It’s a New Day for the Chargers

As they tread the long road back to respectability, the San Diego Chargers are banking on one of the more enduring scenarios of sport: the aging veteran and the bright-eyed rookie.

After a 1-15 season that was even worse than the numbers suggest, the Chargers shed the erratic Ryan Leaf and signed Doug Flutie, who will be 39 in October.

And after shocking fans by passing up the chance to draft Virginia Tech quarterback Michael Vick, the Chargers instead tabbed quarterback Drew Brees, who took Purdue to the Rose Bowl.

Decisions remain about other players and other positions, but Coach Mike Riley is definite about his plans for Flutie and Brees, present and future.

“Doug’s job is to win football games for this team,” Riley said, “and Drew’s job is to watch Doug and learn how it’s done, so he’ll be ready when his time comes.”

First, Brees has to contend with three other hopefuls for the No. 2 slot--four-year NFL veteran Moses Moreno, ex-Canadian Football League star Dave Dickenson, and free agent Bart Hendricks from Boise State.

The Chargers, however, might have tipped their hand by putting pictures of Brees and rookie running back and first-round draft choice LaDainian Tomlinson from Texas Christian on billboards asking fans to forgive and forget last season.

“I’m surprised they put me, a second-round draft choice, on a billboard,” Brees said, laughing. “I guess that means I have to start playing well.”

With optimism in the air, Leaf’s name was not heard at the Chargers’ three-day minicamp that ended Sunday. Still, a working knowledge of the tumult and disappointment of the Leaf era provided needed background for certain comments.

Riley noted that Brees arrived in San Diego fit and ready to play--characteristics not always seen in Leaf.

“Drew . . . hasn’t been sitting back, playing video games,” Riley said.

Fullback Fred McCrary was asked to name a difference between last year’s camp and this.

“To have somebody in the huddle you respect is real big, you know,” McCrary said. “Last year is gone. We’re happy to have Doug here. It’s nice to have a leader in the huddle.”

Flutie, who signed a six-year deal only days after losing out to Rob Johnson as the Buffalo Bills’ No. 1 quarterback, said the role of starter-tutor suits him fine.

“It’s not as if, ‘OK, I’m taking you to the classroom for an hour every day,’ ” he said. “That doesn’t happen. But during the season, we’ll watch films together and talk things out. It’s more subtle things that come from experience.”

For Flutie, there is a sense of having come full circle. In his first seasons with the New England Patriots, he came under the tutelage of starter Steve Grogan, who, while not that much older than Flutie, had more NFL experience because of Flutie’s eight years in the Canadian league.

“Steve would take time to answer questions for you,” Flutie said. “I respected his approach and the way he carried the game.”

Brees said Flutie will be “a great guy to sit back, watch and try to emulate.”

Respect for his elders should not be confused with diffidence. His goal, Brees said, is to become an NFL starter and lead San Diego to a Super Bowl victory, a lofty ambition for a franchise that has never won a Super Bowl and has not had a winning season since 1995.

“Hopefully, that is what I can do down the road,” Brees said. “Obviously my head is spinning around right now, but I think I’ll get it under control in the next couple of months.”

Much of the early attention has centered on Flutie, Brees and Tomlinson, but there are other indications that the Chargers may no longer be the NFL doormat, the first team, as a local joke would have it, voted off the island for nonperformance.

“There’s a buzz around here we haven’t felt in a long time,” Pro Bowl linebacker Junior Seau said.

Much of that buzz is attributable to newly hired General Manager John Butler, former GM of the Bills. The phrase “take charge” may have been invented to describe Butler, a former Marine who served in Vietnam.

Butler has served notice that no one in the organization--from ticket taker to first-string player--has a sinecure.

Former Washington Redskin coach Norv Turner is the new offensive coordinator. The team signed former Bill defensive end Marcellus Wiley, former Dallas Cowboy cornerback Ryan McNeil and former New Orleans Saint cornerback Alex Molden.

Butler is not one to let sentimentality stand in his way.

One of his first moves was to release kicker John Carney, a fan favorite and the team’s all-time leading scorer. Carney had provided the winning edge in the Chargers’ only victory but overall his 2000 season was subpar.

In Carney’s stead, the Chargers signed Wade Richey, late of the San Francisco 49ers.

A losing season by the Chargers carries an added civic sting because of a controversial lease arrangement whereby the city government pays for unsold seats.

Poor attendance at Qualcomm Stadium last year cost city coffers $8 million and turned the woeful Chargers into an issue in the mayoral campaign.

Owner Alex Spanos is eager to avoid a repeat of last year’s gloomy drumbeat: Monday newspaper stories about each loss, followed by Tuesday stories detailing how much that loss cost taxpayers in unsold tickets.

“Teams that have been playing well take a shorter time to get ready,” Riley said. “We have four months before we start playing football and we’re going to need every day.”

As befits a team that needs to be rebuilt from the ground up, much of the talk among the quarterbacks at minicamp was about their feet.

“Until you learn and free your mind and relax, the athleticism doesn’t really take over,” Flutie said. “Your feet are a little slower when you’re thinking.”

The lesson was immediately consumed by the rookie, who will return soon to Purdue to finish his spring term.

“I’ve got to get faster with my feet,” Brees said, “not think, just do.”