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PRO FOOTBALL / DAILY REPORT : AROUND THE NFL : Chargers Lose Byrd for Season

By BILL PLASCHKE
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The San Diego Chargers’ defense, ranked fourth in the NFL last season, suffered a setback when veteran cornerback Gill Byrd underwent reconstructive knee surgery Wednesday that will force him to miss the season.

Byrd, who suffered the injury when his legs became tangled during a non-contact drill Tuesday at training camp in La Jolla, tore two major ligaments and a tendon in his left knee.

Byrd, who has been voted to the Pro Bowl the last two seasons, has been the Chargers’ starting cornerback the last 10 years.

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The Chargers, who lost cornerback Tony Blaylock to free agency this summer, will have to start the season with backup cornerbacks Sean Vanhorse and Donald Frank. They have a combined 14 NFL starts between them.

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Bill Plaschke

Bill Plaschke, an L.A. Times sports columnist since 1996, is a member of the National Sports Media Hall of Fame and California Sports Hall of Fame. He has been named national Sports Columnist of the Year nine times by the Associated Press, and twice by the Society of Professional Journalists and National Headliner Awards. He is the author of six books, including a collection of his columns entitled “Plaschke: Good Sports, Spoilsports, Foul Balls and Oddballs.” Plaschke is also a panelist on the popular ESPN daily talk show, “Around the Horn.” He is in the national Big Brothers/Big Sisters Alumni Hall of Fame and has been named Man of the Year by the Los Angeles Big Brothers/Big Sisters as well as receiving a Pursuit of Justice Award from the California Women’s Law Center. Plaschke has appeared in a movie (“Ali”), a dramatic HBO series (“Luck”) and, in a crowning cultural moment he still does not quite understand, his name can be found in a rap song “Females Welcome” by Asher Roth.

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