Receiver Runs a Long Route Toward Goal : Chargers’ Jefferson Is Slow to Emerge but Sure He Will

SAN DIEGO —  For a moment, Charger receiver Shawn Jefferson looked at his brief pro career from a fan’s perspective. He didn’t like what he saw.

“They probably saw me coming in here as the guy they got for Lee Williams, and they really haven’t seen me do very much,” Jefferson said. “I guess they would think of me as a bust. Man.”

Jefferson quickly caught himself and stepped back into his world--a fiery sphere that is based on determination and self-confidence and is rarely invaded by anyone, except his family or his best friend, Ernest Givins of the Houston Oilers.

From the time he came out of Central Florida as a ninth-round draft choice of the Houston Oilers, Jefferson vowed to be a star.

“I’m going to be a great player in this league,” Jefferson said last year. “I’m not going to be satisfied with going to just one Pro Bowl. I want to go every year.”

A year later, the goals and resolve remain unchanged. Jefferson simply miscalculated the number of blows that would be inflicted on his ego and his wiry 5-foot-11, 180-pound frame.

In Jefferson’s Charger debut last year against Pittsburgh in the season opener, he caught three passes for 23 yards, including a five-yard touchdown pass from John Friesz. Charger General Manager Bobby Beathard ominously said after the Pittsburgh game: “He’s off to a good start, but one game doesn’t make a career.”

But it nearly has for Jefferson. Twenty games later, he still has one touchdown, and he has gone on to catch only 22 more passes.

Although he has caught 13 passes for 122 yards this season, Jefferson remains the third receiver in a two-man rotation, backing up Anthony Miller and Nate Lewis. In the Chargers’ last game against Seattle, free agent Robert Claiborne, the fourth receiver, saw more playing time than Jefferson.

Throughout the game, Jefferson stood next to Charger Coach Bobby Ross waiting for a chance that never came.

Ross said his failure to play Jefferson was simply an oversight.

“We just failed to play him,” Ross said. “That was a goof on our part. We should have played him. That won’t happen again.”

But for someone whose sights are set so high, it has been hard to sink so low.

Jefferson was devastated after the Seattle game. Receivers coach Jerry Sullivan and Beathard told him, “Good game, Shawn,” but Jefferson saw the hollow praise as almost an insult.

He called his mother in Florida crying, asking her for answers. He called Givins for advice. His agent, Phil Williams, even called the Charger front office wondering what was going on.

“He’s a competitor,” said Billy Devaney, Charger player personnel director. “I’m sure he was ticked off.”

Jefferson said he could accept last year’s limited role. He didn’t like it, but at least there was a legitimate reason for it. After coming over from Houston’s run-and-shoot offense, Jefferson never learned Dan Henning’s offense and spent most of last season in a fog--dropping passes and running the wrong routes.

“It was tough,” Jefferson said this week. “I really had the run-and-shoot down pat. I loved it. That is really the ultimate offense for a receiver, being able to use your total ability and read the cornerback. Here, you had to run more precise routes and beat guys more one on one.”

Devaney said Jefferson came to the Chargers a week before the 1991 opener “behind the eight-ball.”

“By the time he got here, we were game-planning,” he said. “He had to jump on a train that was already moving. We had 80% of our offense in place. There wasn’t an intelligence problem. He came from a small school and he only played two years there. He just didn’t have a big football background.”

But Devaney said the lost year did not have the club second-guessing their trade.

“We understood what we were getting--a guy with a bright future,” Devaney said.

But a new coaching staff and two spring mini-camps appeared to move the future into the present. Nearly every day of the mini-camps, Ross had words of praise for Jefferson.

Because of Jefferson’s off-season development, Devaney said the Chargers did not try to acquire another receiver in a trade or through the draft.

“He started catching the ball and his routes got more precise,” Devaney said.

When rookie camp opened in July, the compliments and the impressive play continued. Jefferson caught six passes in the rookie scrimmage against the Rams.

But on the second day of veteran camp, Jefferson pulled a hamstring muscle that sidelined him for much of training camp.

“I think Shawn is a hell of a receiver, but Shawn is like a lot of guys, he can’t miss time,” Ross said. “The longer you’re in this league, the easier it is to go back out there and play after you’ve missed time. Some people can do that. Shawn is not one of those people. He needs every rep he can possibly get.”

Sullivan, who replaced Charley Joiner as the Chargers’ receivers coach this year, said Jefferson will be fine if stays within himself.

“I think he has a world of talent, but we have to harness it,” Sullivan said. “Sometimes it’s hard to live up the expectations of others. The thing I want him to do is feel good about himself and be as good as he can be at this point.

