Charger Notebook : Ortmayer Considering Bargain-Hunting Trip
After veteran linebacker Gary Plummer agreed to contract terms Wednesday, Steve Ortmayer said he may be taking his show, such as it is, on the road.
Ortmayer is the Chargers’ director of football operations. And the two most prominent unsigned players on his team are represented by attorneys in Cleveland.
The players are running back Gary Anderson, the team’s MVP last year, and defensive end Burt Grossman, the Chargers’ No. 1 draft pick. The agents are Peter Johnson (Anderson) and Robert Jackson (Grossman). Both have offices in Cleveland.
The only other unsigned Charger veteran is defensive end Joe Phillips.
A trip east would allow Ortmayer to meet both agents. “It wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility,” Ortmayer said Tuesday. “But I would only make a trip like that to get a signing done.”
Jackson traveled to San Diego Sunday, met with Ortmayer Monday and returned the same day.
“It seemed like the meeting lasted forever,” Jackson said. “We agreed we should continue to talk.”
Jackson said the sticking point was money. “If we reach an agreement on that, my sense is the structure of the contract will fall into place,” Jackson said.
Jackson confirmed that Gil Brandt, the former Cowboy talent appraiser, is serving as an adviser to him in the negotiations. “He is like one of those pappies,” Jackson said. “He’s got 100 years of experience.”
Only seven 1988 first-round picks league-wide have signed: quarterback Troy Aikman in Dallas (1); tackle Andy Heck in Seattle (15); defensive back Steve Atwater in Denver (20); wide receiver Andre Rison in Indianapolis (22); tackle David Williams in Houston (23); tackle Tom Ricketts in Pittsburgh (24) and wide receiver Shawn Collins in Atlanta (27).
The Chargers will take their act on the road Thursday, Friday and Saturday against the Dallas Cowboys in Thousand Oaks. The teams will drill against each other Thursday and Friday and conclude with a full scrimmage Saturday afternoon.
Henning said rookie quarterback Billy Joe Tolliver will probably play more in the scrimmage than veterans Mark Malone and David Archer. But he said it wasn’t necessarily because Tolliver has earned it.
“Malone and Archer have had a week more of practice than Billy Joe,” Henning said. “How much he (Tolliver) plays against the Cowboys will depend on how he does in practices against the Cowboys the first two days.”
The Chargers’ first exhibition game also is against Dallas Aug. 13 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.
Charger offensive lineman David Richards, 310 pounds, on his struggle to keep his weight down: “I could gain weight eating ice cubes. I was born a fat little baby, and I grew up to be a fat big boy.”
Charger H-back Ronnie Williams said he hasn’t been surprised with any of the developments within the Oklahoma athletic department, including the resignation of Coach Barry Switzer.
Williams attended Oklahoma State and says he often visited friends at the campus in Norman.
“I knew sooner or later something was going to happen up there,” Williams said. “I knew from just being in that atmosphere that something wasn’t completely right and sooner or later it would blow up in their faces.”
The Chargers list former Pro Bowl punter Ralf Mojsiejenko at 212 pounds. But Mojsiejenko says he has reduced his weight to 200, down 20 from where he was at the end of the 1988 season.
“It happens every summer,” Mojsiejenko said. “I play a lot of basketball and do a lot of running.” Mojsiejenko plays softball several nights a week in the off-season. His batting average this summer: .700.
Mojsiejenko’s biggest worry at the moment is the Chargers’ search to sign a suitable replacement for long snapper Randy Kirk. The Chargers lost Kirk to the Cardinals in the Plan B free agency phase this year.
“It wasn’t so much that he got it back that fast,” Mojsiejenko said. “But it was soft and easy to handle, and it was always in the same place.”
The Chargers are working with several players in an attempt to find a replacement. Andy Parker, whom Ortmayer hoped would win the job, has struggled. Mojsiejenko says the early-line favorite is veteran Dennis McKnight.
“But it’s tough on Dennis because once the season starts, his hands get beat up,” Mojsiejenko said.
Henning said Parker is the best 15-yard snapper (punts) so far. McKnight, he said, is the best short snapper (field goals).
Henning on the much discussed 80-man roster limit imposed by the NFL owners: “Obviously the best teams are going to get into the playoffs. But whoever’s standing at the end may be the winner of this whole thing.”
Earlier this week, Henning said he wouldn’t start Grossman in the regular season opener Sept. 10 unless Grossman had at least two exhibition games worth of experience. “Gunner (defensive line coach Gunther Cunningham) might fight to do that (start him right away),” Henning said. “But he’d have to fight me, I think.”