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Franklinnoble · 01-21-2004, 11:35 AM

Winston-Salem, North Carolina
March, 2007

Futile rays of sunshine peeked from behind the dense cloud cover as gusts of wind gave an added chill to the air. Dressed in grey sweatpants and a red t-shirt that read "Hoosiers," Alvin Lane seemed unaffected by the dreary weather as he launched a football 40 yards down his old high school football field, hitting his receiver in stride. Chargers scout David Fulcher mumbled, "Nice arm."

Franklin nodded. "Yep. But Jeff George had a nice arm, too."

"I don't think this guy's another Jeff George."

"He doesn't seem like it. He hasn't had much trouble off the field... there was that frat party incident during his freshman year, but there's nothing on him since then."

Fulcher nodded, "And he's got all the physical tools. Not to mention that he's a big guy - he's probably tougher than most of our current offensive linemen." That wasn't far from the truth. Lane was 6'3", and weighed 245 pounds. Fulcher continued, "He's got good times in the 40, he's tested out well, and he looks as good as any kid coming out of the draft in recent history. Plus, he's spent all four years in school. He'll be 24 before training camp."

Franklin rubbed his chin. The Chargers had the #1 overall pick again this year, after posting another 1-15 regular season record. They had made a profit of $23 million, but people were just not showing up. They averaged a home attendance of less than 31,000.

Lane whipped another pass downfield, this time dropping the ball into a trash can sitting in the end zone. There was no doubting his arm strength, nor his precision. He had also demonstrated an ability to run with the ball while at Indiana, and he had good hands. He was as good a prospect as you could look for in a rookie - but that had been said about so many quarterbacks coming out of college, and the truly great ones were rare. Still, the Chargers needed a miracle, and they would have to take a chance.

"Fine. We'll draft him. I'll call Russell Winston and have him start negotiating with the kid's agent. But we're still trading off the rest of our picks this year. If he looks good in training camp, we'll start spending money - but if he's a bust, I want to keep the damage at a minimum."

Fulcher grinned. He was clearly excited about having Lane on the team, and who could blame him? For so long, he had done nothing but scout for cheap, undrafted rookies. It was the first time he had been able to look at big-league talent, and he wanted Lane to work out as badly as anyone.

01-21-2004, 11:35 AM	#19
Franklinnoble Banned Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Placerville, CA	Winston-Salem, North Carolina March, 2007 Futile rays of sunshine peeked from behind the dense cloud cover as gusts of wind gave an added chill to the air. Dressed in grey sweatpants and a red t-shirt that read "Hoosiers," Alvin Lane seemed unaffected by the dreary weather as he launched a football 40 yards down his old high school football field, hitting his receiver in stride. Chargers scout David Fulcher mumbled, "Nice arm." Franklin nodded. "Yep. But Jeff George had a nice arm, too." "I don't think this guy's another Jeff George." "He doesn't seem like it. He hasn't had much trouble off the field... there was that frat party incident during his freshman year, but there's nothing on him since then." Fulcher nodded, "And he's got all the physical tools. Not to mention that he's a big guy - he's probably tougher than most of our current offensive linemen." That wasn't far from the truth. Lane was 6'3", and weighed 245 pounds. Fulcher continued, "He's got good times in the 40, he's tested out well, and he looks as good as any kid coming out of the draft in recent history. Plus, he's spent all four years in school. He'll be 24 before training camp." Franklin rubbed his chin. The Chargers had the #1 overall pick again this year, after posting another 1-15 regular season record. They had made a profit of $23 million, but people were just not showing up. They averaged a home attendance of less than 31,000. Lane whipped another pass downfield, this time dropping the ball into a trash can sitting in the end zone. There was no doubting his arm strength, nor his precision. He had also demonstrated an ability to run with the ball while at Indiana, and he had good hands. He was as good a prospect as you could look for in a rookie - but that had been said about so many quarterbacks coming out of college, and the truly great ones were rare. Still, the Chargers needed a miracle, and they would have to take a chance. "Fine. We'll draft him. I'll call Russell Winston and have him start negotiating with the kid's agent. But we're still trading off the rest of our picks this year. If he looks good in training camp, we'll start spending money - but if he's a bust, I want to keep the damage at a minimum." Fulcher grinned. He was clearly excited about having Lane on the team, and who could blame him? For so long, he had done nothing but scout for cheap, undrafted rookies. It was the first time he had been able to look at big-league talent, and he wanted Lane to work out as badly as anyone.