“I think everybody thought because he had a good spring that he would be the savior. I don’t know that you could put that on his shoulders.”

Ross said the circumstances would be a lot different had Jefferson not pulled his hamstring.

“In my mind, if Shawn had not missed camp, there’s no doubt he’d be starting and playing an awful lot,” Ross said. “He’s just got to remember that he’s young and he’s missed a lot of time. He’s just got to have a little patience, that’s all.”

But for an emotional 23-year-old, patience is not yet a virtue. Now that he’s healthy again, Jefferson said he is ready to play.

“This year I’m doing all the necessary things to make me better,” he said. “Last year, I didn’t watch any film. This year, I’m spending time watching film. I don’t know what else to do.”

If given an opportunity, Jefferson said he knows he can produce.

“I’m not bragging, (but) I guarantee you if I were to start, I would have figures like Anthony,” Jefferson said.

But guarantees already landed Jefferson in controversy. Before a game against Houston last month, he was quoted as saying he would guarantee a victory over the Oilers. The quote found its way into the Houston locker room and served as motivation for the Oilers in their 27-0 victory over the Chargers.

Jefferson said he was tricked by the reporter.

“He said, ‘So you say you guys are going to win?’ ” Jefferson said. “I said, ‘Yeah, we’ll win.’ What do you want me to say? ‘We’ll lose.’ I really believed that we could have won that game.”

Jefferson a week earlier chastised San Diego fans for their lack of support during a 23-6 Pittsburgh victory. He apologized to the fans a day later, but Jefferson said that wasn’t enough for some people.

“Some fans wrote me letters,” he said. “They were really all over me. Now, I really do understand their frustrations.”

He also got a phone call from his mother over the incident.

“She read about it in the Jacksonville papers,” he said. “She said, ‘Boy, you better watch your mouth.’ ”

He has. In fact, Jefferson did not talk to reporters for a week after the Houston game. Ross had a chat with Jefferson about his professional obligations, and he is speaking to reporters again, but his comments are more guarded and they are frequently spliced with phrases like “this is off the record.”

Givins said Jefferson’s bout with the media won’t be his last.

“I told him that whenever you’re talking to the press, make sure you say exactly what you mean,” Givins said. “That’s part of growing up. He’s going to make a lot more mistakes than that with the press. He’s just a really emotional guy.”

But Jefferson doesn’t share his emotions with just anybody. He has no close friends on the Chargers, and Jefferson said he prefers it that way.

“I’m a loner,” he said. “I don’t like being around other people. I’m just very selective of my friends. Sometimes Anthony Miller calls me ‘Sybil,’ like I have all these personalities.”

Miller, whose locker is next to Jefferson’s, said Jefferson remains a mystery.

“You never know what to expect when he comes off the field,” Miller said. “He’s different.”

Jefferson would agree.

“I’m a very hard guy to get to know,” he said. “I don’t like people saying, ‘I know that guy.’ ”

Jefferson said the only people who really know him are Givins, whom he talks to nearly every night, and his family.

“I love my family so much I can’t picture loving someone else that much,” Jefferson said.

But lately Jefferson’s family has been a source of pain. His brother, Jordan, died of lung disease during training camp. Another of Jefferson’s four surviving brothers, Kenneth Hartley, is in a Florida prison awaiting trial on first-degree murder charges. Hartley is already serving a life sentence for his shotgun robbery of a cab driver, the severity of the sentence coming because he is a habitual felon.

Jefferson said he often speaks with his brother from prison.

“We’re pretty close,” said Jefferson, who has paid his brother’s legal fees. “I love all my brothers the same. He encourages me a lot.”

The murder case has been delayed since June, but it is scheduled to go to trial next month. If convicted, Hartley could get the death penalty.

“Whatever happens, I’m going to be there for my brother,” Jefferson said. “He was raised right, but things happen in life.”

As long as he remains patient, Givins said good things will begin happening for Jefferson.

“When nobody knows who you are, you have to raise some eyebrows first to get people’s attention,” Givins said. “But you can’t raise any eyebrows if you don’t get the chance. When you get that chance, you have to make the most of it. I told him when he does finally get there, it’s going to feel so good.”

Ross said Jefferson has regained his form and the receiver will get the opportunity to show it off this week in Indianapolis.

“He will play a lot more this week,” Ross said.

Devaney didn’t guarantee anything, but he’s excited about the prospect of seeing Jefferson play more.

“He shown 100% improvement,” Devaney said. “Last week was a mistake. When all is said and done, he’ll be one of the best receivers in this league. There’s no way he can’t be. His work ethic is fantastic, his hands are good, his speed is rare and the best thing is he wants to be the best.”