NFL DRAFT : Chargers Turn Down Trade Offers to Pick Up Grossman in First Round

Burt Grossman was the top draft choice of the San Diego Chargers, who rejected a half dozen offers for their No. 1 pick to make the Pitt defensive end the eighth player selected Sunday in the NFL draft.

San Diego also moved to address weaknesses in the offensive line and at quarterback, using its second-round pick to choose center Courtney Hall of Rice and trading up to grab quarterback Billy Joe Tolliver of Texas Tech later in the second round.

The Chargers traded their third, fourth and first of two seventh round picks to the New York Giants in order to take Tolliver, the 51st player selected.

Some draft observers criticized the selection of Tolliver as a “reach,” noting his size (just over 6 feet) may present problems when trying to pass against NFL lineman.

“There’s going to be some deflections, but I really think you’re throwing through lanes most of the time . . . not over the top,” said Ted Tollner, the Chargers’ assistant head coach in charge of quarterbacks.

San Diego listened to offers throughout its 15-minute time allotment to make the first-round pick before settling on Grossman, who registered 23 1/2 sacks in his four seasons with the Panthers.

“We had a number of different teams that presented certain scenarios during that 15 minutes. We fielded them all,” Chargers’ Coach Dan Henning said. “We didn’t feel any of them came up to the criterion of this pick or this player.

“There were a number of people jockeying, and I personally feel they were jockeying to get (Grossman),” added Henning, who said the Chargers talked to about six teams during the opening session of the NFL’s two-day collegiate draft .

Hall, the 37th player taken overall, is “the best athlete to come out at that position in a number of years,” said Larry Beightol, the Chargers’ offensive coordinator in charge of the offensive line.

The 6-foot-2, 269-pound Hall, 20, was the youngest player eligible for the NFL draft and comes to a San Diego team seeking stability at center.

San Diego’s veteran center, Donnie Macek, suffered a career threatening shoulder injury early last season. Dan Rosado, who started the final 11 games in Macek’s place, played well at times but was penalty-prone.

Of Hall, Beightol said, “We’re going to give him every opportunity . . . to be a starter for us this year.”

San Diego’s No. 1 pick was at the center of draft day trade speculation because it was known the Chargers were keen on upgrading the quarterback position, presumably through acquisition of an experienced player.

With Dan Fouts gone to retirement, the Chargers used Babe Laufenberg, Mark Malone and Mark Vlasic at quarterback in 1988. Laufenberg was released last week, Malone finished as the AFC’s lowest rated passer for the second straight season and Vlasic is coming off a severe knee injury.

Quarterback Stan Humphries interested the Chargers, but the three-way deal among San Diego, Washington and Atlanta that would have brought the Redskins’ reserve quarterback to San Diego never went through.

The other elements of that failed deal called for Atlanta to get San Diego’s first-round pick via Washington. The Falcons were to send running back Gerald Riggs to the Redskins, who were to ship to San Diego offensive tackle Ed Simmons and their second-round draft pick in addition to Humphries.

Riggs ended up in Washington Sunday when the Falcons swapped him and a fifth-round choice for the Redskins’ first-round choice in 1990 and this season’s second-round draft choice.

There also were reports that the Chicago Bears were trying to work a trade in which Jim McMahon would have gone to San Diego, but the Chargers apparently were turned off by the asking price for the oft-injured Bears quarterback.

Bears’ Coach Mike Ditka confirmed there were discussions with San Diego but said the deal couldn’t be worked out because the Chargers “wanted an orchard for an apple tree.”

Henning declined to say specifically what offers were entertained but said of the aborted talks with Chicago: “Maybe our apple tree was bare, I don’t know.”

Tolliver, a starter at Texas Tech for 3 1/2 seasons, completed 50% of his 260 passes as a senior for 1,928 yards and 17 touchdowns with 13 interceptions.

“We think he has a legitimate chance to compete for the (starting) job now. We took him with that idea,” Tollner said of Tolliver. “He exudes confidence and does not appear to be intimidated. Now we have to find out if we’re accurate.”

“He’s got a big-time arm,” Henning added of Tolliver. “He can get the ball deep. He has a lot of pizazz and he believes he can do it (in the NFL) . . . That’s why we were really so high on the guy.”

As for the 6-foot-6, 265-pound Grossman, Henning said, “We feel he is the best downline pass rusher in this draft by far.”

Chargers’ defensive coordinator Ron Lynn said: “There was no question about our desire to have him,” adding that Grossman’s selection would not affect the Chargers’ starting defensive end duo of Leslie O’Neal and Lee Williams.

“I can foresee situations where all three of them would be in the game,” said Lynn.

He said the addition of Grossman will allow San Diego to increase defensive pressure on opposing quarterbacks without resorting so often to the blitz and leaving the defense vulnerable to the big play if the blitz doesn’t work.

Bothered by an ankle injury much of his senior year, Grossman finished the season as Pitt’s third leading tackler with 71, including 38 solo tackles. He had seven sacks and 15 tackles for losses while being credited with a team-high 17 “quarterback hurries.”

Though Grossman developed something of an oddball off-the-field reputation, Lynn described him as a “quality guy on and off the field.”

In a telephone conference call from his Philadelphia area home, Grossman also downplayed his off-the-field reputation.

He admitted he was involved in some boisterous activities as a freshman and sophomore.

“But as I got older and more mature I didn’t do anything,” he said. “I don’t even go out much, to tell you the truth.”

Asked about his pit bull, which he named Bernie after New York subway gunman Bernhard Goetz, Grossman said, “I don’t have any pets. I got rid of them.