His Ego Hurt, Seau Shows Up : Chargers: After much thought and a long walk, the first-round draft choice signed his contract and began workouts.

After a morning of stalled talks and secret walks Monday, Junior Seau swallowed his pride and made up his mind.

He signed with the San Diego Chargers.

The signing of Seau, a linebacker out of Oceanside High and USC, wasn’t a surprise. That the process closely resembled the Theater of the Absurd was. Seau appeared to have ended what was a 34-day holdout Aug. 23, when he and agent Steve Feldman reached an agreement with Charger General Manager Bobby Beathard that would give Seau a five-year contract worth approximately $4.5 million.

The arrangement was that Seau wouldn’t play in Saturday’s exhibition against the 49ers--won 29-28 by the Chargers--but would report to camp Sunday.

So imagine the stir created when Seau was a no-show. He explained it was a simple case of missing three airline flights from Cancun, Mexico, where he was “soaking up the sun and relaxing.”

He also did some heavy thinking.

“My whole day yesterday I was trying to think of why I should renege, why I should just back out of this contract,” Seau said. “I didn’t come up with enough positive notes to do so. So I’m here. Mom and Dad are going to have a house, and I’m happy I’m working for Bobby Beathard and (Alex) Spanos, and I’m looking forward to helping out the team, to contribute, and be ready for a good year.”

Despite all his thinking, he still had second thoughts. Beathard and Seau met briefly before Feldman joined them, and when Beathard asked Seau if he was ready to sign, Seau and Feldman took an hourlong stroll on campus.

“I needed a walk,” Seau said. “(Feldman’s) my partner, and I wanted to make sure everything was going good for the both of us if we did sign. It’s not the best, but we were ready to deal.”

Seau maintained that all along, it was his decision to sign, not Feldman’s.

“That’s a big misconception,” Seau said. “Steve doesn’t talk me into anything. He brings it out and I decide. Steve was not holding out, Junior Seau held out himself.”

Asked if he felt the contract was forced on him, he said: “Shoved down the throat? No, but from the other end maybe. . . . It was something you felt like you had to do, it was done and I’m here. Bobby Beathard did a great job for his people and Steve did a great job for me.”

Feldman said that while they didn’t actually ask for more money, they met with Beathard in an attempt “to convey to this club that the contract being offered to Junior Seau was below market value,” he said. “It was an effort to indicate that the figure of the contract can’t be an exact science.”

Beathard said he thought the bottom line was always money, but both sides conceded that egos were a stumbling block as well.

“I think it’s just an issue of money,” he said. “But I think anytime you have an issue of money, both sides feel so differently about what it should be, and I think feelings were hurt. I think egos were bruised. Things happen like that, there’s an emotional side to it besides just the money, and when things get emotional, people are going to get hurt.”

Said Seau: “It’s not a loss. You know what it is? It’s ego. You know that thing called ego? Yeah, it hurts. But you go on and have to swallow some. You have to swallow some to get some, and that’s what we did.”

But why the change in heart over the weekend when terms were agreed upon Thursday?

“To get mentally prepared,” said Seau, who flew his mother to American Samoa to be with his seriously ill grandmother. “I had some problems with grandma. I’m frustrated that the press used grandma as an excuse for me to stay out and try to buy some time from Bobby Beathard. It was nothing like that.

“I’ll give up football for my family. It’s a sport I love and enjoy. I would play football for a dollar if you were paying everyone else a dollar. But you’re not. The market’s up, and I went for it and I lost.”

Said Feldman: “Bobby Beathard saw a man that didn’t want to sit out the season and he made his play.”

But how hard will the adjustment be for Seau, who has missed 37 days with the team?

“After two sacks I’ll be ready,” said Seau.

Outside linebacker Billy Ray Smith said the adjustment won’t be difficult.

“He’ll do fine,” Smith said. “He’ll do a great job. He’s intelligent. I think he has a real burning desire to excel.”

Seau said he will do his best to put the past behind him and get “down and dirty” about the business of football.

“I wanted (Beathard) to make sure you can’t pay me to lose,” Seau said. “Junior Seau is not one to say, ok, I didn’t get my way, I’m going to pout, I’m not going to go out there and help us lose. That just doesn’t work with me. You can’t pay me to lose and you never will.”

Beathard said he had no reason to believe that Seau would begin his shortened season with any harboring ill feelings or holding a grudge.

“I’m glad this is behind us,” Beathard said. “We’re happy to have him here, and there’s no indication that he wouldn’t give us his best.”

Charger Notes

Seven down, seven to go. The Chargers released cornerback Ken Berry, tight ends Dave Colonna and Tommie Stowers, defensive ends Derick Debnam and Mike Estes, linebacker Patrick Moore and nose tackle Doc Wise on Monday, bringing their roster to 67. The club still must trim the roster to an NFL-sanctioned 60 by today’s 1 p.m. deadline. . . . Five players were placed on injured reserve: guards Chris Goetz (elbow) and Mike Simmonds (knee), cornerback David Poole (hamstring), wide receiver Wayne Walker (knee) and linebacker Ken Woodard (elbow, knee). . . . Offensive tackle Leo Goeas, the Chargers third-round draft pick, practiced for the first time Monday since injuring his foot the first hour of training camp.