CHARGER UPDATE : NOTEBOOK : Obscurity Helped Walker Sneak Up on the Broncos

Trivia question for the die-hard Charger fan: Name the three players on the 47-man roster who have started the most games in a row?

Courtney Hall. Correct.

David Richards. Correct .

How about . . . forget it, you’ll never get it.

Derrick Walker.

Walker has started 36 games in a row for the Chargers, and you might have to tell some people who he is.

Walker is the Chargers’ starting tight end, just as Kellen Winslow was a few years ago, and he’s been there blocking for a running game that has received rave reviews the past three years. He’s also the team’s No. 3 receiver this season, and he’s always there on the field, and yet few take note.

That probably explains why the Denver Broncos all but ignored him Sunday. Walker caught four passes for 104 yards, including a 27-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Stan Humphries.

Walker also provided the Chargers and their fans with one of the most exciting plays of the season. Walker hauled in a short pass and turned up field to see no one in front of him.

Walker began running, and while fans had time to hit the washroom and check out the snack bar before he finished, he covered 59 yards before being pushed out of bounds at the two-yard line.

“Coach (Bobby) Ross made some crack on Monday about a piano being on my back when we watched the film of the game,” Walker said. “That’s fine, I don’t mind that, because if that’s being said on Monday that means we won on Sunday.”

Just how slow is Walker, however? Observers suggested that he would finish second in a two-man race to equipment manager Sid Brooks.

“I could beat Sid Brooks in a race,” said Walker, who claimed he caught a 71-yard pass in high school while outracing a pair of defensive backs. “Hey, I got speed. I’m going to have to go out there and run a 40-yard dash for you.”

Since the recent time change, though, the days may no longer be long enough to accommodate such a lengthy experience.

“I’m very high on Derrick Walker,” Ross said. “He is a very, very complete football player. There’s nothing flashy about him, that was evident when he caught the ball and there was that long, long run. He’s caught some kidding from that already.

“He can play the physical game and handle the blocking, he can catch the football and he is an extremely smart football player. If you checked our personnel charts, you’d see that Derrick is on every personnel group but one. He has to learn different positions relative to those groups. And his mental assignment breakdowns are minimum; I just think he’s a heck of a football player.”

Walker is the Chargers’ third leading receiver with 19 catches for 221 yards, and he’s the only receiver other than Anthony Miller to catch a touchdown pass.

“I gave the ball from my first touchdown my rookie year to my mother,” he said. “This one goes to my father.”

When does he get to keep a ball?

“Hopefully, this week,” he said. “The next one is mine, and then the rest after that I’ll just let the refs handle.”

Ross said tight end Duane Young played on 34 plays and received 33 positive marks after being graded out on his performance.

“That’s a heck of a job,” Ross said.

Ross said he might add a running back to the roster at the end of the week. The Chargers are carrying running backs Peter Tuipulotu and Harold Griffith on their practice squad, and one of them would be the most likely to be promoted.

“I don’t like going into a game with three backs, and that’s what we did,” Ross said. “If we were to make a move that would be the area. We’re gambling going into a game with three backs.”

The Chargers are six-point favorites to defeat the Colts for the second time in a span of three weeks.

“It was a good win for us (against Denver), but it doesn’t do anything more though than just put us at 3-4, and you have to put something like that behind you real quickly,” Ross said. “Indianapolis (4-3) is even more in the hunt and contention for a possible playoff spot, than we are in ours. So this game has a tremendous amount of meaning to them.”

The Chargers defeated the Colts, 34-14, in Indianapolis two weeks ago.

“There is a lot riding on this football game for us once again,” Ross said. “We can get ourselves into a tie with Kansas City, and if we can get this win we’re at 4-4 and in second place. So the game is a very, very significant one to us.”