NOTEBOOK / T.J. SIMERS : Who Gets the Game Ball? Chargers Take a Flier
After the Chargers rocked the Seahawks, 31-14, Sunday, safety Martin Bayless gathered his teammates together in the locker room to honor Seattle’s visiting clubhouse assistant.
Highly unorthodox, to be sure, but you should have heard the applause from the Chargers.
The players presented a game ball to Dave Walker--the Air Force’s Master Sergeant Dave Walker, who recently flew to the Middle East, and who will be doing so again in the near future.
“It was Dan’s (Henning, coach) idea,” Bayless said. “This gentleman is a pilot and he’s going to the Middle East, and we wanted to wish him and his family well, and hopefully he’ll come back healthy.”
Walker appeared overwhelmed by the presentation.
“I’ve already gone over once,” he said. “I can’t tell you where, though. Sorry. Watch the news . . . Our unit was activated--the 97th Military Airlift Squadron at McCord Air Force Base.”
Walker said he’ll probably give the ball to his son, although, “he’s actually a Bears’ fan.”
After the players handed Walker the ball, they took turns stepping forward to autograph it.
“We always think about we what do on Sunday as a game, and some people look on it as a war,” Bayless said. “There’s no war like what’s going on over there, though. Thank God I’m over here and not in his shoes. We wish him good luck from the San Diego Chargers.”
So the Super Bowl is in Tampa this year . . .
The Chargers vaulted into third place in the AFC West with Sunday’s victory, and now are two games behind the division-leading Raiders. And get this--they are two-point favorites in Sunday’s game against the Denver Broncos at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.
“There are going to be three teams that are going to go as wild cards,” linebacker Gary Plummer said, “and we feel like we have a great shot.”
Smelling salts, please.
If the playoffs were to begin today, the loser in the Bills-Dolphins tiebreaker (each team is 7-1) would qualify for a wild-card berth. Kansas City (5-3) also would get a postseason bid. And the loser of the Cincinnati-Pittsburgh tiebreaker (each is 5-4) would gain entry, while the tiebreaker winners would claim division titles along with the Raiders.
Now if the Chargers could beat Kansas City and if Cincinnati were to stumble . . .
Seattle’s press corps could not understand why Coach Dan Henning had replaced Marion Butts with Rod Bernstine. The San Diego press corps, of course, defended the Chargers’ astute field boss.
But not for the right reason.
It figured Henning was giving Butts a break, and Bernstine playing time. But Butts said later, “I took myself out of the game.
“I got a thigh bruise against the Raiders two weeks ago and irritated it again in this game.”
Butts ran nine times for 50 yards in the first half, and five times for nine yards in the second half. Bernstine gained 61 yards in 19 carries.
“It’s for the better; we were winning,” Butts said. “There was no reason to stay in there. I got to get ready for next week.”
For your reading enjoyment, we now bring you that wacky, wild and crazy Burt Grossman, and all the controversy that comes with listening to him talk.
“Well, it was a great team effort,” he said. “We put it all together. We won the big one. All cylinders were clicking today. It was a great team win.”
Look for Grossman, however, to urge the Chargers to petition the league and have it overturn the sack that was awarded to Lee Williams.
Grossman appeared to have the edge on Williams, but the announcer gave the call to Williams. Last week the league took half a sack away from Williams and gave it to teammate Henry Rolling.
“Don’t worry, come Thursday that sack will be mine,” Grossman said, when reminded by teammate Leslie O’Neal that O’Neal now has 7 1/2 sacks and Grossman eight.
Some folks call him “Sleepy,” and others refer to him as “Pinky.” But step aside Manute Bol, here comes Eric (Slammin’ Jammin’) Floyd.
In the third quarter, the Chargers were at the Seattle three-yard line and Billy Joe Tolliver tried to throw a pass to Derrick Walker. Seattle linebacker Tony Woods, however, batted the ball into the air and it appeared as if two Seahawk defenders would have the chance to intercept it.
