VALLEY / VENTURA COUNTY SPORTS : COMMITMENT TO SURVIVAL : Raider tackle Chuck Osborne and his mother have found their way back from devastating physical setbacks.

It was another NFL preseason game on another balmy night in the Arizona desert.

The Oakland Raiders were in town to tussle with the Cardinals, and 42,000 hearty souls dared to leave air-conditioned havens for the outdoor sauna of Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe.

For many it was party time, a cold drink in hand to send off the stifling Friday and usher in the weekend, miserable weather and all.

But for Raider defensive tackle Chuck Osborne and his mother, Kathleen Bajgrowicz, Sept. 3 was much more meaningful.

Osborne played for only the fourth time after knee surgery in November to save his promising pro career.

Bajgrowicz was there to watch her son play for the first time after surgery last fall for a brain tumor that turned her life upside down.

“It was a really tough time,” Osborne said. “But I fought my way through it and I knew my mom would be all right because she’s a very strong woman.”

Coping With Adversity

Osborne, 25, his mother and the family needed all their strength to pull through.

The former standout at Canyon High and Arizona, now in his third NFL season, was starting to flourish as a backup with the Raiders when his left knee crumbled in a game against San Diego on Oct. 11.

“I tore the ACL [anterior cruciate ligament], MCL [medial collateral ligament], the lateral meniscus,” Osborne said. “It kind of sounded like Velcro was ripping. The mental shock of it was more difficult than the pain.”

Osborne, 6 feet 2 and 290 pounds, had season-ending surgery and started to rehabilitate, with his thoughts shifting between the career-threatening injury and his mother’s health.

One month earlier, in September, Bajgrowicz had brain surgery at County-USC Medical Center. She later started months of therapy to regain her memory, speech and the use of her paralyzed right side.

“It took me about a month to know who Chuck was,” Bajgrowicz said. “He used to say, ‘Do you remember me yet, mom?’ I didn’t even know my mother had died, even though she died 20 years ago. It was quite an ordeal.”

Every week on Raider days off, Osborne flew from Oakland to visit his mother, and maintained regular contact by phone. Each started to heal steadily, buoyed by Bajgrowicz’s fighting spirit and cheerfulness.

“That’s what helped me, too,” Osborne said. “Her sense of humor definitely made me feel better.”

Long Road Back

Both have come a long way in the last few months.

Bajgrowicz, who jokes about photos of her with no hair, taken by one of her four daughters, continues to improve. And Osborne, who says the knee feels like new, is making an impact with the Raiders.

Although working behind All-Pro tackle Darrell Russell, Osborne gets substantial playing time, helping to carry out defensive coordinator Willie Shaw’s plan to keep the linemen fresh.

When Russell and All-Pro Russell Maryland need a breather, Osborne and Grady Jackson take over, providing reliable support. In fact, Coach Jon Gruden gives much of the credit for Oakland’s 22-17 victory at Minnesota on Sunday to the defensive line, which has nine sacks in two games after finishing with 31 last year.

Shaw, an assistant with the St. Louis Rams when Osborne played there as a rookie in 1996, is quick to praise Osborne.

“If you’re not ready when you line up against him, he’ll run right by you,” Shaw said. “He doesn’t have great size, but he makes up for that with his effort.”

It was through grit and determination that Osborne returned to the NFL after the Rams released him before the 1997 season. He spent the spring of 1998 playing for the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe, registering eight sacks and earning all-league honors.

Getting Osborne to meet a challenge has never been a problem.

“Every time he achieved what I asked him to do, I raised the bar higher,” said Harry Welch, former Canyon coach. “He never failed to reach it. I was really tough on him.

“He’s an inspiration to me. He has dealt with adversity in such a positive way. To come back from this horrible, horrible knee injury, it’s such a credit to him.”

Time for Rejoicing

With the thermometer in the high 90s and the Raiders celebrating a 43-7 pounding of Arizona, Osborne, his mother and family relished a moment that seemed improbable, if not impossible, only a few months earlier.

And it came in a fitting stage for Osborne, who never lost to Arizona State at Sun Devil Stadium in his four years at Arizona, where he was an All-Pacific-10 selection his senior season in 1995.

The mother and child reunion, in a place so familiar to them, was a momentous occasion.

“That was very exciting for her and all of us,” Osborne said.

CHUCK OSBORNE

* Age: 25

* Height: 6 feet 2

* Weight: 290 pounds

* Team: Oakland Raiders

* Years in NFL: Third

* Position: Defensive tackle

* Of Note: Former all-state selection at Canyon High. Played at Arizona from 1992-95, the last two years as starter. Had a career-high 43 tackles and seven sacks his senior season, earning All-Pacific-10 Conference honors. Drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the seventh round in 1996 and played 16 games for the team his rookie season, making 12 tackles. Was released by the Rams during training camp in 1997 and played for the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe in the spring of 1998. Signed later that year by Oakland Raiders as free agent. Played six games for the Raiders last season before a knee injury against the San Diego Chargers on Oct. 11 ended his season.