Leaf-less San Diego Chargers Have a Minicamp Buzz Going

The San Diego Chargers are starting to look like a real football team.

The NFL’s worst team last season, the Chargers opened minicamp Friday with a ton of new faces and a whole different atmosphere than the last time they were on the same practice field.

“There is a lot of excitement. There is a buzz,” said coach Mike Riley, who presided over last year’s 1-15 disaster.

When Doug Flutie wasn’t running the offense, Drew Brees got the chance to throw his first passes as a pro. LaDainian Tomlinson took his first runs up the middle. Norv Turner, now in charge of what was one of the NFL’s weakest offenses last year, made the Chargers rerun plays he didn’t like.

And some of the players who had to slog through last year couldn’t help but point out the biggest change -- bad-boy quarterback Ryan Leaf is gone.

“To have somebody in the huddle you respect is real big, you know,” fullback Fred McCrary said, pausing for effect.

“Last year is gone. We’re happy to have Doug here. It’s nice to have a leader in the huddle.”

All the changes have come courtesy of new general manager John Butler, who was hired on Jan. 5. Butler waived Leaf on Feb. 28, signed free agents Flutie and defensive end Marcellus Wiley, then picked Tomlinson and Brees in the first and second rounds of the draft on April 21.

“It’s a big challenge, but I think this team is a lot better than the 1-15 record from last year,” said Flutie, 38, who finally has an NFL starting job of his own. “Plus, we’ve made some additions. I think we’re in a great position to surprise some people.”

Of course, the first chance to prove that these aren’t the same old Chargers isn’t until Sept. 9, when they play host to the Washington Redskins in the season-opener.

“We’ve got to maintain this kind of work ethic because we have so much to do,” Riley said. “We’ve got four months before we start playing games for real, and we’re going to need every minute of that.”

All the offseason changes were big enough that owner Alex Spanos watched practice from a golf cart.

His son, Dean, the team president, said he’s cautiously optimistic.

“I know were going to be exciting this year, but I have to caution that, because after 1-15, you’re a little bit reserved,” Spanos said. “It’s fun when you win, I can tell you that. And we haven’t done that in a while. We’re due.”

The Chargers haven’t had a winning season or made the playoffs since 1995.

Riley said he liked the way Brees and Tomlinson looked.

“I thought Drew came in throwing the ball really sharp, right off the bat,” Riley said. “He’s ready to go. He hasn’t been sitting back, playing video games. And LaDainian looks good. He looks powerful. I feel real good about those guys.”

Brees, who led Purdue to the Rose Bowl, actually wanted the Chargers to draft him.

“It’s very exciting. Look at it -- it’s 70 degrees, it’s beautiful, it’s playing in the NFL. It’s a dream come true,” he said.

Brees and Tomlinson are featured on billboards around town.

“Some of the guys have already harassed us about it a little bit,” Brees said. “Now that I’m up on a billboard, I guess that means I need to start playing well.”

Riley said the backup quarterback spot is up for grabs among Brees, former CFL star Dave Dickenson and holdover Moses Moreno. But Brees will take most of the snaps as backup this weekend because he won’t be able to attend voluntary workouts the next few weeks.