Seau Takes Pain In Stride Toward Victory

Junior Seau was gimping. Junior Seau was limping. Junior Seau could hardly walk.

However, Junior Seau could run.

Don’t tell him his groin injury was going to keep him out of that football game Sunday against the Denver Broncos. Don’t tell him for a second. Don’t tell him for a play.

And don’t try telling John Elway and Co. how badly Seau was injured and how much he was hobbled.

Seau did not make the headline plays, the interceptions. They went to Gill Byrd, who must number Elway among his prized possessions, and Tony Blaylock. Seau was just a consistent presence throughout the game.

As badly and as constantly as Seau’s groin injury nagged him, he personally nagged Elway more.

This was perhaps the biggest game the Chargers have played in Seau’s three years as a professional. Skip that “perhaps.” This was the most meaningful game the Chargers have played in his three years.

They needed a win to put them into the “pennant race” in the AFC West . . . and they got it, 24-21.

You think Seau was going to miss this over a groin injury?

“I didn’t do anything to help it today,” he said, “but, if there was a game this year I’d risk pulling the groin worse, I’d risk pulling it against Denver.”

Because?

“I knew this was a big game,” he said. “Coming into this game, we were on the fence. This game was going to affect our whole season. It could make it or break it.”

The Chargers came crashing down off that fence on the right side. They are there with Denver and Kansas City and the Raiders. They lose to Denver and they land back on the wrong side with Seattle.

Denver obviously heard this stuff about Seau’s injury. It did what everyone in the world, including Seau, expected it would do. It tested him.

On four of its first five possessions, Denver ran the ball into Seau’s neighborhood. Sammie Smith got mugged for minus-one yard. Sammie Smith got mugged for no gain. Gaston Green got mugged for no gain. Sammie Smith got mugged after a gain of one. Seau’s neighborhood was one tough place to visit.

“My role in the game plan,” Seau said, “was to stop the run and get in the way of Elway and contain him. I knew with my injury I wouldn’t be rushing (the quarterback), but I knew I could still play a decent linebacker.”

Seau still managed to get into Elway’s face . . . almost literally.

On the third and three play early in the second quarter, Elway squirmed away from the rush as he does so well. He started to run loose up the middle toward a first down. Seau loomed ahead. Elway pulled up quickly and cut loose with a pass.

Seau went into the air and spiked that ball as surely as a volleyball player spikes a shot high over the net. You get a gold medal for that type of thing at the Olympics. It might have been the hardest hit of the day.

It was that way all day.

Everywhere Elway looked, Seau was there. He almost had to be wondering how many players were wearing No. 55 for the Chargers. He may see that number in his sleep . . . or his nightmares.

At one point in the third period, Seau brought Elway down by the ankles just as he released a pass. He stayed down, pounding his fists into the turf. The coaches sent in a substitute.

Seau was less than pleased.

“I was angry with the coaches,” he said. “I was frustrated with not making the play. I said, ‘I’m not hurt. I just want to be around the ball. Showing frustration has nothing to do with pain. Don’t even ask me about pain.’ They understand now.”

Seau missed one play. Denver gained 18 yards on a screen over the middle. That would have been Seau’s neighborhood.

I never saw him on the sidelines again, not when Denver had the ball.

When this game ended, the leading tackler on both teams was the one who did not want to be asked about pain. He had eight tackles, two assists and two passes defensed.

The name is pronounced “Say-Ow,” as it ouch, but it should really be pronounced “Say-Wow.”

San Diego fans have come to love this kid from Oceanside, even if he did detour through USC. They clamored for his attention as he came off the field, waving a towel and then his cap, and then throwing his gloves toward the stands.

And they probably were not even aware of how tough an afternoon it had been for him, playing in that pain he acknowledged only with that grudging limp.

It’s hard to imagine, but they would have loved him more.

“Hey,” he said, “the crowd’s always been great to Junior Seau and his family. I’m a performer and this is my stage. I hope I give ‘em what they pay for.”

What more could anyone ask than heart and soul . . . and body?