A Big Day for the Seau Family as the NFL Begins at Home

At 6 a.m. Sunday, the telephone rang at the Seau home in Oceanside.

Early in the morning on NFL draft day, the biggest day of his life, Tiaini Seau Jr. wanted to talk with Tiaini Seau Sr.

His father had never been too sure about this draft thing, anyway. For awhile, he tried to convince his son, known as Junior, to stay at USC. But Junior, a junior, said he was ready for the pros. Didn’t want to risk a career-threatening injury in his senior year at USC. Thought his family could use the money.

Now there was no turning back. Junior was in a New York hotel, and he was about to walk downstairs and into the NFL. After the phone call.

He wanted to be sure that his family would be watching the draft together so that they would be there when he called again later. And he wanted to make sure everything was OK at home. He knew his parents were just as nervous as he was.

“He told me not to worry,” Tiaini Sr. said. “He asked me to pray for him. We told him we’d pray and that he should pray, too.”

It was about 3 1/2 hours later that Junior Seau learned he was coming home.

The Chargers picked him fifth.

There were television cameras, a flight from New York to a news conference in San Diego and all of the hoopla that goes along with being a first-round NFL draft pick.

In the coming months, there will be a contract to negotiate, with lots of zeros and fine print.

But right now, all Junior Seau knew was that he was coming home.

“There’s nothing like coming back home,” he said. “I’d give up a couple of hundred thousand dollars to come back home.

“You can’t buy happiness. It’s a business we’re in, but happiness is the key to life. (Eric) Dickerson can vouch for that.”

He was talking on the telephone, sitting in his agent’s hotel room. He had already spoken with NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue. NBC was waiting.

It was a couple of hours after the Chargers had announced their pick, but that didn’t matter. It could have been anytime Sunday. The questions kept coming, and Seau kept answering.

It started with a conference call to press headquarters in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium a little while after he was picked.

“My biggest adjustment will be the money,” he said. “I can’t even grasp a million dollars. We live off an income of $60,000 a year, my mom and dad together, so it’s an overwhelming situation right now.

“My family should be happy, because they’re moving.”

Seau’s father is a custodian at El Camino High and is suffering from heart problems. His mother is retired.

Now, with a first-round salary on the way, Seau, who has five brothers and two sisters, would like to see his father retire.

“That’s the way he talks to me for a long time,” Tiaini Sr. said. “I told him that’s a long way--I’m only 56. But if my son say, ‘Daddy, you stop work. Don’t go to work no more,’ then I retire.”

This day has been in the back of their minds since Seau’s days at Oceanside High, when he played both wide receiver and outside linebacker. Parade selected him as an All-American in 1986 and then got stumped when putting together the team chart for the magazine. So they listed his position as “athlete.” When the season finished, Oceanside retired his jersey, No. 11.

Now, he’s back.

“Being drafted by San Diego is an opportunity to be at home,” he said. “I can be a role model for the youth. I feel I left a great impression with San Diego County. We, as the people there in San Diego, need a winning franchise. And I feel I can contribute.”

Said Larry Smith, his USC coach: “I think, first off, we’re all very pleased for him. San Diego made an excellent choice I think, really. I’m very pleased that he got drafted this high.

“Coming out (of school) early worked out well for him.”

It has been a quick rise for Seau. He had to sit out his freshman season at USC in 1987 because he didn’t meet NCAA Proposition 48 standards.

Then, he sprained an ankle during fall practice his sophomore season, missed the opener and was Craig Hartsuyker’s backup at outside linebacker.

As a junior last season, he was a consensus All-American.

But it was his first season as a starter. He had been through just two fall practices and one spring session.

None of that mattered. The Chargers thought he was ready for the NFL.

“He seems like a particularly mature individual,” said Bobby Beathard, Charger general manager. “I think he is ready to come into the league right now.”

Said Charger Coach Dan Henning: “We don’t have any concerns about him playing in this league. Not based on lack of experience in college, not based on lack of intelligence or on compatibility or height or weight or speed. I don’t see any holes that this guy would have that would not allow him to be an outstanding player in this league.”

Until about 1 1/2 weeks ago, Seau didn’t think the Chargers were interested. But they brought him in for a workout, and things began to fall into place.

“He’s a super character guy as far as we’re concerned,” said Ron Lynn, Charger defensive coordinator. “Everything we know about the guy is very, very positive. He had all of the right answers in the workout and interviews when we had him in.”

Seau was so eager during the workout that he rammed into linebacker coach Mike Haluchak hard enough during a man-to-man pass coverage drill that Haluchak pulled a hamstring.

“He said to come up in a bump-and-run,” Seau said. “I knew it was a situation where they thought I was weak at, so I just wanted to (show) them what I can do.

“I didn’t mean to hurt the guy.”

One of the biggest knocks on Seau, maybe, is that he sometimes plays with too much intensity.

“Junior has a lot of fun playing football,” Smith said. “He plays so hard sometimes that he hurts himself. Pro football is a job. I think the every day grind of practicing and playing, and the longer season, will be tough.”

Said Lynn: “I think he’s a reckless player, but I wouldn’t want that to connote out of control. Maybe enthusiastic is a better term. He has little regard for injury. He plays with the kind of enthusiasm we like to have.”

He was certainly enthused to get back home. Steve Feldman, his agent, told the media in New York Saturday that Tampa Bay, which had the pick ahead of San Diego, would have a hard time signing Seau. The Buccaneers were looking for a linebacker, and they drafted Keith McCants of Alabama.

“We’re ecstatic, simply ecstatic,” Feldman said. “Junior was more than willing to be the second linebacker taken if he could get back home. There’s plenty of money anywhere in the first round. Being close to his family meant everything to him.”

Said Seau: “When I think of the draft, I think of going home. I can’t wipe that off my mind right now.”