New Charger Attitude to Anderson’s Liking : Football: Running back says his agent and the team will now try to work something out.
SAN DIEGO — Running back Gary Anderson, who sat out last season in a contract dispute with the Chargers, said Friday he was impressed by his first meeting Bobby Beathard, the team’s new general manager, and would consider playing again in San Diego.
“I’d like to think there is a new guy at the helm,†Anderson said by telephone from his home in Tampa, Fla. “Now it is up to my agent and the Chargers to get together and work something out.â€
Anderson, his wife, Ollie, and his agent, Peter Johnson of Cleveland, met with Beathard for 2 1/2 hours Thursday in Tampa. The parties said the meeting was designed as a get-acquainted session and an opportunity to put aside the rancor generated during Anderson’s holdout last season.
‘(Beathard) seemed like a real nice person,†Anderson said. “He asked me if I would come back to the team or if I had anything against San Diego. I told him I was upset with what Mr. (Steve) Ortmayer (Beathard’s predecessor) said last year about me and my family, but I have nothing against San Diego.â€
The Andersons had been especially upset by a statement by Ortmayer, since fired as director of football operations, that Ollie’s influence had caused problems in the negotiations. Anderson sat out last year when the parties could not agree on a contract to replace the one that expired after the 1988 season.
Because his contract has expired, Anderson is a conditional free agent, able to accept offers from other NFL teams until April 1. The Chargers can match any offer; if they decline, they would receive two first-round draft choices as compensation. Wilber Marshall, who went to the Washington Redskins from the Chicago Bears in 1988, was the last player to change teams under this system.
Anderson, 28, was selected the Chargers’ most valuable player in 1988 after rushing for a career-high 1,119 yards and catching 32 passes for 182 yards. Anderson said he has stayed in shape during the nearly 15-month layoff by working out on his own.
“I’ve been on a schedule for a year, lifting weights, running,†he said. “I’ve had more time to spend with my (two) children.â€
But Anderson said he does not welcome the possibility of another season without football.
“Playing football is what I do,†Anderson said. “I don’t want to go through what happened last year again.â€
