Robin Miller
10-09-2008, 01:44 AM
Patriots could give Chargers a spark
Chris Jenkins (Contact)
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
For obvious reasons, there was not a lot of mirth among the Chargers after
Sunday's loss at Miami. It took just about the least favorite of subjects to
actually evoke a hint of a wry smile from one of them, that subject being
their next opponent.
New England.
The Patriots.
Again.
"Yeah," said Chargers center Nick Hardwick, both his expression and words
open to interpretation. "That's always a good time."
A different kind of fun, to be sure. Perhaps even the kind of fun, odd as
this may sound, the Chargers could really use to make this season fun again.
It's a team still trying to figure itself out, and judging from the lack of
both "attitude" and playmaking in the loss to the Dolphins, the Chargers
don't seem much closer to working out their identity problem in 2008. Now
that they're back under .500 at 2-3, momentum-free and licking their wounds
from an encounter with another AFC East team, about the last thing you'd
think the Chargers need to see is a team with all those NFL and conference
championships, Tom Brady's unavailability notwithstanding.
On the other hand, several of the Chargers players acknowledged the team has
come out flat in games, needing a good, swift kick to the back of their
short pants. Something, anything to restart their fire.
C'mon. Who better to do that than the Patriots?
"Could be good and bad," said LaDainian Tomlinson, a player who's very much
symbolic of the Chargers' troubles and their feelings about New England. "We
know it's going to be a heck of a competitive game. We know we've got to
fight."
More than any opponent in the NFL, including division rivals, no foe brings
out the rage and fighting words in the Chargers like the Patriots. Some of
that is professional rivalry. The Chargers have been eliminated from Super
Bowl contention by New England in each of the past two seasons, most
recently in the 2007 AFC Championship Game.
But this matchup has gotten extremely personal. Hardwick, while respectful
of the Patriots in general and especially the New England defensive players
he blocks, has not hidden his disdain for one of them in particular.
"Richard Seymour is the biggest (expletive) I've ever come across in
football," Hardwick said after the conference title game in January, won by
the Patriots 21-12. "They've got 10 good football players on that team.
Richard Seymour is a dirty, cheap little pompous (expletive)."
Just in case anybody missed his point, Hardwick offered elaboration.
"When Jarvis Green is on the field (in place of Seymour), they have 11 great
players that compete how you're supposed to compete," he continued. "But
that Richard Seymour is the biggest (expletive) I've ever played.
Head-slapping, foot-stomping in the pile, running by and throwing punches in
your back late. He's a (expletive)."
For the record, Seymour denied any dirty play on his part and fired back,
saying Hardwick's remarks were "classless" and that he'd rather handle their
problems on the field instead of via the media.
"He's a grown man," Seymour said, "and grown men usually try to own up to
what happened and not rub it in, taking a loss like a man."
Hardwick isn't alone in the offensive line in his agitation with Seymour.
Before Seymour and left tackle Marcus McNeill ever entered into four
quarters of hand-to-hand combat, they got into a pregame war of words near
midfield. Talk about warm-ups.
Thing is, this kind of stuff doesn't even happen against the Oakland
Raiders, yet it has become an every-game occurrence with the Patriots.
The fact that Philip Rivers also has verbally chastised a Pats player or two
is not surprising, but New England even found a way to raise the hackles of
Tomlinson, who has a hard time raising his own voice. Taking umbrage at the
way the Pats celebrated their upset playoff victory over the Chargers in
January of 2007, Tomlinson confronted the offending players at midfield.
Also in the ugly aftermath of that playoff loss at Qualcomm Stadium,
Chargers linebacker Shaun Phillips used the word "classless" in reference to
the Pats.
"Shaun Phillips," he said, "will have a grudge against them the rest of his
career."
Grudge or no, the Chargers are in neither the position nor the mood to take
part in a lot more verbal sparring with the Patriots, at least not at this
point. It's one thing to engage in trash talk when you're preparing for,
playing in or just finished a postseason game, but quite another when it's
early October and you've got a losing record.
"I think when you talk about this week's game right now, you have to
consider our current situation," defensive end Luis Castillo said. "It's not
so much about who we are playing. It's about us getting certain things
locked up. We'll have time later in the week to think about who we're
playing."
"The San Diego Chargers," said guard Mike Goff, "need to take care of the
San Diego Chargers."
