New Charger Could Be In for Kicking From Critters

Think about this.

If there was one person in San Diego sports you wouldn’t want to displace, who would that be?

You know, we’re talking about a job you don’t want badly enough to unseat the person who has it.

This person would be respected, admired and loved by the populace. This person would be clean-cut, but not squeaky clean. This person would be without taint of controversy. This person might even be a courageous figure who has been successful in spite of adversity.

Let’s see now.

How many folks fill such a bill?

I can think of one, right off hand.

This week, Vince Abbott took his job.

You’ve heard of Vince Abbott? Maybe not. He is the Chargers’ new placekicker.

You knew the old one.

Rolf Benirschke.

“Most of the stories have been about Rolf leaving,” Abbott said, “rather than me making the team. I understand that. Rolf has been a great kicker, and he’s done a lot for the community.”

Benirschke’s departure, via trade to the Dallas Cowboys, has been both lamented and criticized, but it was hardly a shock. The way he was used in the exhibition games made it obvious he no longer fit in the Chargers’ plans. To their credit, they traded him . . . and thus enabled him to retain his $260,000 salary.

Was it fair? Did he deserve better?

Nothing is fair about professional football, but it would have been much more harsh if he had been waived and left to negotiate another contract for far less than he will be making now.

And what of this fellow Vince Abbott?

Abbott does not step into the most comfortable position. He follows the highest scorer in Charger history and the third most accurate field-goal kicker in National Football League history, but those aren’t the toughest of Benirschke’s acts he must follow. He also follows a fellow who donated $50 to endangered animals for every field goal he kicked (Kicks for Critters). He follows a fellow all the parents in San Diego would love to see their daughters date.

Sure, there is pressure in competing for a job, and Abbott has had a succession of training camp trials since he graduated from Cal State Fullerton, but that pressure may be nothing like what he will face now that he has won the job from Rolf Benirschke.

“Maybe there will be some adverse reaction,” Abbott said, “but I have to look at it like I’m lucky enough to be in the National Football League and go out and do my job. I can’t worry about it and let it bother me. I can’t control the fans, but I do hope they’ll give me a chance. I have to start the season and kick a few field goals and hope they come around.”

Obviously, Abbott has spent some time contemplating his position. He understands the stature Benirschke enjoyed in the community, and he isn’t suggesting he is going to rush out and dedicate field goals to stray dogs or injured sea gulls. Popularity cannot be orchestrated, and it begins or ends with what he is able to do on the field.

What is bound to transpire, sooner rather than later, is that Charger fans will switch from being sentimental about Benirschke’s departure to cynical about the man who replaced him.

What they will wonder is this: If this chap has been around long enough to play in the United States Football League and have tryouts with a handful of NFL teams, why is he suddenly so skilled that he sends Benirschke to an exile in Texas?

It has to do with a tryout he had with the Raiders a year ago. Steve Ortmayer, the Chargers’ director of football operations, had the same position with the Raiders last year.

“I kicked well,” Abbott said. “At one point, I kicked 69 field goals in a row from between 30 and 55 yards. Steve Ortmayer told me they were happy with Chris Bahr, but he’d see what he could do to help me with my career.”

Abbott went back to selling real estate, but Ortmayer did not forget him. Ortmayer sent him tickets to Raider games and generally treated him like somebody worthwhile.

When Ortmayer moved south, he brought along his recollections of Abbott’s training camp heroics.

Coincidentally, Benirschke’s star was in decline in San Diego. The Raiders had been happy with Bahr, but the Chargers were not so happy with Benirschke . . . at least Benirschke the placekicker. After missing the 1985 season with a groin injury, he came back in 1986 with the most inconsistent year of his career.

Thus, Rolf Benirschke found himself in a totally unfamiliar position this summer. In a sense, he was the outsider among the placekicking candidates. Someone else would have to blow it for Benirschke to get an opportunity. Abbott was that someone, and he didn’t blow it.

And so, after three exhibition games in which he did not attempt a field goal, Benirschke and his boots were traded to the Cowboys.

On that last Tuesday morning, as he packed his bags, Benirschke met with his successor.

“Rolf told me San Diego’s a great place to live with great people,” Abbott said. “He told me I was going to love it here. He told me to have fun and have a good year.”

And about the pressure of replacing Rolf Benirschke?

“He told me not to let anything bother me,” he said. “Just do my job.”