MVN - Most Valuable Network

An Interview With Chargers VP And COO Jim Steeg

Since I’ve stayed away from draft speculation and analysis this week, I offer you an alternative from the norm. Those of you familiar with JUSTICE IS COMING know that ever since I met then-new Chargers Vice President at the ‘04 division clincher in snowy Cleveland, I have made good on my promise to harass him as much as I can. Jim was kind enough to speak with me on Thursday, April 24 about all things Chargers.

RW: You know, I don’t mind being on hold since I get to hear all those radio highlights from last season. But they start over after about eight and I think it’s time to get some new ones in there.

JS: (Laughs) That’s because you’re not supposed to be on hold that long.

RW: I know you have long ties to the Giants (even in Boston, he grew up a fan and is close to the Maras), but did it hurt a bit to see them take down the Patriots right after we lost? I couldn’t root for either side, but felt better about our season before that.

JS: Well, I was in Hawaii at the time and I think I was kind of numb to it. I was with the league all those years (He was Senior Vice President, Special Events for the NFL when he came to the Chargers). Now that I’m on “the other side,” I can’t imagine how guys who aren’t in it go to the Super Bowl. I really felt like a “hit a wall.”

But, knowing John Mara and rooting for them all through my childhood, I felt good for them. Plus, I’ve known Tom Coughlin for a long time.

Ironically, during his 33 years with the NFL the Super Bowl was one of his specialties. The others, were the Pro Bowl and the “American Bowl.”

RW: The biggest thing I would assume that you’ve been involved with lately is the game in London. I assume that was really your doing.

JS: Actually, it was more Dean (Spanos).

RW: I keep reading quotes where the allusion is made to the fact that the Giants went last year and won it all. Are you guys superstitious enough to believe that there is a connection, because I’m so desperate for a title that I’m will to accept anything.

JS: (Laughs) I don’t know about that but it feels good after organizing those America Bowls in Barcelona and Berlin. (The Bolts played the Giants and Steelers in two of those games) We’ve got a great hotel which the English National Rugby Team uses. It has 130 rooms and will really allow us to have almost another “training camp.”

RW: That’s the thing I’ve been reading a lot about. The bonding that occurs on a trip like that seems to really help team chemistry.

JS: If you think about it, and it was the result of a tragedy, the thing that really caused the guys to pull together last year was being forced out of San Diego during the fires. After the 3-4 days the guys spent in Phoenix, I think they only lost two games the rest of the way.

RW: I actually never thought of that.

JS: It was also nice that we will play the week before on the East Coast so we can go to Europe right after the game.

RW: I read that the Chargers made that one of the conditions of their involvement.

JS: Yeah. It will also be great that so many of the guys’ families will be going to Europe. It’s really a great opportunity that I think a lot of them will take advantage of.

So what else have you been spending your time on?

JS: Right now I’m really dealing with game day plans. I’ve got a chart in front of me with all the home games. I’m looking at pregame, sponsors, parking, concessions…which game will be our “Alumni Day,” which charitable groups will be involved?

RW: I know it’s a sticky subject right now, but I have to ask. What’s going on with the stadium?

JS: Well, Mark Fabiani ( the team’s general counsel and spokesman on stadium issues) has been really handling that. Right now, we’re really looking at Chula Vista. There’s a lot of questions about the power plant, the adjacent warehouse in terms of feasibility of using the land.

RW: When I read about all the offseason injuries and surgeries, it seems like guys are now aware that the beginning of the season won’t necessarily sink you after what happened last year.

JS: I don’t know about that. Guys are working as hard as they can to get back. I saw Philip out there throwing a few days ago.

RW: I know I’m ready for the season to start. This is the first year that I really feel like the team is ready to make the jump. I don’t want to say that if we don’t reach the Super Bowl, the season is a failure, but…

I went to Las Vegas, put my money down and I can’t tell you how many Charger fans I met.

JS: (Laughs at the Vegas reference) When I was in Hawaii during the Super Bowl, I noticed the same thing. There were a lot of Charger fans.

RW: The fact that the league has scheduled the Chargers for 6 prime-time games must really make you feel like they think the Bolts are ready for something big. I waited my entire life to get DirecTv last year, and now I don’t need it for 5 games. Being involved so much with the “product” that the team puts out, do you feel extra pressure for the prime-time games to show the rest of the country that the Chargers are worthy of such attention?

JS: Well, it’s great that the league has put such faith in us. We’ve had great success over the last few years and I think we’ve learned to play through things. It’s the same way people used to talk about Monday Night Football, you know that the rest of the players are watching you. Now there’s Saturday and Sunday Night…

RW: And Thursday.

JS: That too. You notice it around here even during night practices. There’s just something about playing under the lights. Guys get up for it. When those games actually occur, you see the recognizable faces like Al Michaels and John Madden.

RW: Before I let you go, I want to thank you for helping those Charger fans from Ireland with tickets to the game in Europe.

JS: No problem. I’m already thinking, and this is being optimistic, that the World Series will be going on at the same time.

RW: You’re a Red Sox fan, right? I guess when you win two World Series in four years you can plan ahead.

JS: Well, the Mets are my second favorite team. (I must have once told him that I was a Mets fan, although the idea of a second favorite ANYTHING is clearly foreign to me). I can’t imagine how I’d feel if the Mets and Red Sox played again.

RW: I had no idea you were a Mets fan.

JS: My son was actually doing a semester abroad in Madrid during the Series against the Yankees in 2000. He called me and said that there was no way he was missing it.

RW: I actually went to Game 3, the only one the Mets got that year.

JS: I was at Games 1, 2, 3 and 4. I couldn’t handle seeing the Yankees celebrate in Game 5.

RW: That was rough. I have to say that I really feel that the Chargers didn’t shoot themselves in the foot last year and really played heroically, especially considering who was hurt.

JS: We’ve got a great bunch of kids.

RW: I think they truly deserve to take the next step.

JS: I hope so.

That’s all for now. By the way, the picture at the top of this post is of the door of our storage shed outside the house. You can only imagine what the room in which I am writing looks like. I’ll give you a glimpse in the coming months.

Talk to you after the draft. Let the words be yours, I am done with mine.

RLW

This entry was posted on Friday, April 25th, 2008 at 3:39 pm and is filed under Column. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.