Rookie Still Wet Behind Earrings

It’s not unusual for NFL players to talk about giving something back to the game, but LaDainian Tomlinson’s donation was unusually generous.

He ponied up two 1.6-karat diamond earrings.

Actually, the gems were knocked off him in the first half of a game at Dallas last month and the rookie running back has yet to recover them.

“I told the guy I didn’t want screw-ins and look what happened,” he said. “I played the first game [against Washington] and it was all right. When I played against the Cowboys my helmet came off a couple of times, and I think that’s what did it. I came to the sideline and I couldn’t feel my earrings anymore.”

A true victim of fashion.

With or without accessories, though, Tomlinson has been dazzling. In five games, he has rushed for 486 yards--already more than any Charger the past two seasons--and seven touchdowns. He’s the league’s second-leading rusher to Curtis Martin of the New York Jets (516 yards).

“Tomlinson is a guy that makes big plays,” said Denver Coach Mike Shanahan, whose Broncos will try to round up the No. 5 pick Sunday at San Diego. “He’s got great running ability. He’s got great speed. He’ll be one of the top running backs in the league for years to come.”

And he could have a big day against a Denver defense that surrendered 142 yards to Seattle’s Shaun Alexander last Sunday and an NFL-record 278 to Cincinnati’s Corey Dillon last season.

Tomlinson makes no predictions. He considers himself a modest guy.

“That’s a credit to my mother,” he said. “It’s how I was raised. She always raised me and my brother and sister to be humble.”

Now, if she had only warned him about those earrings.

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Who says teams should use a first-round pick on a quarterback? Of the 16 teams with winning records, only four--Seattle (Trent Dilfer), Cleveland (Tim Couch), the New York Giants (Kerry Collins), and the New York Jets (Vinny Testaverde)--feature starting quarterbacks drafted in the opening round. And Couch was the only one drafted by his current team.

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Kevin Dyson had two catches for the Tennessee Titans last Sunday in a 31-28 overtime victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His brother, Titan cornerback Andre Dyson, had an interception. They are believed to be the first set of brothers to have a reception and an interception in a game. Also, they are the fourth set of brothers since 1970 to be drafted by the same team and to play in the same game.

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Mommas don’t let your babies grow up to be Buccaneers.

Or at least teach them to be kinder to admirers than Tampa Bay defensive tackle Warren Sapp, notorious for the surly way he treats people who approach him on the street. He isn’t always the cuddly, smiling fellow beamed into your family room on NFL pregame shows.

Then again, he doesn’t care.

“If you don’t like me, that’s fine,” he said. “I’m irrelevant to your life. I don’t pay any bills for you. I don’t help feed your family. Why should people care?”

Still, they approach him in droves. He is, after all, an NFL star. He said some of the questions and requests he gets from fans would “scare you to death.”

“The other day, a nurse walks up to me and says, ‘I know you hate people, but ... ‘ I hate people? I told her: ‘I’m glad that nurse’s uniform gives you the ability to read minds.’ She didn’t want to know me. She thought she knew me already from what people had told her. Ninety-nine percent of the people who say I’ve said this or that to them

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Dallas will wear blue jerseys when it hosts Denver on Thanksgiving, marking the first time the Cowboys will wear blue at home.

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Flying home after their 23-18 victory at Indianapolis, the Raiders ran into problems. Their flight was diverted from Oakland to San Francisco because a tailwind, combined with the plane weight, made landing too dangerous.

By the time they arrived at their Alameda facility, it was 6 a.m. Monday.

“I blame Darrell Russell,” Coach Jon Gruden said, referring to his 320-pound defensive tackle who recently returned from a four-week suspension. “I think Darrell pushed it over the top.”

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Michael Strahan, a defensive end for the New York Giants, had four sacks against St. Louis last Sunday. He also had six pressures and nine hits on Kurt Warner, a forced fumble and a pass defensed. Not surprisingly, dozens of reporters converged on Strahan’s locker stall this week.

“You guys didn’t want to come over here [in the past],” he said. “I was like the ugly guy in college with no car, and the girl doesn’t want to talk to him. Now, I just got this new Porsche, and now the finest girl in school wants to come over and ride with me.”

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Raider defensive end Trace Armstrong says he will be back in 2002, even though he’s 36 and out for the season because of a torn Achilles’.

“I’m not ready to quit yet. I’m not,” he said. “I still love what I do. I enjoy the process of getting ready for a season. I enjoy the process of playing, and I know a lot of people are saying, ‘He’s 36.’ But I still feel like I’ve got some good football left in me.”

Or, at least one more sack. He has 99 in 13 seasons.

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If he makes 19 more catches, Baltimore’s Shannon Sharpe will have 663, one more than Ozzie Newsome, the career leader among tight ends. Already this season, Sharpe broke Newsome’s career-yardage record (7,980) and has 8,059.

Newsome is his boss, the man in charge of player personnel for the Ravens.

“Ozzie has already told me I better break the record when it’s warm, because he’s not coming onto the field if it’s cold,” said Sharpe, who likely will reach the milestone in November. “I told him I don’t care if it’s 27 below. I’m not moving. I’ll sit right down in the middle of the field and tell the ref, ‘I ain’t moving until Ozzie comes down here, shakes my hand and acknowledges me.”’

Sharpe is ready to make the argument he’s the best tight end in NFL history. And don’t ask him about being a so-so blocker.

“All the tight ends that have 500 catches-me, Kellen [Winslow], Ozzie-we didn’t do any blocking,” he said. “You don’t get credit for blocking. They consider you an offensive lineman if you block. They don’t throw you any passes if you block. You don’t make any money if you block. You don’t set any records if you block. They call you a servant if you block--you make minimum, plus tips. I’d rather own my restaurant.”