CHARGER REVIEW : NOTEBOOK : Butts’ 128-Yard Effort is Wasted

Had they won, Chris Berman would have been ballyhooing Marion Butts for player-of-the-game honors.

In defeat, however, there goes Butts’ 128 yards on 28 rushes without notice.

Butts now has rushed for 100 or more yards in four games this season, and five times in his career. He had only seven yards on three carries after the first quarter of play, but exploded for 121 yards in the final three quarters.

“This is a very emotional loss,” Butts said. “Mistakes just killed us, but you don’t cast a person aside because of a mistake. We win and lose as a team. We all make mistakes, me, too.”

As crimes go, it won’t qualify for “Top Cops” or any of these other new-fangled TV shows. But if you ask Donald Frank, he wuz robbed.

Frank, the Chargers’ rookie cornerback, dived for an errant Dave Krieg pass in the end zone in the final seconds of the first half. He appeared to have caught the ball, but the official on the spot ruled that the ball had touched the ground.

Instant replay failed to change the opinion.

“It was a bad call,” Frank said. “I know it was a hard play for the officials to see, but I clearly caught the ball. It bounced up a little, but I had my hands underneath. I caught it, but I guess that’s the breaks.”

The Seahawks went to kicker Norm Johnson on the next play for a 26-yard field goal to tie the game at 3.

Why? Why? Why?

The Chargers had the ball at the Seattle 32 with under a minute to play in regulation and were in position for John Carney to attempt a 49-yard field goal to break a 10-10 tie.

But instead they had Billy Joe Tolliver throw a short pass to tight end Arthur Cox, and Cox fumbled.

“We felt we were in marginal to long field goal range,” assistant head coach Ted Tollner said. “We could have run the ball into the middle of the field and tried a 47-yard field goal. But that’s tough.

“So we decided to try a safe pass. Something quick with no chance of a sack or a loss of yardage. As it turned out, it was a bad call because we fumbled.”

Linebacker Billy Ray Smith was taken to the locker room to have an elbow injury X-rayed early in the third quarter. The X-rays were negative, but trainers determined that he had suffered a hyper-extension and he did not return to the game.

The Chargers suspect there may be tendon damage. Smith will be re-examined today. It was apparent that he was having trouble using his arm as he dressed in the lockeroom after the game.

Also injured in the game was running back Joe Mickles, signed by the Chargers Wednesday for special teams duties. He strained his quadricep in the second quarter and did not return.

Charger owner Alex Spanos was admitted to Dameron Hospital in Stockton Saturday night for treatment of kidney stones. Spanos is expected to remain in the hospital for two or three days.

Receiver Anthony Miller was used as a kickoff returner Sunday for the first time since the season-opening loss at Dallas. He was put in in the fourth quarter and he went 15-yards on the return. It was then nullified when the Chargers accepted an offsides penalty on the Seahawks. Nate Lewis fielded the subsequent kickoff and returned it 10 yards.

Ever since Joe Caravello’s season ended because of a knee injury, H-back Craig McEwen has tried to pick up the slack. Problem is, McEwen isn’t the load that Caravello is. McEwen weighs about 225, Caravello about 275.

“Joe Caravello goes up against a Mack truck if he has to and probably comes out on top,” McEwen said. “The thing I have to do is try to fill the void. I don’t think I’m going to be able to do that, but I’m doing what I can.”

McEwen caught a 12-yard pass from Billy Joe Tolliver in the second quarter to give the Chargers a first and goal at the 1. Marion Butts got stuffed for no gain on the next play and tight end Arthur Cox was assessed a personal foul. The Chargers had to settle for a field goal.

“When you lose,” McEwen said, “you don’t think about catching that kind of pass, it’s more like ‘Geez, why didn’t I score?”

More than a dozen reporters were gathered around tight end Arthur Cox in the locker room after the game. The television lights were on. Cox, whose two fumbles late in the game helped give Seattle their victory, stood with his back to the crowd and didn’t say a word.

After nearly a minute, cornerback Gill Byrd came over and asked Cox if he wanted to talk. Cox said: “No,” and Byrd turned and said: “Let him go, leave him alone. He doesn’t feel like talking.” With that, everbody turned and walked away.

An inadvertent whistle was blown in the third quarter after Charger safety Lester Lyles interfered with the fair catch of Seattle’s Chris Warren. Warren dropped the ball and the Chargers recovered but Seattle was awarded possession because of the interference.

The whistle, blown by field judge Bobby Skelton, prompted a minute of confusion for both teams.

“The receiver was running away from me and he gave a fair catch signal,” Skelton said. “I thought he caught the ball and I blew the whistle. The next thing I knew, the ball was on the ground.”

Because the play is dead once the whistle blows, referee Dale Hamer ruled it was an inadvertent whistle and the ball was re-spotted.