But Floyd, the Chargers’ 300-pound tackle, glided over and leaped into the air to spike the ball to the ground. Stand back, Michael Jordan.
It was instinctive genius.
“I had no thought of catching it, because I never get the chance to touch the ball,” Floyd said.
So much for trends. Of the 24 teams to have a bye, 10 have played against teams the following week who have had to play a game the preceding week.
Before Sunday’s results, the team with the bye had gone 6-2 against the teams who had failed to win with a week off. Sunday, however, the Chargers defeated the Seahawks and the Minnesota Vikings knocked off the Broncos.
The Chargers draw a bye Dec. 9, and will return to play the Broncos the following week in Mile High Stadium.
The Seahawks take pride in their special teams play, but you’d never know it by watching Sunday’s game.
In the first quarter, Charger punter John Kidd lofted a kick to running back Chris Warren at the Seattle 31. As Warren prepared to field the ball, teammate Melvin Jenkins tried to put a block on Donnie Elder.
A distracted Warren muffed the return and Chargers’ special teams captain Richard Brown recovered at the 30.
The Chargers went on to average 18 yards a punt return, which included Nate Lewis’ 63-yard touchdown, while also averaging 21 yards a kickoff return to 19 yards a return for the Seahawks.
In his rookie season, wide receiver Quinn Early caught four touchdown passes, and at times, overshadowed Anthony Miller.
Early, however, suffered a knee injury his sophomore season, and appeared to have to lost the explosiveness he had as a rookie upon his return. At the same time, General Manager Bobby Beathard drafted two promising receivers in Nate Lewis and Walter Wilson, and it looked as if Early was too late in his bid to return.
But he has held his ground, and against the Seahawks he had three catches for 55 yards, including a 45-yard touchdown.
He also made an apparent diving 26-yard catch for a touchdown, but it was negated when the officials ruled that he had trapped the ball.
“I’ll tell you, I faced a little bit of adversity at the beginning of the year,” Early said. “A few people were skeptical about whether I was healthy or not. I don’t believe in taking a bad attitude because of what people say. I’m just trying to rise above it.”
In 1986, the Chargers selected Leslie O’Neal with the eighth selection in the first round after swinging a deal with Minnesota to jump from the 14th position. The Vikings used the 14th pick then to take defensive lineman Gerald Robinson.
Robinson is now with the Chargers, and Sunday he recorded his first sack since 1986.
Like O’Neal, Robinson suffered a devastating knee injury. Minnesota, however, did not stick with Robinson as the Chargers did with O’Neal, and released him. The Chargers signed him in 1989 and, for much of the season, allowed him to stay on injured reserve and strengthen his knee.
Against the Seahawks, they put Robinson to work, and in the third quarter he dropped Dave Krieg for a 13-yard loss and forced a fumble, which was recovered by Seattle.
So much for Mr. Perfect.
After replacing Fuad Reveiz, John Carney went nine for nine in field goals. But on his first attempt in ideal-no-wind-it’s-indoors-for-heaven’s-sake, he missed from 36 yards.
He began a new streak later, however, with a successful kick from 20 yards.
Don’t count Chargers’ defensive back Anthony Shelton among those who favor instant replay.
Shelton had his hands up in celebration after it appeared he had recorded his first NFL interception in the second quarter. But instant replay officials indicated that Shelton did not keep both feet inbounds, thereby making it an incomplete pass.
The Kingdome noise claimed tackle Joel Patten in the second quarter, and they got the whole right side of the Chargers’ offensive line on the following play.
The Chargers had third and 10 at their 42 when the crowd decided to stretch its vocal chords. Patten jumped too soon, and the Chargers were pushed back to the 37. Guard David Richards was tagged on the next play with a false start and the ball went back to the 32.
By now the folks in Tacoma could hear the fans in the Kingdome, and so the Chargers surrendered. They ran Ronnie Harmon up the middle for five yards and then punted.