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Lorenzo Neal blames playoffs
defeat on “selfish things”
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KO OLINA, Hawaii – The Chargers players arrived at their hotel here on Monday night, and eventually some of them met up at the poolside bar.
Sitting together, next to the hammerhead sharks swimming in the man-made lagoon, with the sounds of the Pacific in the air and the tropical drinks flowing, the conversation turned wistful – to the opportunity lost when they stunningly dropped their playoff opener just less than a month ago.
Yes, they are in paradise, trying still to separate the bitter from the sweet.
There are 10 Chargers practicing this week as members of the AFC Pro Bowl team, enjoying the rewards of their regular-season excellence yet encumbered by the pain of a postseason that ended abruptly.
“It's something that's tough to live with,” LaDainian Tomlinson said.
“I'm not recovered,” Lorenzo Neal said. “I hope nobody is recovered. If they are, they don't get it.”
Sure, the players are enjoying their time here. They have brought family and friends. They are snorkeling and playing golf. They are eating fine food and enjoying piña coladas.
But amid the fun and what sun has peeked out from the clouds between rain showers, there are reminders of what they might have been.
The fact there are a league-high 10 Chargers all-stars is one of the topics discussed at length by the rest of the league.
“They have so many guys here I feel like I should have a lightning bolt on my hat,” said the Patriots' Bill Belichick, coach of the AFC stars and the team that ended the Chargers' season.
Jamal Williams has heard from many fellow Pro Bowlers how they can't believe the Chargers lost, that they had them going to the Super Bowl.
“They say we were the team of destiny,” Williams said.
“They were clearly the most talented team in the league,” Broncos safety John Lynch said.
Neal is tired of such talk. Lynch told him the Chargers were like the Dallas Cowboys of the early 1990s, poised to make a run to successive Super Bowls.
But Neal and others on the Chargers are having a hard time getting past that 24-21 loss to New England, in which they mostly dominated but were done in by silly penalties, dropped passes, dropped interceptions, a fumble and a dropped punt.
“I'm tired of people saying we had a great season, that we're a great team,” Neal said. “Great teams don't do selfish things. Some of the things we did – it's a game, guys make mistakes. But there were things guys did in that game that were selfish. They had nothing to do with playing between the lines.
“Coach always says one play doesn't lose a game. But selfish things do lose games. They need to be addressed. We've got a lot of great guys. Hopefully, guys learned from this.”
That is the sentiment every Charger here is holding onto, that from the ashes will rise a more poised team, prepared better for future postseasons.
“It's got to be a learning experience,” long snapper David Binn said. “If not, it was a real disaster. We've got to understand the next time we're in a game at the next level, we've got to know the adrenaline is flowing a little extra.”
Many Chargers – not just those here – have proffered that the playoff game was “too big” for some of their teammates.
“The coaches told us we were going to need to keep our poise,” Williams said. “Some guys didn't. We know it's a process. We know we fell short. We know we have to get over the hump.”
As much as Neal wants to enjoy his time here, enjoy his offseason, appreciate what he was a part of for those 10 straight victories to close out a 14-win season, he struggles.
“We're not happy,” he said. “We had a good regular season, but we came up way short. We know who the best team in the league was. We were the best team in the league, by far. Everyone knows what we could have done. They know what we let go.”
Tomlinson spoke of that loss making him want to get back to work sooner. He knows it will motivate him as 2007 progresses. Being among the Chargers here is a source of pride, if just a smidge, but it is also a painful reminder.
“That's a testament to the kind of season we had – actually, the kind of regular season we had,” Tomlinson said. “Once we got to the playoffs our experience was not good. We've got to change that.”
Kevin Acee: (619) 293-1857; kevin.acee@uniontrib.com
