San Diego Indoor Track Meet : Ware Takes On 3 NFL Speedsters

SAN DIEGO â€”  The introductions paint the picture.

These are the entries in the National Football League 50-meter dash Feb. 22 at the Michelob Invitational track meet in the San Diego Sports Arena:

- Hershel Walker, Dallas Cowboy running back, a former track star at the University of Georgia who has run 100 meters in 10.23.

- Ron Brown, Ram wide receiver, a member of the U.S. gold medal 400-meter relay team in the 1984 Olympics and fourth-place finisher in the Olympic 100-meters despite a calf injury.

- Dokie Williams, Raider wide receiver, an All-American in track and field as a UCLA sophomore, a competitor in the 1980 U.S. Olympic trials and the 1978 San Diego Section track and field athlete of the year at El Camino High in Oceanside.

- Timmie Ware, San Diego Charger reserve wide receiver.

Guess who is the race’s long shot.

“I won’t have time to get nervous, because the race will be over so fast,� Ware said.

Walker . . . Brown . . . Williams. . . .

“Those guys are fast ,� Ware said. “Those guys are FAST. “

Ware is merely fast.

“I’m faster than people give me credit for,� Ware said. “It’s deceiving speed. I’m a long strider. It doesn’t look like I’m running so fast. . . . I run about a 4.5 in the 40. That’s not fast . But with the competitive edge, 4.5 can easily turn into a 4.3.�

Getting that competitive edge is another matter. Ware has run as much as he has caught footballs for the Chargers recently--which is to say not much. After coming off the injured-reserve list last season, Ware caught 1 pass for 11 yards in 9 games.

Ware, a high school star in football, basketball and track at Centennial High in Compton, has not run indoors since the 1981 Sunkist meet at Los Angeles. At Centennial, he ran the second leg on the 1,600-meter relay team that set a national high school record of 3:10.34 in 1980.

He hasn’t been in the starting blocks since his freshman season at USC, where he ran the 400 meters and mile relay. After that, he concentrated on football and )caught 23 passes for a 26-yard average during his junior season.

“Track was the thing that got me looked at by colleges,� Ware said. “We had a great track team in high school. But football has always been my first love. . . . Talking about track, I get butterflies in my stomach. I guess I do miss it.�

Gary Anderson, Charger running back/wide receiver, was the track promoter’s first choice to represent the Chargers in the NFL 50-meter dash, but he had a prior commitment.

“Some people around here don’t realize just how fast Gary is,� Ware said. “There’s no telling how fast Gary can run. As far as speed and quickness, nobody compares to Gary Anderson. I think he’s the best athlete in football today.�

Because Ware is considered the Chargers’ second-fastest player, he was asked to race. And he was happily surprised by the invitation.

“It’s the first time I’ve run in something like this,� said Ware, who is preparing by training with blocks at the USC track. “Those guys (Walker, Brown and Williams) have a lot more experience running this type of race than I do. And I know these guys are fast. But it’s a competitive situation. It comes down to whoever is in the best shape.�

Ware, a quarter-miler, wishes the race were longer than 50 meters.

“I’m trying to get them to go to the 500-meter mark,� Ware said. “I think I would have a definite advantage. If not physical, I would have a mental edge. But I don’t think they’ll go for it.