Seau is Running From His Record

In a crowded locker room Sunday, Junior Seau’s empty cubicle spoke eloquently to the impact he has had in improving the Chargers this season.

The linebacker who would be king has been lost in battle.

After making a major blunder in Sunday’s 17-7 loss to Houston, a tight-lipped Seau raced from the Chargers’ locker room as quickly as he had following his ejection in the final preseason game with the Raiders.

Seau, who will earn an average of $56,562 a Sunday for 16 such days a season for the next five years, apparently has an aversion to sticking around after a three-hour football game.

He indicated Monday he wasn’t really running from the post-game questions, but Carl Lewis should be so fast.

With a disappointing track record as the team’s first-round pick, the answers do not come easy for Seau. Until he records that first sack or gets that first interception, he will be known best for being at his worst.

He was thrown out of his professional debut after two plays for fighting, contributed to a Dallas scoring drive with a 15-yard penalty for spearing, and aided Houston’s winning effort with a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for “leaping.”

“You can only go so low,” he said.

But he was leaping when he was supposed to be just standing. Three weeks earlier in Dallas officials had warned both Seau and special teams coordinator Larry Pasquale about leaping, but it’s become increasingly apparent to some coaches in the organization that you don’t tell the head-strong Seau anything.

Off the field a sullen Seau has looked like a young man who is packing a grudge. It does not appear that he has ever recovered from being forced to accept Bobby Beathard’s ultimatum and sign a five-year $4.525-million contract.

He was hailed as a hero-to-be when he was drafted, but when he was introduced to San Diego fans in the Chargers’ first home game, many booed.

“I didn’t even hear it,” Seau said. “I’d love to have everyone on my side, but that’s just not possible. I can’t deal with that; I have a job to do.

“Knowing what I know now, I still don’t see what I did wrong. Or where I went wrong. The public sees this athlete and he’s playing a game he loves and getting paid so much money. But the fact is, it doesn’t last, so you have to take care of yourself.”

His training camp holdout, however, has resulted in an unproductive and even destructive start. It also has become an irritant to teammates who are now paying the price for his mistakes.

“Junior’s going to be fine,” Beathard insisted. “You have to take the personality of a player into consideration. He’s a guy that gets easily frustrated when things aren’t going his way.”

He gets so uptight, that at times it makes you wonder if he’s going to take his shoulder pads and go home. Or stomp his feet and pout.

“The thing we have to watch out for with Junior,” Beathard said, “is that he doesn’t get too down on himself.”

The outgoing Seau, the young man who was just happy to be playing football in his hometown, has been a no-show since signing his contract. The last time this guy cracked a smile, Jack McKeon was still manager of the Padres.

In minicamp, before money became so important, the rookie earned immediate respect for quickly becoming one of the boys. He was palling around with linebackers Gary Plummer and Billy Ray Smith, and was very much a part of the noisy fun and games that come with boys being boys.

Now he’s on his own. A loner.

“I know there’s no way I can go out there and convince everybody in our locker room that everything will be better,” Seau said. “I just gotta go out there and do it. I can’t worry about it. If I’m looking at everybody else wondering what they’re thinking about me, I’m not concentrating.

“You just can’t be fun-loving when things aren’t going right,” he said. “It hurts . . . It hasn’t gone like I thought it would. I take it all in and I’d like to just choke myself.”

Seau’s unimpressive start has become a microcosm of what is happening with the 1-3 Chargers. Both came into this season full of promise, and now both continue to aggravate in their delay to deliver.

“I haven’t gone out there on the field yet feeling like Junior Seau the football player,” he said. “I had high expectations and I still do. But there are things I’ve just got to learn.

“Right now it’s more than a chore to come to work because I put a lot of pressure on myself. I gotta do something.”

In his zeal to live up to expectations, an impetuous Seau has been caught going too far. Fighting, spearing, leaping--young, eager and, might one say, immature?

“You can’t label me immature for having those penalties,” Seau said. “If you’re going to call me immature, then call the vets immature who jumped offsides.

“Penalties are going to happen. And when they do, you have to take blame for it. That’s maturity.”

Last year defensive end Burt Grossman matured into a first-rate defender after missing training camp and starting slowly. In the final nine games, he recorded nine sacks. This season, he’s tied for the team lead with Leslie O’Neal with 3 1/22 sacks.

“It’s going to happen for Junior, too,” Beathard said. “It’s just a matter of when.”

Patience. It’s already a prerequisite for anyone having an interest in the Chargers. But explain that to a tightly wound Seau, who has been knocked off track by the weight of his expectations.

“We haven’t even touched what Junior Seau can do,” Seau said. “Junior Seau hasn’t even stepped on the field yet. Get me out there now. Things are going to break.”