Carrington Has Made Most of Special Shot : NFL:After being cut by the Broncos, he decided to do just about anything to make the Chargers.

Darren Carrington had already been cut by the Denver Broncos and two summers ago in La Jolla, Carrington sensed the ax was coming down on him again.

After barely playing in the first exhibition game, it was becoming clear to Carrington that he was not a favorite of Coach Dan Henning. A couple days later, Carrington was convinced his time with the Chargers was up.

“I’ll never forget it,” Carrington said earlier this week. “Dan Henning comes onto the field says, ‘I already have 35 of my players. Whoever’s not in that group, you better pick it up on special teams.’ ”

Carrington immediately pleaded to special teams coach Larry Pasquale for a spot. Pasquale found one and Carrington responded by making enough big plays in the last three exhibitions to secure a job.

The big plays on special teams never stopped for Carrington, voted 1991 special teams player of the year by teammates.

Carrington, 26, is still making plays, but is no longer limited to special teams.

As a safety in the Chargers’ nickel or passing defense, Carrington is a standout. He is tied with Gill Byrd for the team lead in interceptions with three. He has made 27 tackles as a free safety.

At Indianapolis, he intercepted two passes from Jeff George in the end zone to turn a close game into a 34-14 rout.

Sunday in Cleveland, Carrington relived part of his childhood in the Bronx.

“When I was a little kid, we used to pray that it would snow so we could go out and play in it,” he said.

Carrington didn’t just play in the snow Sunday, he frolicked. He intercepted a pass near the Charger end zone, which resulted in a 10- or 14-point turnaround. He made four tackles, broke up two passes, helped strip Cleveland running back Eric Metcalf of the ball to end a Brown drive, and made a big play on special teams by downing a punt on Cleveland’s one-foot line.

Carrington was named the AFC defensive player of the week after the Chargers’ 14-13 victory over Cleveland.

Jim Mora, Charger secondary coach last year and now in the same position with the New Orleans Saints, was in his office when he heard the news on the radio.

“Some guys are just victims of circumstances,” Mora said. “If those circumstances change and you hang in there long enough to take advantage of it, things can work out for you.”

Hanging in there is nothing new to Carrington. It’s what he’s done throughout his career, beginning with his days as a wide receiver at James Monroe High in New York.

Carrington played basketball, baseball, football and ran track at James Monroe. But a hip injury shortened his senior seasons in football and baseball so severely that only Wooster (Ohio) College offered a scholarship.

After saying “no thanks” to Wooster, Carrington decided he would walk on at Pittsburgh. But Carrington never made it to the field.

“I was just trying to get a tryout,” he said. “But I kept getting the runaround.”

The only school that didn’t give Carrington the runaround was Northern Arizona. At Pitt, Carrington leafed through magazines and wrote to schools, hoping to get an invitation to try out.

“I wrote to five or six big schools and five or six intermediate schools,” he said. “NAU was the first to respond. I had never been to Arizona. It was appealing for some reason.”

But Flagstaff quickly lost its appeal when Carrington still had no scholarship after a year. He appeared close to earning a full ride that first year as a starting wide receiver, but he injured his knee a week before the season opener and missed it all.

“After a while, I’m starting to think, ‘Is this for me? Maybe I should do something else.’ But I kept with it, holding on to that dream.”

But with future NFL players Michael Haynes (Atlanta) and Shawn Collins (Cleveland) ahead of him at wide receiver, Carrington’s future didn’t look all that dreamy.

“It was either switch positions or go home,” Carrington said.

He switched to cornerback in his junior year. Late in the season, he got his first start and intercepted two passes. The next season he was named first team Division I-AA All-America.

At the NFL scouting combine, general managers noticed Carrington size--6 feet 2, 200 pounds--and speed--he ran a 4.39 40-yard dash.

The Broncos used their fifth-round pick to select Carrington. But Carrington got off to a bad start in Denver and never recovered.

