Miller Demonstrates That He’s Learned a Lott

What’s good for the parts may ultimately prove to be better for the whole.

The matter at hand was a catch that could have serious repercussions not only for the player who caught it and the one who threw it, but also for rest of the team.

It happened in the second quarter at Jack Murphy Stadium. The Chargers were trailing the San Francisco 49ers, 14-7.

On first and 10 at San Diego’s 29, Billy Joe Tolliver threw low over the middle, right into the waiting arms of 49er free safety Ronnie Lott, a man not known for turning away gift interceptions. But wait. Somehow, Anthony Miller, the man for whom the pass was intended all along, came up with the ball and a 41-yard reception.

While the Chargers had to settle for a 26-yard field goal on the drive, the catch was, according to Charlie Joiner, the Chargers’ receivers coach, the kind that can turn a team around. And in this case, it is a team already headed in the right direction.

“It’s a breakthrough for him and a breakthrough for the quarterbacks,” Joiner said. “And when you can make those kind of plays, it’s a breakthrough for the team.”

Joiner said Miller is beginning to learn how to read defenses, and for a player who didn’t play much before he joined the Chargers--he divided his time between football and track at Tennessee and missed five games his senior year because of a knee injury--he’s a little bit ahead of where Joiner would expect him to be at this point.

And Joiner said it was the first time Miller has battled for a ball.

“That’s something he hasn’t done, or hasn’t had to do,” Joiner said. “Go up and fight for the ball. Now we see he can do that. Quarterbacks won’t be afraid to put the ball up to him, even when he’s covered.”

Miller said he just knew he had to try and prevent the interception.

“I know I had to go up and try to break it up at least,” he said, “and then when I felt I had a chance to get it, I just went for the ball.”

Said Lott: “He’s got a chance to be one of the best receivers in football. He has speed, strength, runs good patterns, and he’s very aggressive.”

Miller, who finished with eight catches for 143 yards, downplayed any talk that he was out to prove himself against a team that has Jerry Rice, considered by many to be the league’s best receiver, and Lott, a perennial Pro Bowl player.

“I just feel like I want people to see that I can compete with (Rice),” he said. “Lott is a great defensive back, but I was just playing against him and trying to come up with a good play.”

Said Joiner: “He played with confidence. He was up for the challenge, being across the field from Jerry Rice.”

Most grateful to Miller was Tolliver, who was saved not once but twice from having egg on his face for misthrown balls.

“He can play the game,” Tolliver said of Miller. “He made two excellent catches on passes that could have been intercepted.”