Find this article at:
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2008/oct/07/chargers-patriots-rivalry/?chargers
Chris Jenkins (Contact)
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
For obvious reasons, there was not a lot of mirth among the Chargers after
Sunday's loss at Miami. It took just about the least favorite of subjects to
actually evoke a hint of a wry smile from one of them, that subject being
their next opponent.
New England.
The Patriots.
Again.
"Yeah," said Chargers center Nick Hardwick, both his expression and words
open to interpretation. "That's always a good time."
A different kind of fun, to be sure. Perhaps even the kind of fun, odd as
this may sound, the Chargers could really use to make this season fun again.
It's a team still trying to figure itself out, and judging from the lack of
both "attitude" and playmaking in the loss to the Dolphins, the Chargers
don't seem much closer to working out their identity problem in 2008. Now
that they're back under .500 at 2-3, momentum-free and licking their wounds
from an encounter with another AFC East team, about the last thing you'd
think the Chargers need to see is a team with all those NFL and conference
championships, Tom Brady's unavailability notwithstanding.
On the other hand, several of the Chargers players acknowledged the team has
come out flat in games, needing a good, swift kick to the back of their
short pants. Something, anything to restart their fire.
C'mon. Who better to do that than the Patriots?
"Could be good and bad," said LaDainian Tomlinson, a player who's very much
symbolic of the Chargers' troubles and their feelings about New England. "We
know it's going to be a heck of a competitive game. We know we've got to
fight."
More than any opponent in the NFL, including division rivals, no foe brings
out the rage and fighting words in the Chargers like the Patriots. Some of
that is professional rivalry. The Chargers have been eliminated from Super
Bowl contention by New England in each of the past two seasons, most
recently in the 2007 AFC Championship Game.
But this matchup has gotten extremely personal. Hardwick, while respectful
of the Patriots in general and especially the New England defensive players
he blocks, has not hidden his disdain for one of them in particular.
"Richard Seymour is the biggest (expletive) I've ever come across in
football," Hardwick said after the conference title game in January, won by
the Patriots 21-12. "They've got 10 good football players on that team.
Richard Seymour is a dirty, cheap little pompous (expletive)."
Just in case anybody missed his point, Hardwick offered elaboration.
"When Jarvis Green is on the field (in place of Seymour), they have 11 great
players that compete how you're supposed to compete," he continued. "But
that Richard Seymour is the biggest (expletive) I've ever played.
Head-slapping, foot-stomping in the pile, running by and throwing punches in
your back late. He's a (expletive)."
For the record, Seymour denied any dirty play on his part and fired back,
saying Hardwick's remarks were "classless" and that he'd rather handle their
problems on the field instead of via the media.
"He's a grown man," Seymour said, "and grown men usually try to own up to
what happened and not rub it in, taking a loss like a man."
Hardwick isn't alone in the offensive line in his agitation with Seymour.
Before Seymour and left tackle Marcus McNeill ever entered into four
quarters of hand-to-hand combat, they got into a pregame war of words near
midfield. Talk about warm-ups.
Thing is, this kind of stuff doesn't even happen against the Oakland
Raiders, yet it has become an every-game occurrence with the Patriots.
The fact that Philip Rivers also has verbally chastised a Pats player or two
is not surprising, but New England even found a way to raise the hackles of
Tomlinson, who has a hard time raising his own voice. Taking umbrage at the
way the Pats celebrated their upset playoff victory over the Chargers in
January of 2007, Tomlinson confronted the offending players at midfield.
Also in the ugly aftermath of that playoff loss at Qualcomm Stadium,
Chargers linebacker Shaun Phillips used the word "classless" in reference to
the Pats.
"Shaun Phillips," he said, "will have a grudge against them the rest of his
career."
Grudge or no, the Chargers are in neither the position nor the mood to take
part in a lot more verbal sparring with the Patriots, at least not at this
point. It's one thing to engage in trash talk when you're preparing for,
playing in or just finished a postseason game, but quite another when it's
early October and you've got a losing record.
"I think when you talk about this week's game right now, you have to
consider our current situation," defensive end Luis Castillo said. "It's not
so much about who we are playing. It's about us getting certain things
locked up. We'll have time later in the week to think about who we're
playing."
"The San Diego Chargers," said guard Mike Goff, "need to take care of the
San Diego Chargers."
Find this article at:
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2008/oct/07/chargers-patriots-rivalry/?chargers