“I got down on myself the last preseason game,” he said. “It was the first time I had given up a touchdown. They were like, “Well, he’s not ready.’ ”

So Carrington spent the 1989 season on special teams. He made the team in 1990 but when veteran lineman Ron Holmes signed a day before the opener, Carrington was let go.

Marty Hurney, Charger coordinator of football operations, was the first to call Carrington, but the Chargers offered no guarantees. Detroit was, so Carrington signed with the Lions.

After putting him on special teams for 12 games, the Lions left Carrington unprotected. The Chargers, Raiders, Steelers and Jets all were interested, but Carrington took the Chargers’ offer.

Carrington found himself in trouble again quickly.

“He got caught in-between positions,” Mora said. “It was really unfair to him. He was going between safety and corner, nickel and dime. The organization wanted to play young people like Stanley Richard, Floyd Fields and Anthony Shelton.”

But somehow, even the thought of being released again didn’t scare Carrington that much.

“What helped me out was my Christianity and my faith in God,” Carrington said. “Praying to Him and knowing that He’s in control. If it’s His will, it will be done. If not, you have to accept it and go on.”

An event that strengthened Carrington was the birth of his daughter Di-Arra, born 3 1/2 months early weighing only one pound, seven ounces.

“They told me and my fiancee (Vicky Russell) that babies born that early only have a 50-50 chance of surviving,” Carrington said.

Di-Arra now is as healthy and active and as any two-year-old.

“To look at her now, you’d never know what she’s been through,” Carrington said. “We call her the miracle child.”

So whenever Carrington gets down, which isn’t much these days, he draws on Di-Arra’s experience.

“It’s made me be a lot more thankful for what I have,” he said. “When I think of what she went through, nothing seems so bad.”

After spending much of last season on the bench, Carrington finally begin to have an effect as a safety late in the season. He made three interceptions in the last four games and wound up tied for second on the team in that category.

The Chargers showed their confidence in Carrington by protecting him in Plan B free agency. If they hadn’t, Mora said Carrington would be in New Orleans now.

“That was the first thing I looked at when I got the protected lists--to see if Darren was on it,” Mora said. “I figured he would be, but you never know.”

Carrington was a regular at the Chargers’ two summer minicamps and he adapted well to defensive coordinator Bill Arnsparger’s system. But the secondary still was cluttered with safeties. Richard, last year’s top draft pick, was anchored at free safety and Fields, a fifth-round selection in 1991, had moved into the strong safety spot. Delton Hall, a Plan B free agent from Pittsburgh, also was ahead of Carrington.

Fortunately for Carrington, Arnsparger likes to play six defensive backs against teams that use three-receiver sets. In the Chargers’ first eight games, Indianapolis (twice), Denver and Houston all used three receivers and Carrington played almost the entire game.

Usually, he is assigned to cover a tight end or running back.

“You’re able to be a little more aggressive because of (Carrington’s coverage) ability,” Fox said. “Most of the time, you wouldn’t even consider putting a safety in man situations.”

Last week, Carrington was assigned the Browns’ lumbering tight end Mark Bavaro, a former All-Pro with the New York Giants. On third and four at the Charger nine, Brown quarterback Mike Tomczak faded back and looked to Bavaro.

“I was focused on Bavaro, when he planted I got a good break on the ball and there I was,” Carrington said.

Sixty-nine yards later, Carrington was run down by Metcalf. The kidding from his teammates about being run down by Metcalf was brutal, but Byrd stuck up for Carrington.

“Darren has Eric Metcalf speed, but he has a bad knee,” Byrd said. “He has some loose cartilage in there. If he hadn’t had that knee, Metcalf wouldn’t have caught him, period.”

Byrd, Carrington’s roommate on the road, has been there before for Carrington.

“Gill has always told me, ‘Somehow, some way, when you’re given that shot, even if it’s one play, you have to perform or you may not get the chance again,’ ” he said.

Carrington has performed and--maybe more important--has persevered.

“The guy could always play,” Mora said. “I’m just glad he’s finally getting the chance to show it.”