Take the "Lo" Road
- 10-19-2007
- By Tom Shanahan, San Diego Hall of Champion
The Lorenzo Neal that most Chargers fans know is a one-dimensional blocking back. He is a bruiser that is only occasionally asked to carry the football in short-yardage situations or catch a screen pass.
That has been his role – to block for 2006 NFL MVP LaDainian Tomlinson -- since he signed with the Chargers as a free agent in 2003. Blocking backs don’t get a chance to show much razzle-dazzle or make ESPN highlight shows.
But don’t assume too much about Neal without studying his college and high school careers. The 15th-year NFL veteran and three-time Pro Bowler ranks as one of California’s all-time multi-sport college and high school athletes.
Surprised? You shouldn’t be.
At Fresno State, Neal was a two-time All-Big West Conference running back and an All-American heavyweight wrestler. It’s rare to find athletes that compete in two college sports, let alone one with that level of honors.
In football, Neal was the Bulldogs’ featured running back, finishing his career second on the school’s career rushing list with 2,405 yards. As a senior he was MVP of the 1992 Freedom Bowl with 19 carries for 126 yards and a touchdown when the Bulldogs beat USC.
In wrestling, he was a two-time Western Athletic Conference champion finished fifth at the NCAA Championships in the heavyweight division to earn All-American honors.
Neal’s 15th NFL season leaves him one year shy of Henry Ellard’s 16 for the longest career by a Fresno State alumnus. Ellard was a wide receiver, but Neal plays a much more physical position.
“Wrestling has given me the unique ability to play so long in football,” Neal said. “In football, you go to practice. But in wrestling, you go to practice, and then you have to do so much more. You have to go run every day, you have to watch your weight and you have to lift weights. They say you play football, but they don’t say you play wrestling.”
He arrived at Fresno State from Lemoore High, where he was a three-sport athlete in football, wrestling and track and field. As a senior, he won the CIF state heavyweight wrestling title and he was named the State Athlete of the Year by CalHiSports, the state’s most reputable high school sports publication.
The state honor remains one of Neal’s proudest awards, even after his Pro Bowls, a Super Bowl trip with the Tennessee Titans in the 1999 season and his collegiate All-American and all-conference honors.
“Absolutely,” Neal said. “California is a big state with a lot of great athletes, and there’s only one chosen as athlete of the year.”
Lemoore is a San Joaquin community near Fresno, and then Fresno State football coach Jim Sweeney knew all about Neal’s multi-sport ability. In fact, Sweeney, now 78, laughs as he tells a story about how he threw then-Oklahoma football coach Barry Switzer off Neal’s recruiting trail.
The Oklahoma wrestling coach had been recruiting Neal, but since Neal also wanted to play football, he asked Switzer to recruit him in football, too.
“Barry Switzer called me up, and he asked me if he was good enough to play football at Oklahoma,” Sweeney said. “I told him, ‘Lorenzo Neal? Oklahoma? No, he can’t play at school like Oklahoma.’ ”
Sweeney, of course, had been recruiting Neal all along and didn’t want to lose him. He even went to the Neal family’s church to sing with the congregation after Neal had committed to the Bulldogs.
“Lorenzo Neal is the best all-around athlete I ever coached,” said Sweeney, who coached 34 seasons, mostly at Fresno State and Washington State. “He could have played middle linebacker for us and in the NFL. He moved real well, he was very physical and he was extremely coachable.”
Neal started his NFL career as a featured running back his rookie year with the New Orleans Saints in 1993. He was leading the team in rushing, including 13 carries for 89 yards in his NFL debut, before he suffered a season-ending ankle injury in the second game.
But before he made his comeback in 1994, then-Saints coach Jim Mora suggested Neal convert to blocking back. He told he felt he had the skills to be a blocking back and he would enjoy a longer NFL career.
Neal listened, and he’s played the remainder of his career as a fullback with 250 pounds on his 5-foot-11 frame.
He has marinated a streak of clearing the way for a 1,000-yard running back 10 straight years: Tomlinson with the Chargers, 2003-06; Corey Dillon with the Cincinnati Bengals, 2001-02; Eddie George with the Tennessee Titans, 1999-2000; Warrick Dunn with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1998; and Adrian Murrell with the New York Jets, 1997.
"It’s balance,” Neal said of his wrestling skills. “You stay on your feet. The object in wrestling is not to get taken down. It helps me play low and keep my hips underneath me. I’m able to block big defensive lineman by applying leverage. I can drop my hips and fight a 300-pounder or big 200-plus pounder. I’m able battle them with the leverage and know how to get inside hand placement. That gives me some pop, and it all correlates back to wrestling.”
That’s why Chargers fans should view Neal as more than a blocking back.
