Chargers Lose Sievers to Rams on Waiver Claim

As recently as last spring, the Chargers boasted an embarrassment of riches at tight end.

Then they traded Pete Holohan to the Rams on draft day. Then Kellen Winslow, disabled by chronic knee soreness, retired.

Last Sunday, Rod Bernstine, the team’s first-round pick in 1987, damaged his left knee against the Bengals in Cincinnati.

Things went from bad to worse Wednesday when the Rams claimed popular tight end Eric Sievers on waivers.

“When it rains,” said Joe Phillips, the Charger defensive tackle, “it pours.”

Sievers, 29, will be in a Ram uniform Sunday against the Falcons in Anaheim Stadium.

The Chargers’ tight ends against the Steelers will probably be Anthony Jones and Arthur Cox.

Actually, Jones might play H-back, Bernstine’s position and an offshoot that combines the skills of tight end, running back and wide receiver. And actually Cox, while listed at tight end, plays a position in the Charger scheme that is better described as a third tackle. Unfortunately for the Chargers, Jones is more of a tight end than an H-back.

“There are a couple of other ways we can go,” said Jerry Rhome, the Chargers’ offensive coordinator. Rhome declined to elaborate because, he said, “the Steelers can read.”

The Chargers decided this season that Sievers (6-feet 4-inches, 238 pounds) was too small for tight end and too slow for H-back. “I knew,” Sievers said, “my future wasn’t here after this year.”

But when Bernstine hurt his knee Sunday, the Chargers suddenly needed a backup at tight end and H-back. Sievers had been on injured reserve since Oct. 12 with a neck injury suffered in Game 6. He had been healthy enough to return for weeks.

Problem was, the Chargers had used up their last “free” roster move when they activated rookie defensive end George Hinkle last week. This meant Sievers would have to clear waivers before the Chargers could activate him. He did not. A Charger source said the Rams were the only team to put in a claim.

“It’s too bad,” said Steve Ortmayer, the team’s director of football operations. “We were counting on playing with him for the last two games.”

“The community will miss Eric Sievers,” said Charger Coach Al Saunders. “He’s been a great man in the community. The guys here that have been associated with Eric Sievers are better off for having been around him.”

Added Ernie Zampese, the Ram offensive coordinator: “He’s just a good solid football player.”

Zampese and Sievers worked together in the Charger offense until Zampese left to join the Rams last year. That familiarity made Sievers more attractive to the Rams than any other team. And, says Ram Coach John Robinson, they think Sievers is big enough to play tight end.

So that is where they will use him, as a backup to third-year player Damone Johnson. The Rams’ H-back is Holohan. Sievers will also be joining former Charger teammates Mark Herrmann and Buford McGee.

“The Rams (are) the best team I can possibly go to,” said Sievers, who lives in La Costa. The commute from his home to Rams Park in Anaheim is only 15-20 minutes longer (one way) than the drive to San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

Sievers, now in his eighth NFL season, had his best year in 1984 when he started 13 games in place of an injured Winslow and caught 41 passes for 438 yards. He started 11 games the following season and caught the same amount of passes for the same amount of yards. He came to the Chargers from Maryland in the fourth round of the 1981 draft.

He left Wednesday with no apparent animosity, praising Saunders and Charger owner Alex Spanos. This was the last year on his contract with the Chargers. His 1988 base salary is $285,000.

But the widely reported rift, real or imagined, between Saunders and Ortmayer did not go unnoticed by Sievers. “If everybody gets on the same page,” he said, “this team will start picking up and doing the things the players want to have happen.”

The Chargers have two rookies--Ronnie Williams and Brian Bedford--eligible to come off injured reserve. Williams is a tight end, Bedford an H-back. But the team is reluctant to attempt to activate either for fear of the same thing that happened to Sievers.

In an emergency, running back Tim Spencer can play H-back. And Wilbur Strozier, a free agent tight end/H-back the Chargers activated for 6 games earlier this year before waiving him Nov. 23, is eligible to be re-signed.