Chargers glad to be at ‘home’
SAN DIEGO (AP) – A hot Santa Ana wind was blowing out of the desert last week, and the eastern horizon was hazy with smoke from backcountry wildfires. “Keep our fingers crossed,” San Diego Chargers quarterback Drew Brees said.
The Chargers know all about wildfires and October games. As they prepared to host their first Monday night game in nine seasons, against the Pittsburgh Steelers, they were keenly aware of what was going on around them.
Fortunately for all involved, last week’s fires weren’t catastrophic.
Two years ago this month, the Chargers were set to play their first home Monday night game since 1996, against the Miami Dolphins. It would be a homecoming for Miami’s Ricky Williams, and Dolphins linebacker Junior Seau would be facing the team that unceremoniously dumped him several months earlier.
Being on Monday night football brings a certain prestige, even to teams like San Diego, which at the time was in a long playoff drought.
But with three deadly wildfires burning out of control in San Diego County, Qualcomm Stadium’s parking lot was turned into an evacuation center. The game had to be moved to Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz.
It wasn’t anywhere near as disruptive as what the New Orleans Saints are going through in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, but the Chargers discovered what happens when real life interrupts the NFL’s carefully planned world.
“It was tough, especially because of all of the things that were going on back here,” LaDainian Tomlinson said. “It was tough to go over to Arizona, for one, and then two, to play football.”
Some players lived in neighborhoods that were evacuated. John Hinek, the Chargers’ director of business operations, lost his home in one of the fires, then had to arrange the logistics of getting the team to Tempe on short notice.
The Chargers played poorly, losing 26-10. Brees threw three interceptions and was sacked six times.
“It was terrible, just because we were sitting there at 1-5, for one,” Brees said.
The players had been looking forward to a rare home Monday night game, “then all of a sudden we got shipped out over to Phoenix,” Brees said. “Guys on the team were worried about a lot of things back here. We got there and don’t play very well at all.
“Not only do we lose, but we had to come back here and all the stuff going on with the fires. It was just a bad time, just kind of adding to the misery of that season.”
Two days later, the Chargers were chased out of town again. Not wanting to practice in the acrid smoke that choked the air, they flew to Champaign, Ill., to prepare for the following Sunday’s game at Chicago.
They lost that game, too, which led to Brees being benched for five games in favor of Doug Flutie.
It will be a much more experienced Brees who faces the Steelers on Monday night, in large part because of what he went through in 2003. The Chargers finished an NFL-worst 4-12 and the front office all but shoved Brees out the door in the offseason.
But he bounced back last year, leading San Diego to a 12-4 record, the AFC West title and their first playoff appearance in nine years.
Brees has even bounced back this year. He threw three interceptions as the Chargers started 0-2, then ran the high-voltage offense to near-perfection in wins against the New York Giants and last week’s 41-17 rout at New England. He’s thrown four touchdown passes in the last two games, with no interceptions and no sacks.
Brees clearly remembers the last time the Chargers played the Steelers, losing 40-24 at Pittsburgh on Dec. 21, 2003.
“I guess that was the last time I got pulled out of a game, and I wasn’t too happy about that,” said Brees, who committed three costly turnovers that day.
“There were lower points, but that was pretty low. I wouldn’t take it back necessarily. It didn’t feel good at the time. None of those instances did. But I think it’s helped me develop as a person and a player, and will help me carry on in the future.
“A lot has happened since then. We are a much different team than we were then, and I’ve learned quite a bit since then.”