Times-Advocate from Escondido, California • 15

I -Q TIMES'ADVOCATE Monday, Oct. 22, 1984 Kinee i mi jury knocks Wimslow out for the year It was first down. Winslow ran downfield and hooked over the middle. He caught Dan Fouts pass with his back to the Raiders defense. Before he could turn upfield he was blindsided from the left by Raiders linebacker Jeff Barnes.

After remaining on the ground for several minutes, Winslow was put on a cart. Before being removed he sat up, laughed and appeared to be making small talk with the Raiders, some of whom came up and shook his hand before he left. He waived to the players and fans as he left. Winslow, 26, will be in a knee brace and on crutches for eight weeks. His 1984 season is history.

Losse said Winslows actions, which made it seem as if he wasnt in pain, werent unusual. The initial response is one of pain," Losse said Seconds later the body responds with adrenaline, and the pains not as severe. But when we tried to stretch the knee, it tightened up. Wmslow fmished the game with eight catches for 107 yards and one touchdown, a five-yarder. He was enjoying his best season.

With Sunday's game marking the halfway mark of the season, Winslow finished with 55 catches for 663 yards and two touchdowns. He missed one game this season when he retired for a week during a contract dispute. He began the season with four catches for 33 yards in the Chargers season opener in Minnesota. He announced he was retiring from football after the game because he was unable to reach a contract agreement with the club. Winslow had two years remaining under his old contract.

He was to earn $210,000 this year and $231,000 in 1985. He was seeking a five-year, $3 5 million contract. Please see Winslow, page C3 Undergoes surgery for ligament damage By Don Norcross Times Advocate Sportswriter SAN DIEGO Kellen Winslow was trading barbs with some of his friends inside the locker room after the Chargers 44-37 ioss to the Raiders. It was gallows humor at its best. Or worst.

They should put Charlie Joiner at tight end. He cant block any worse than you, jabbed one of buddies. "These are friends of yours? asked Joiner, kidd-ingly. Im sure they want to know where theyre going to get their tickets from now on. Thats the first thing they wanted to know, Winslow said.

One of Winslows friends looked at Sid Brooks, the Chargers equipment manager, and said, Sids walking better than most of the guys leaving here. If you didnt know better, if you had walked in out of the blue and didnt know the misfortune that had struck Winslow an hour earlier, you would have thought everything was fine. The guys were just having some fun. Far from it. Winslows right knee was immobilized by a brace.

On Sunday evening Chargers physician Dr. Gary Losse performed a three-hour surgery on Winslows knee at Sharp Memorial Hospital, repairing a tear of the medial colateral ligament and reconstructing the posterior cruciate ligament. Winslow, 26, in his sixth year in the league, will be in a knee brace and on crutches for eight weeks. His 1984 season is history. If theres anything positive about the injury, its that Winslows anterior cruciate ligament didnt have to be surgically repaired, which would make a comeback more difficult.

After the game, Losse feared Jn Batfd 1 he 1 lines Advocate As Kellen Winslow is down and out for the season with ligament damage to his right knee, the Raiders' Rod Martin takes a look. that it was also damaged. Its much better in regards to his future if just the medial colateral is damaged, Losse said after the game. Thats a lot easier to come back from. Its a serious injury to anyone that does a lot of pivoting and cutting.

Losse could not be reached Sunday night after the surgery. Although he was willing to joke with his close friends after the game, Winslow, normally affable with the media, did not wish to talk to reporters this time. Id rather not talk about it right now, he said. Winslow suffered the injury late in the fourth quarter. The Raiders had just kicked a field goal to extend their lead to 44-30.

Lionel James returned the kickoff to the 32. Raiders A frustrating, painful loss for Chargers Diego By John Maffei Times Advocate Sports Editor "Im just sick about this one, said the Chargers head coach. "Just as I was about the last one. Coryell wasnt referring to last weeks 31-13 defeat by the Chiefs. He was referring to the Chargers last loss to the Raiders, the one four weeks ago when A1 Davis boys erased a 30-20 fourth-quarter deficit to post a 33-30 victory.

This time, it looked like it would be the Chargers who would stage the comeback. Trailing 41-23 with 11:55 to play, Dan Fouts guided the Chargers to a touchdown in a minute and 44 seconds, the score coming on a five-yard flip to Winslow. The Raiders responded with a SAN DIEGO -Before the game, they talk mean 3 and nasty, trying to intimidate the opposition in a war of words. During the game, they intimidate with their actions -head slaps, late hits and taunting. But Sundays post-game locker room, the A.

Raiders were pussy cats, handing out compliments to the fall- Marc Wilson "We needed a those points By Don Norcross Times Advocate Sportswriter SAN DIEGO It was as if someone had decided the Chargers would not win the game. Not only that, but they would lose it in the most frustrating and painful fashion possible. And of course, the game was against their arch rivals, the Raiders. Never mind that the Chargers made a stirring comeback after trailing 41-23. Never mind that they made the comeback without Kellen Winslow, Wes Chandler and many of their fans, who sprinted for the parking lot when the Chargers fell behind by 18.

Forget that the Chargers appeared to have completed their improbable comeback, apparently tying the game with barely a minute to play. No, there had to be a penalty, wiping out the touchdown. Then there had to be an interception on the next play, which left the raucous fans who had stuck around stunned in silence as the Chargers were forced to absorb a numbing 44-37 loss. It was both an emotional and physically painful defeat, emotional because of its importance and the effort the Chargers had put forth. The San Diegans now find themselves 4-4 in the AFC West, three games behind the Raiders and Broncos.

