Seattle Provoked Cox on Crucial Penalty, Henning Contends

Imagine how difficult it is to win in the National Football League when everyone has it in for you.

Take last week: Coach Dan Henning pointed out that the officials saw the Chiefs doing even more dastardly deeds than the Chargers, but he said, officials chose to penalize only San Diego.

In discussing the team’s 13-10 overtime loss Monday to Seattle, Henning suggested now it’s the officials and the dirty-dealing opposition who have combined to gang up on the woebegone Chargers.

Henning made a point to condemn tight end Arthur Cox for drawing a 15-yard personal foul for spitting into the face of Seattle linebacker Joe Cain, but then the coach said it was the other team’s fault for provoking his player.

“You need to get the tape and look at it,” Henning said. “There were two personal fouls in the game that I don’t think are completely justified, but I can’t go into that with you. I’m not allowed to do that. If you look closely at the tape or look at the TV copy, you’ll see them.”

After viewing a “TV copy” of Sunday night’s loss, it looked as if Cox was penalized 15 yards for spitting on Cain a few seconds after the 233-pound Cain had pushed the 277-pound Cox.

In the other instance, Charger linebacker Steve Hendrickson was seen kicking Cain after Cain had kicked him. Both players were penalized for personal fouls.

“You need to see the tape and see what’s going on with that particular player, not only with Arthur, but with a number of other players on the team,” Henning said. “That same guy is responsible for actions in there that caused Steve to lose his poise, and Arthur to lose his.

“Neither one of our particular players, from a team standpoint, (has) a right to lose (his) poise, but that particular player needs to be marked for legal action from our team. That means if we’re going to take it out on him, we need to do it within the legal ramifications of the game.”

Henning refused to identify the player, although it appeared to be Cain. Cox walked by reporters without comment Monday.

The Seahawks, meanwhile, have made it known they were gunning for Cox, all right, because as cornerback Patrick Hunter said, Cox is a well-known “cheap-shot artist.”

“We have to avoid the inability we’ve had here lately to get goaded into getting personal foul penalties,” Henning said. “There have been a great many times in the game that things happen to him (Cox) that haven’t been called. The natural human tendency is to get revenge, but you can’t do it from a team standpoint.”

The 15-yard penalty on Cox pushed the Chargers back to the Seattle 16-yard line. Instead of being in position to score a touchdown, they settled for a field goal.

“Guys aren’t stupid; there are some rock heads out here, but if they understand there is a guy they can provoke, they’re going to do it,” Charger linebacker Gary Plummer said. “I would say people are going after him (Cox) just because they know he’s volatile.

“It’s smart, I do it all the time. I see guys on film getting in fights and I’ll go and provoke them. I provoked Denver’s Keith Kartz into a 15-yard penalty. You just have to be smarter than that.”

Last week, Cox was penalized 15 yards for kicking a Chiefs’ defender. He also was involved in several altercations with Kansas City linebacker Derrick Thomas. Thomas was penalized 15 yards for taking a poke at Cox.

“Personal fouls in my mind are unacceptable,” Henning said. “They come out of frustration and are caused by lack of personal discipline, and they are debilitating to the team. If it continues to happen, you don’t play him.”

Henning said he will consider reducing Cox’s playing time, but as General Manager Bobby Beathard pointed out later, “Cox is our best blocker.”

Cox caught six passes for 53 yards against the Seahawks, including an eight-yard touchdown pass. But he also fumbled twice: The first took away the Chargers’ chance to win the game with a fourth-quarter field goal, and the second set up Seattle’s winning kick in overtime.

Of course, it might never have come down to Cox had the Chargers not been victimized by an official’s inadvertent whistle. Seattle’s Chris Warren had fumbled a punt at the Seahawks’ 30-yard line, and the Chargers recovered.

The officials, however, gave the ball to Seattle because the play had been blown dead.

“No comment,” Henning said when asked it. “We wouldn’t want to be harsh on these officials now. We might get misinterpreted.”

Or Henning might get a personal reprimand from Commissioner Paul Tagliabue worth far more than 15 yards.