have been ridiculous. I might have won all sorts of awards.”

Campbell started his senior season at New Mexico State in spectacular fashion, recording 13 1/2 sacks in his first four games. After that, teams were forced to double- and triple-team him.

Though his production declined, his desire to get to the quarterback didn’t.

Campbell, who was born on an Air Force base in Chandler, Ariz., grew up in Southern California and attended Verbum Dei High School in Los Angeles and Morningside High in Inglewood before spending two years at Tempe High in Arizona. He used to play pick-up games, in which kids from his block would take on kids from another block.

“The big thing in those games was that when you made a big play, you had to make that crowd noise,” Campbell said. “You’d get somebody and go ‘haaahhhhhhhh.’

“Now, it’s almost like the same feeling, except other people make the noise for you. You get to that quarterback, it’s kind of like pay day. It’s such a challenge. No matter how many times you get hit, you have to keep jerking and swimming and doing whatever you can to get to that quarterback.”

The Chargers are hoping Campbell can help their pass rush this season. But before he can reach top effectiveness, he still has much to learn.

“Hands, hands, hands,” Campbell said. “I have to learn to get my hands up on the rush. Otherwise, in this league, the linemen will just knock you down. You have to use your hands to fight them off.”

Said Lynn: “There’s now doubt that he’s raw. In college, you can get away with so many things you can’t get away with here. But if he keeps progressing, he could be a good third-down pass-rusher for us. And one day you could see him as a first-down linebacker.”

He continues to study toward that end, retaining a minor in pass-rushing defensive lineman.

“I like to watch Dexter Manley and Howie Long and guys like that,” Campbell said. “I want to know how they get to the quarterback.”

He’s learning all the time.