SUPER BOWL XXIX DAILY REPORT : Chargers Know Their Needs: Be Disciplined, Be Physical

This is a game with only one apparent question: Do the San Diego Chargers have a chance?

They think they do.

Outside linebacker David Griggs says: “I feel we can beat anybody. We just have to play disciplined football.”

Wide receiver Tony Martin concedes that “a lot of people didn’t want to see us here, but we play physical football. That’s why we are here. It’s not luck. We play physical, and we sent some other guys home.”

To upset the San Francisco 49ers, the Chargers know the requirements.

“We’ve got to knock them down to get things started,” strong safety Darren Carrington says.

Left cornerback Darrien Gordon adds: “We will have to get some shots on the receivers so they may get leery of running the slants. It’s important to hit them because they’re like everyone else in that if they’re hit, they’ll think about it.”

Gordon on how to overcome 49er quarterback Steve Young: “Take away his first reads and make him dance.”

Coach Bobby Ross predicts: “We’ll shoot from the hip. That’s our game. We’re going to stretch the field, we’re going to go deep, we’re going to go wide, we’re going after Deion Sanders.

“We won’t concede a third of the field (to Sanders) just because he’s over there. We know he’s the best player in the NFL, but that doesn’t mean we won’t throw at him. We will.”

Martin on what else it will take to beat a 19-point favorite: “It will take a perfect game, and some help from the Man upstairs.”

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Brain trust: For 18 years, Ross has had the same offensive coordinator, Ralph Friedgen, who explains his philosophy tersely:

“I found early on that it’s much easier to win if you involve everybody--the players, every coach. I get a lot of help from the press box.”

Friedgen’s father was a football coach who gave him the advice he still follows:

“There are two people you can’t ever beat. You can’t beat the (press) and you can’t ever beat the officials. They are always going to have the last word.”

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Much has been made of the less-than-streamlined physique of Charger quarterback Stan Humphries, whose barrel chest and stomach have drawn comparisons to Joe Kapp, Sonny Jurgensen and the Michelin Tire Man.

Charger center Courtney Hall remembered the first time he saw Humphries in practice.

“I thought he was pretty big,” Hall said, “and I was thinking, ‘Maybe he’s been out of football for a while.’ He’s not what you think of in a modern pro quarterback. Not one of these tall, lean guys.

“But the first time I saw him throw, and talking with him and seeing his knowledge of the game, I knew he was a good quarterback. A quarterback that would lead us to good things.”

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He made the biggest play in Charger history, the play now known in San Diego as “The Immaculate Deflection,” yet Dennis Gibson continues to cling to the anonymity that has been the hallmark of his eight-year NFL career.

Hours after breaking up a last-second pass in the end zone to preserve the Chargers’ 17-13 victory over Pittsburgh in the AFC championship game, Gibson returned with his teammates to Jack Murphy Stadium for a victory celebration witnessed by 68,000 fans.

Gibson reports he left the stadium and drove out of the parking lot that night without a single person recognizing him.

It wasn’t until last Thursday, as he was signing for mail at a San Diego post office, when the clerk behind the counter noticed his name, made the connection and offered congratulations.

That is how the low-key Gibson prefers it. A company in Hollywood phoned him last week to inquire if he’d be interested in commercial work, but Gibson never returned the call.

“I don’t see that in my future at all,” he says.

As for the current attention he’s receiving from the media here, Gibson says, “The great thing is, this will all be over after Sunday.”

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San Francisco linebacker Rickey Jackson visited his hometown of Pahokee, located 60 miles west of Miami, after Tuesday morning’s media session.

A small town of 5,000, Pahokee was “lit up,” according to Jackson, “like the whole town made the Super Bowl. They’ve been following me my whole career. This is a big deal for them.”

Jackson could say the same for the regular patrons of the bar he owns in New Orleans, “Club 57,” named after Jackson’s jersey number.

“They’ve got banners up--’Congratulations, Rickey,’ ” Jackson says. “It’ll be packed Sunday. You won’t be able to get a seat in there.”

And, should the 49ers win, will the drinks be on the house?

“Oh, no,” Jackson replied with a laugh. “There will be too many people there.”

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Natrone Means, Charger running back, on San Francisco’s defensive players: “They are not as physical as Pittsburgh or the Raiders, but they are good at what they do.”

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Deion Sanders returned kicks Friday in the 49ers’ final practice.

Sanders returned three kicks, as did regular returner Dexter Carter.

“We got him the work,” Coach George Seifert said, “so we are prepared to do that.”

It was also announced Friday that Sanders will be the host of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” on Feb. 18.

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The forecast for Super Bowl Sunday calls for mostly cloudy skies and a temperature near 80, with a 30% chance of late afternoon showers.