McMahon and Chargers Again Being Mentioned in Same Breath
The Chargers, a team in need of a quarterback, will play the Bears, a team with three good ones--Jim Harbaugh, Mike Tomczak and Jim McMahon--Saturday night in Chicago.
All of which means people are talking again about whether McMahon will be playing for Charger Coach Dan Henning this year.
The talk started in earnest last spring on draft day, when ESPN reported that a Charger deal for McMahon was imminent. Depending on whom you asked inside the front offices of both teams, ESPN was a) close, b) crazy or c) desperate for manufactured news.
Wednesday morning, Bear Coach Mike Ditka said nobody has called the Bears recently about McMahon. But he also said it “wasn’t necessarily true” that McMahon was untouchable if the right offer came along.
“If something came up, and it was the right situation, there might be something happening,” Ditka said.
It’s no secret that Charger owner Alex Spanos has always liked McMahon’s abilities as a team leader and a winner. But, Spanos said Wednesday, “from a personality standpoint, it doesn’t seem like he gets along with people.”
In the same breath, Spanos said, “he is a hell of a quarterback.”
And, Spanos added, if Steve Ortmayer and Henning were in agreement on McMahon and a deal were worked out, he would abide by their wishes. Ortmayer is the Chargers’ director of football operations.
Charger Notes
Current starting nose tackle Mike Charles will not play against the Bears Saturday in Chicago after undergoing minor arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. Regular nose tackle Joe Phillips is still unsigned. Les Miller and George Hinkle will split time in place of Charles. Ex-Bear Tyrone Keys, activated Wednesday, will replace Hinkle at right end. . . . Bear Coach Mike Ditka was typically candid on the subject of William (The Refrigerator) Perry, now in his fifth year. Estimates on Perry’s weight this summer usually average out at about 340 pounds. He played at 308 as a rookie. “If that kid could ever be at his best, I’m going to tell you right now, I don’t know how good he could be. Because athletically, talent-wise, he has it. Endurance-wise, he doesn’t have anything right now. He did some good things the other night (in the Bears’ 28-20 exhibition opener victory over Miami), but a lot of times, he just stood and looked around like a turkey. They don’t knock him down too much because he’s pretty big. But when he did some good things out there, he looked like a player. There’s no question that he can be as good a defensive player as there is in the league if, if , he wants to pay the price to be that. And the price to play right now is probably about 35 or 40 pounds.” ... Ditka has been criticized by certain elements of the Chicago media for spreading himself too thin with commercial endorsements. “The thing that amazes me is some of the people in society and what they begrudge you,” Ditka said. “If I advertise for a Japanese car now, I’m a bad guy because they had a relative at Pearl Harbor. I can’t figure it out.”