CHARGERS, JETS GAMBLE ON GIVING PLAYERS SECOND CHANCES

The National Football League is known for giving second chances to players,
but the San Diego Chargers and New York Jets are taking it to an extreme.

Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer, who should have learned something from
the way the Bam Morris experiment blew up in the Chiefs' faces, couldn't
resist giving kick returner/wide receiver and convicted felon Tamarick
Vanover a reprieve and signing him to a one-year contract.

And the Jets -- directed by club president Terry Bradway and coach Herman
Edwards, two former members of the Chiefs organization -- were so desperate
for defensive linemen that they signed tackle Larry Webster, a three-time
violator of the NFL substance-abuse program.

One more positive test, and he's gone for good.

Vanover, 28, pleaded guilty in February 2000 to aiding and abetting the
sale of a stolen sport utility vehicle that crossed state lines, and he
later testified he lent money to Morris and another associate for a drug
buy. Both men, including Morris, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking.

Vanover was sentenced to four months' confinement for his part, spending
two months at a federal work camp in Miami and two months under house
arrest in Lake City, Fla.

He's delighted to be wearing a uniform with just two numbers.

"When you surround yourself with people you really don't know and haven't
grown up with, you're bound to get in some circumstances," Vanover told San
Diego reporters after signing a contract worth $525,000. "I can't say it
was anybody's fault but mine, but I learned that you really can't let
anybody and everybody get close to you. You have to have people around you
that care about you as a person, not as a football player."

Vanover acknowledged getting caught up in the fast lane after joining the
Chiefs in 1995 as a third-round pick.

"When I first got there, it was all about going out to the parties and
seeing how many cars you can buy and different stuff," he said. "But being
out of the league for two years, I learned to love the little things in
life. I don't have to have the best things in the world.

"Being at that work camp really taught me a lot about being a family man. I
didn't want them to come visit me down there because I didn't want my
(three) kids to see me in that environment."

Schottenheimer prides himself on giving fresh starts to reclamation
projects. It worked in the case of running back Barry Word in 1990, who was
an exemplary citizen and performer for three seasons after he served some
on a drug-related charge. But others with checkered pasts such as Morris,
who had been behind bars in Texas, and Andre Rison did not change their
behavior.

Meanwhile, Webster's three suspensions for violating the NFL substance
abuse policy nearly equals his career sack total of 4.5. But the Jets, who
ranked 28th in the NFL in run defense last year, handed him a one-year
contract worth $675,000.

"He's made some mistakes in his life, but we all do," Edwards said. "I
don't have a problem with guys like that."

Webster, 33, last tested positive for cocaine before the 2000 season but
returned from the suspended list for the final eight games of Baltimore's
Super Bowl drive.

"I don't mind talking (about my drug past)," Webster told reporters. "It's
like therapy to me. Why try to hide it? It's not a secret."

Webster, who has tested positive for marijuana, cocaine and alcohol, is
tested by the NFL 10 times a month and is still meeting with a drug
counselor in Baltimore.

"You have to look in the mirror and you put out your hands," he said. "In
one hand, you have this thing -- the drugs. In the other hand, it's your
career. You have to look at it and see which one you want to pick. With one
hand, you can destroy your life. With the other, you can excel."

Around the league

. WHO WANTS TO BE A ...? Defensive tackle Nate Dwyer, the Arizona
Cardinals' fourth-round pick, wrote his grandfather a check for $1 million
four years ago before he left for college at Kansas, saying, "Hang onto
this. One day this check will be good."

His grandfather, Dale Register, of Stillwater, Minn., still has it.

"I didn't think much of it at the time," Register said, "but he would
always remind me of it."

. LITTLE RICHARD (LeBEAU): For the second consecutive year, Cincinnati
coach Dick LeBeau greeted his players at minicamp in a costume and with a
song to set a theme for the coming season. Wearing a Superman costume, he
broke through a homemade banner that read, "Bengals 2002 Super Bowl."

He then lip-synched Little Richard's mid-1960s hit "Slippin' and a-Slidin."
LeBeau wanted to hammer home a line in the song, "I been told, baby, you've
been bold. I won't be your fool no more."

Last year, LeBeau was in an Elvis Presley-like jumpsuit and mouthed the
words to Spencer Davis' "Gimme Some Lovin'."

. RAVENS DEALBREAKERS: Offensive tackle Marcus Spears spurning the
Baltimore Ravens and re-signing with the Chiefs wasn't the first time the
Ravens lost a player before his name was on the dotted line.

In 1997, the Ravens lost free-agent safety Brock Marion 10 minutes before
an introductory news conference when they learned he failed his physical
and were unable to reach a new deal. They also lost Cowboys linebacker
Broderick Thomas the same year when Jerry Jones whisked Thomas out of
Baltimore and back to Dallas on his private jet and re-signed him.