Chargers' Patriots visit Pats
By: JAY PARIS - Staff Writer
+ New England natives Cesaire, Cooper on home turf Sunday | ∞
SAN DIEGO -- The big weekend numbers came in, and Jacques Cesaire was declared the winner.
Yep, the ticket request list for the Chargers' defensive end numbered 40, with linebacker Stephen Cooper hitting the tape at 34.
"I could have got him if I wanted,'' Cooper said. "But I kept my voice mail full.''
Though the Chargers are hitting the road Sunday to play New England, Cesaire and Cooper are heading home. Both played high school football in Massachusetts, and many former teammates and friends -- with that distinctive accent -- will cheer them when the Chargers wrestle with the Patriots.
"It's really exciting,'' said Cooper, the former Wareham High standout.
"Plus we are playing against a good team and we are both 1-0. And last year they were the ones that ended our big year with us trying to get to the Super Bowl. We still need to show everyone we're the best team in league and get the victory.''
Cooper didn't take a back seat to many as a Wareham quarterback and linebacker.
"Cooper was a bigger name than I was,'' Cesaire said. "He was big-time back then.''
How big? Last year during the Chargers' bye week, Cooper's No. 4 was retired in a halftime ceremony at his old school.
Cesaire? Let's just say there's still a No. 84 roaming the field for the Gardner High Wildcats.
"I was the worst tight end of Massachusetts football history,'' said Cesaire, with the chuckle that's never far away. "I had four touchdown catches my senior year, but I dropped 15.''
What he added after helping Gardner to the 1998 state championship was girth.
Cesaire exited Gardner at 180 pounds, but packed on the weight and switched to defensive end. Today he's listed at 295.
Cesaire went on to Southern Connecticut State; Cooper landed at the University of Maine.
Neither Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) school claims a football factory label. So while both had stellar college careers, nothing but a silent phone greeted them on draft day.
But instead of sulking, they went to work.
"I just said, 'Lets go, it's time to get it started,' '' Cesaire said. "I always told myself as long as I could get myself in the door, they would have to kick me out.''
Kicking back wasn't an option for Cesaire and Cooper. With no round pick attached to their resumes, they had to impress quickly. If not, their ticket would be punched back to New England.
"We both came from small schools and worked our way up from the bottom of the totem pole,'' the 6-foot-1, 235-pound Cooper said. "When you come in as an undrafted free agent, there is a lot of competition. But we both stayed after it and worked hard on and off the field.''
Added Cesaire: "I remember when we first got here, that group of undrafted free agents, we were so hungry. Everyone thought they would make the team, and we didn't care where we got drafted and who the draft picks were.
"I was a fourth-string defensive end and Cooper -- he didn't care. He was going to light somebody up on special teams or do something on defense so these people would know who he was.''
Cooper's name got called a team-high eight times Sunday, leading the squad in tackles in the season-opening win over Chicago.
"He played well,'' coach Norv Turner said.
And while the 6-2, 295-pound Cesaire doesn't have a starting role like Cooper, he's a key component of the defensive line's rotation.
Cesaire had one of the Chargers' three sacks against the Bears. Last year, Cesaire secured a career-high four sacks.
Opening day wasn't a bad day for the Massachusetts Mashers, two guys few gave much of a chance.
"It says more about the people that have been around us, guys that supported us, helped us and developed us into the players we are today,'' Cesaire said.
"Those people said, 'You got something special -- stick with it and keep it going.'
"If I didn't have the type of people around me and blessings from God to keep working and believing in myself, I wouldn't be where I am now.''
They'll be home Sunday, playing for the visitors. In a Gillette Stadium filled with Patriots honks, at least 74 fans will be cheering Cesaire and Cooper.
They've got the ticket requests to prove it.
Chargers notes
DE Luis Castillo (foot) and ILB Stephen Cooper (groin) didn't practice on Friday. But both said they were fine and would play Sunday; they are listed as probable. "Both guys had practiced through it," coach Norv Turner said about the pair working earlier in the week. "And we just had good practices Wednesday and Thursday -- it was just good for them today to back off it.'' ... OLB Shawne Merriman (Achilles' tendon) and TE Antonio Gates (back) took all their snaps after resting earlier in the week. ... In his first season as a starter last year, QB Philip Rivers compiled a 97 passer rating in road games as the Chargers went 6-2 away from Qualcomm Stadium. ... With the game starting Sunday night, the team isn't heading East until today. The Chargers normally travel on Fridays. ... Turner on the penalties handed down by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on the Patriots for spying: "What he did was send a strong message to everybody. I don't think you put that kind of penalty together unless you feel pretty strongly that it is something that has been occurring.'
-- Contact staff writer Jay Paris at jparis8@aol.com.
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