All four San Diego losses have been in their division. The playoffs are a distant dream. It was a painful defeat because Winslow will not play again this season. The All-Pro tight end damaged ligaments in his left knee. He underwent surgery Sunday night.

Winslows was not the only injury, just the most severe. Chandler bruised a knee while scoring his first-half touchdown. He did not return, and after the game he wasnt optimistic about his availability next week against Seattle. Tight end Pete Holohan was transported to the locker room on a cart after the game, a sprained ankle was too painful to walk on. In Winslow, Holohan and Chandler, the Chargers lost their three top pass catchers.

Asked whether Sundays loss was the most frustrating of his nine-year career, center Don Ma-cek said, "I dont know. There have been a lot of em. But this one ranks up there with the best of em. Coach Don Coryell couldnt recall a tougher loss. Greg Townsend Dave SiccardiThe Times Advocate forces Fouts to fumble.

Jim BairdThe mes Advocate en Chargers like candy at Halloween. Maybe the Raiders were being nice because the had just escaped with their lives. Twice in the games dymg minutes, the Chargers appeared to have scored a tying touchdown only to have one nullified by a penalty and another go awry when a wide-open Jesse Bendross dropped the ball out of bounds on the way to the end zone. The end result was a thrilling 44-37 Raiders win, and another frus-tating defeat for the Chargers I dont know what it is about the Chargers, said Raiders Coach Tom Flores, but we always play these type of games It appeared we were control of the game But the Chargers have such a powerful offense, they came right back on us I guess it was just destined to be this type of game As in their game in Los Angeles four weeks ago when the Raid ers scored in the last minute to pull out a 33-30 win the Chargers took control of the game early building a 20-7 lead But that quickly evaporated and the Raiders took command in the second half, building leads of 34 20 and 44-30 But the Chargers closed to within seven points on a 50 ard pass from Dan Fouts to Bobby Duck worth with 2 36 to play, forced a Raiders punt and had A on the run in the games final minute At the end, said Flores, I was thinking now we were going to get down the field and get into field goal range in less than a minute I was also thinking about overtime But neither was necessary because the Chargers saw Bendross catch a Fouts pass with clear sailing to pay dirt only to drop the ball out of bounds at the three The Chargers got a three yard run by Earnest Jac kson tor a TD on the next pla but it was nullified by a holding penalty On the next play Fouts pass into the end zone was intercepted by Ted Watts End of miracle finish, hand the Raiders another heart stopping Please see Raiders page C3 Dan Fouts topples in the end zone, tackled by the Raiders' Rod Martin, but the ball was spotted on the one yard line. Former Aztec Sampson stable after head injury field goal to increase their lead to 44-30.

More importantly, they sliced more than six minutes off the clock. When the Chargers got the ball back, only 3:43 remained. Five plays later, the Chargers were back in the end zone, this time on a 50-yard pass to Bobby Duckworth, cutting the deficit to 44-37. The Chargers paid for the score. On first down from the 32, Winslow caught a 12-yard pass over the middle.

With his back to the Raiders defense, he pivoted to head upfield. He never saw Jeff Barnes, who blindsided him from the left. Winslow writhed in pain on the grass. Minutes later, he was carted off. As he left, he waved goodbye.

Little did the fans know he was waving so long for the season. It was one of your classic football injuries, said linebacker Linden King, who saw Winslows injury from the sideline. He got hit the wrong way, and his knee wouldnt give. There were still two minutes and 36 seconds to play. Because their defense had already given up 495 yards, the Chargers attempted an onside kick.

It failed. The Raiders recovered on the San Diego 46. Continuing the unrealistic script, the Chargers defense held, forcing the Raiders to punt. When the Chargers got the ball back on the 16, there was still 2.06 to play, although San Diego was out of timeouts. The Chargers didnt need them.

Three downs later they were on the Raiders people were joking that they better not score too soon, putting the pressure back on their generous defense. It was no problem. They wound up not scoring at all. After an incomplete pass, the stage was set for the two biggest plays of the game. From the 21, Fouts aimed a pass at Jesse Bendross on the sidelines.

Lester Hayes went for the interception and missed. Bendross caught the ball at about the six and turned toward the goal line. He seemed certain to score a touchdown, although Raiders safety Mike Davis was angling toward Please see Chargers, page C3 being held at the hospital overnight for observation Denver spokesman Jim Sac-comano said Sampson suffered no neurological damage after taking a helmet to the neck Saccomano said X-rays of Sampson revealed he had no neck injury, but that he may have suffered a fractured jaw The hospital spokesman said later that Sampson suffered no bone fractures. Denver Coach Don Reeves said he didnt think there was anything wrong with the lick It was a tough lick If he had caught the ball, it probably wouldnt have happened ORCHARD PARK, N.Y (AP) Denver wide receiver Clinton Sampson, injured during the Broncos 37-7 victory over the Buffalo Bills Sunday, remained stable condition Sunday night at a Buffalo hospital Sampson, a second-year wide receiver out of San Diego State, suffered a concussion, some loose teeth and a cut lip after absorbing a jolting hit by Buffalos Don Wilson while running a pass route over the middle in the third quarter. A spokesman at Buffalo General Hospital, where Sampson was taken by helicopter after being removed from the field on a stretcher, said Sampson was.