CHARGERS NOTEBOOK DON PATTERSON : Nelson Back Because He Has the Right Part

Maybe it’s Dan Henning’s powers of persuasion. Or maybe it’s just that the game of football can be an awful lot of fun.

Whatever, Darrin Nelson keeps showing up. He came to the Chargers with 10 games remaining in the season last year when the Dallas Cowboys gave him up for a fifth-round draft choice, after the Minnesota Vikings had shipped him to Dallas for one game as part of the Herschel Walker trade.

At the time, the veteran running back thought about retiring. Why move the wife and kids from an area they like when he already had a good off-season career as a financial planner? Was it worth it to pack up and join a team that was stumbling through the season?

“The whole Dallas trade just got to me to the point where I said ‘I don’t need this stuff,’ ” he said. “I was kind of thinking about (retiring) before I even came out here.”

Instead, he decided to give it a go and wound up having a great time, coming in often on third downs and occasionally on first, always looking to make a big play. Using his intelligence and jitterbug moves, Nelson averaged 5.5 yards a carry and 10.6 yards a catch. In general, though he might not have busted his tail on weekdays, he was productive on Sundays.

“Very accountable player on Sundays,” Henning said. “He played a hell of a lot better (on Sundays) than he did in practice.”

Nelson admits playing for the Chargers wound up being preferable to playing in Minnesota, where he said the atmosphere was a bit tense. Still, during the off-season, thoughts of retirement began to run through his head once again. Nine years in this business, and you begin to ponder self-preservation.

“This game,” Nelson said, “is really violent.”

Henning gave him a call in the off-season and told him the Chargers were very interested in having him back. Anyway, as Henning points out, Nelson makes a good deal more money playing football than he does as a nine-to-fiver.

And the Chargers’ offense is perfect for him. He can let the big guy, Marion Butts, all 248 pounds of Marion Butts, do the punishing stuff. He’ll take his 185 pounds and stay away from those redwood-sized linebackers, thanks.

“I had so much fun last year,” he said. “It’s a whole new role for me coming in on third down. I wasn’t in a position where I got really beat up a lot or anything. So I could enjoy the game a little more.”

So Darrin Nelson is back this season, a little bored with his ninth training camp but looking ahead to 16 more Sundays. More fun without a suit and tie. And certainly, he is welcome.

“We like him,” Henning said. “We’re convinced that he can help us.”

Welcome to the main event. In this corner, weighing 250 pounds, we have inside linebacker Cedric Figaro. In the far corner, checking in at 245 pounds, we have tight end Andy Parker.

Quick fight, though maybe no quicker than Tyson-Spinks. It was the second day in a row that two Chargers got into a scrape in practice. Wednesday’s bout was between rookie Frank Cornish, a center/guard from UCLA, and veteran inside linebacker Gary Plummer.

Henning’s reaction?

“I kind of like one a day,” he said, smiling. “It’s like vitamin pills.”

Only problem with Thursday’s was that Parker had to be treated for what was officially termed “a mouth injury.”

Tight end Arthur Cox, who suffered a back sprain in Wednesday’s practice, will likely miss Saturday’s exhibition with Dallas. Others injured this week who will miss the game are H-back Craig McEwen (hand), guard Chris Goetz (arthroscopic elbow surgery) and tackle Joey Howard (arthroscopic knee surgery).

Despite multiple injuries on the offensive line, the Chargers aren’t having any success locating replacements. Joel Patten, Leo Goeas and Howard are out, but General Manager Bobby Beathard says the Chargers will have to make do with what they have for now.

“There’s such a shortage of them that there just aren’t any out there,” he said. “There are a lot of teams in the same position.”