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Chargers Glad End Has Finally Arrived

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

The Chargers have had worse seasons, the record books verify that.

And Lord knows they’ve gone home at the end of the regular season plenty--seven consecutive years for those who are counting.

But a season like 1989?

“You’ve got to be kidding,” said Charger defensive end Lee Williams. “It was tough man, real tough. It was the toughest thing I’ve ever gone through in my life.

“I mean, we’ve probably been through every situation known to professional football.

“I don’t think any of us could take another year like this one again.”

And to think, this from a guy who made All-Pro. So you can just imagine what all the other poor stiffs are thinking.

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“You don’t want to know,” said James FitzPatrick, listed third on this week’s depth chart at left tackle.

The Chargers opened the season with their third head coach in four years. Their season ends with the dismissal of the entire front office for the second time in three years.

Today, at 1 p.m. at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, the Chargers’ season mercifully comes to an end with a game against the Denver Broncos.

It is one of only three NFL games scheduled this weekend that has absolutely no bearing on any of the remaining playoff races. The Chargers (5-10) naturally, were eliminated by Thanksgiving. The Broncos (11-4) have already clinched the home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.

The Broncos are favored to be in their third Super Bowl in the past four years. The Chargers, thanks to their incompetence, are favored to have one of top eight picks in the NFL draft for the sixth time since 1983.

For the Chargers, who haven’t beaten these guys since 1986, losing seven of their past eight games against Denver, a hint of motivation still remains.

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Says linebacker Gary Plummer: “The one good thing about finishing up with Kansas City and Denver is that we have a chance to make a statement. We can let the whole world know we’re going to be contenders next season. We also got a new boss coming in, and guys want to make a good impression.

“So I don’t buy that crap about us not having anything to play for.”

Indeed, sometime this week, Bobby Beathard will be interviewed (and many say hired) by Charger owner Alex Spanos for the vacancy left by Steve Ortmayer, who was fired Monday as director of football operations.

Beathard already has built the Miami Dolphins and Washington Redskins into Super Bowl champions, but this figures to be his sternest test. Inheriting a team that has lost 26 of its past 37 games and molding it into a Super Bowl contender, some wisecracker might say, is like trying to win the Indy 500 with a Ford Pinto.

“But we’re not that bad, we really aren’t,” argues rookie defensive end Burt Grossman. “But I’m also a realist, and I know we don’t belong in the playoffs, either.

“To tell you the truth, I’m glad this season’s finally over. It’s been brutal.”

If you thought it was repugnant for those who played, however, you should have been in Gary Anderson’s shoes.

Anderson, if you remember, was the guy who led the Chargers in rushing in 1988 with 1,301 yards. He was voted by his teammates two of the past three years as their most valuable player.

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So where was he in 1989?

Sitting home in Tampa, Fla., relegated to watching the Chargers on TV after months of bitter contract negotiations with Ortmayer led only to bitterness.

“I hope nothing good happens to that man, especially the way he treated me,” Anderson said. “I’ve always said what goes around comes around, and now it looks like Ortmayer got his.”

Anderson says he’s willing to forget all of the bad feelings now that Ortmayer is gone, and if the right contract is presented to him, he’ll sign tomorrow and forgo his free-agent eligibility in February.

“I just want to play again,” he said. “You can’t imagine what I’ve been through. I’m so glad the season ends Sunday, because now my torture will be over. I can be a regular man again.

“I still think I did the right thing, and if I had to do it over, I’d do the same damn thing. I’m just 28 years old. I’d like to think I still have another five years left.

“It’s just there’s no way they should have let me sit out this season. With all of the close games they’ve played, I’d like to think I could have been the one to make the difference, push them over the edge.”

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As it was, the Chargers have lost nine of their 10 games by a total of 39 points. They played 12 games that were decided by a touchdown or less, and won just three of those games.

“Good teams win those games, and we didn’t,” FitzPatrick said. “There was a time there that instead of playing to win, we were playing not to lose.”

Much of the blame for those last-minute defeats was placed on the shoulders of quarterback Jim McMahon. He was the man who led the Chicago Bears to four playoff berths and a Super Bowl championship. But when he was traded to San Diego, he acted like a 16-year-old pimple-faced kid on his first date when it came down to last-minute drives.

Henning saw enough, and in Week 13 against the New York Jets, decided to go with rookie Billy Joe Tolliver.

McMahon’s reaction? Who knows, he hasn’t talked to the media since September. But, according to his agent, Steve Zucker, McMahon has had no problem with the demotion.

“Jim has not complained one moment about not being in there,” Zucker said. “It’s a whole lot different than in Chicago. In Chicago, Mike Ditka took his job away from him, that’s why Jim wanted out.

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“In San Diego, it’s only natural that they want to see what Tolliver can do. He’s a tremendously-talented quarterback. But if San Diego was 8-4 instead of 4-8, I’m sure they would have left Jim as the quarterback.

“I think Jim had an excellent year. You’ve got to remember, most of the touchdown passes that Jim threw in Chicago were on audibles. San Diego doesn’t call audibles, and that limits Jim’s options.

“Who knows what lies ahead. Jim wants to stay in San Diego, but I don’t think anyone can predict what the future will hold there.”

Of course, that’s been the Chargers’ problem all along, right?

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