Three Rookies Make Positive First Impressions

Suddenly, everyone is staring.

Thousands turn out to get the first glimpse of the new faces.

It’s just an exhibition game, but for the Charger rookies, it was chance to show they belonged. And on Sunday, three showed that they did--at least for now.

Dana Brinson, drafted by the Chargers 204th out of Nebraska, played his first National Football League game Sunday in the Chargers’ 20-3 exhibition loss to the Dallas Cowboys at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium. And just minutes after wrapping up his afternoon with a nice collection of all-purpose yards (six receptions for 53 and three rushes for 17), Brinson admitted to being more than a little jittery.

“I was nervous as hell,” he said, laughing. “I was telling the guys I was nervous and they were trying to tell me I’d played before 76,000 at Nebraska and there wasn’t any difference. But then again, there was a difference. This was my first NFL game.”

Two other rookies, running back Marion Butts and wide receiver Wayne Walker, were more matter-of-fact. Both said they were excited to be playing but not particularly nervous. Of course, neither was yanked out of his position earlier this week like Brinson, who was told Tuesday he was being switched from wide receiver to running back. Brinson also was suffering from a hip pointer.

“There were a lot of things thrown at me during the course of this week,” said Brinson, who had one shaky moment, fumbling after catching a pass from David Archer in the second quarter. “The day before the game, they told me I was going to play the whole game at (running back) and that also put a little fear in my heart.”

Charger Coach Dan Henning, allowing for first-game mistakes, essentially said he liked what he saw from Brinson.

“This guy has learned wide receiver, he’s learned running back, he’s learned punt return,” Henning said. “This guy is going to be a good football player for the San Diego Chargers.”

Henning also had praise for Butts, who ran over anyone who dared to get in his way. At 6-1, 248 pounds, he looks more like a linebacker than a running back. Doesn’t run like one, though.

Butts smashed his way to 61 yards in 12 carries and also made a crunching tackle on special teams. In the third quarter, Butts kept a drive alive, bolting over right tackle for six yards on fourth and one. But Mark Malone subsequently tossed two incomplete passes and Vince Abbott missed a 38-yard field goal attempt.

Still, Henning took note of the positives.

“I was kind of pleased with the run of Butts behind that line,” Henning said. “Butts played pretty good both on special teams and as a runner.”

Walker, a teammate of Charger starter Billy Joe Tolliver at Texas Tech, caught a pass from everybody but Tolliver Sunday. One was for 11 yards from Archer, the first relief quarterback, and one was for 22 from Malone. Tucked in between was a nifty reverse for 11 yards.

Now, with the first test behind, rookies are looking ahead. Butts, for one, doesn’t place too much importance on one performance, good or bad.

“It wasn’t really a make-it-or-break-it day,” Butts said. “It was just a positive step. I just took it as a game.”