Aug. 8, 2006
By Kevin AceeSAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE
SAN DIEGO --The oldest Charger is usually vague about how long he plans to continue playing football, typically saying that he has no plan. But recently, Keenan McCardell must have decided his timetable was out there enough to mention.
"I want to be a 20-year man," he said earlier this summer.
When the eyebrows of the man standing before him raised high enough to blend into the hairline, McCardell flashed an equally quizzical look.
"You act like that's not realistic," he said.
Nothing, it seems, is impossible to McCardell, about to begin his 15th NFL season.
"Your mind will take you where your body wants to go," he said.
McCardell would like to take his body where only one other receiver has ever taken his, where just six non-kickers in the history of the NFL have gone.
Before McCardell's vision for longevity is scoffed at, it must be pointed out there is no tangible reason to doubt him. At the age of 36, he is coming off one of his finer statistical seasons.
McCardell caught a career-high nine touchdown passes in 2005. His 70 catches were seventh-highest in his 15 years as a pro. He had bettered his 917 yards just five times.
"It will be hard to do, but I wouldn't put anything past him," head coach Marty Schottenheimer said. " ... There is no evidence he is slowing down at all."
McCardell has a few things going for him, in addition to a body that appears to defy age and a desire to work hard. While the rest of the Chargers' receivers - the oldest one of them being 27 - might find this amusing, McCardell actually thinks he has age on his side.
Jerry Rice turned 42 during his 20th (and final) season. McCardell would be 42 in his 20th season. McCardell also has perspective. Rice ultimately called it quits a short while into training camp with the Denver Broncos last summer because he was not interested in being what he felt would be an afterthought.
"Jerry did not want to be a third guy," said McCardell, who has known Rice for more than a decade. "He'd never been a third guy. I have been a third guy. I understand what that guy brings to the team."
McCardell is the Chargers' No.1 receiver - if only on a technicality, being that this is an Antonio Gates-centric offense. But the former 12th-round pick who was released a half-dozen times in his first three years in the NFL, did not truly begin producing until his sixth season.
From 1996 to 2001, he and Jimmy Smith teamed up in Jacksonville as the league's premier receiving tandem.
No duo caught more passes for more yards in that span than Smith and McCardell. Four times in those six years, McCardell caught at least 85 passes for at least 1,110 yards.
It was in 1998 that he began his current streak of 102 consecutive games with a reception, the seventh-longest run among active players. Only Marvin Harrison, Jimmy Smith and Rod Smith have caught more passes over the past 10 seasons. Only nine players in the history of the game have caught more passes in their careers than McCardell's 825.
"Consistency is what makes you great," said McCardell. "Like James Lofton tells me all the time, 'Anyone can do it one time. Can you do it for a long period of time at a high level?' "
Lofton, the Chargers receivers coach, is a Hall of Famer. He is one of 18 players who have more career receiving yards than McCardell's 10,716.
Getting into the Hall of Fame as a receiver is elusive. Voters seem to have increasingly discounted the value of receptions and even yards as the short passing game has proliferated. Plenty of the players ahead of McCardell on the receiving lists are not in Canton.
"There is something to be said for a guy who plays a long time at an extended level," Schottenheimer said. "(McCardell) has to be given consideration."
Whatever the future holds, the present remains astonishing.
Watching McCardell in practice is like watching ballet. He runs routes like he dreamed them up himself. His hands are magnets, seemingly drawing balls to them.
While there is much talk about the potential of Vincent Jackson to be a No. 1 receiver soon, McCardell just keeps on playing football with a passion and work ethic that are rarely matched.
He recalls a conversation with Rice back in the 1990s during which the all-time receptions leader said he is always trying for the perfect game.
"Ever since, when I'm out on the field, I want to have a perfect game," McCardell said. "All the great games I've had, I've never had a perfect game."
While 20 years is now the stated goal, exactly how long McCardell will continue to strive for the perfect Sunday remains a mystery. He refuses to even think about what it will be like to walk away from the game. The plan to be a 20-year man? That's nothing.
"If I get there," McCardell said, "I'll think about keeping it going."
