TURNING SOME HEADS : Jefferson’s Trail to NFL Blazed With His Speed

SAN DIEGO —  Freddie Stephens, football coach at Raines High in Jacksonville, Fla., first noticed Shawn Jefferson in a passing drill during the preseason.

He watched a bony, unusually fast youth continually come over the middle and catch passes in the teeth of a three-deep zone defense.

“They would dare him to come back, but each time he would, and he’d get a good licking every time,” Stephens said. “Finally, he came back, put his shoulder down and ran over all of those guys.”

Although Jefferson was playing his first year of organized football, Stephens quickly realized he had something special.

“I’ve had a lot of great athletes, and Shawn had that desire to excel that all the great ones had,” Stephens said.

That desire and blazing speed have taken Jefferson from Raines High all the way to an NFL roster spot with the Chargers.

Now that he’s here, Jefferson said he isn’t planning on a brief stay.

“I don’t plan on just being on the team,” said Jefferson, who is not short on confidence or conversation. “I want to be mentioned with Anthony Miller and Jerry Rice.

“I’m going to be a great player in this league. I’m not going to be satisfied with going to just one Pro Bowl. I want to go every year.”

If the statements seem rather brash for someone who has played but four years of football and came into the NFL as a ninth-round draft choice, they are. But this is the same person who said before the draft that he was as good as Raghib “Rocket” Ismail. Then after the draft, he kept insisting that he was better than a ninth-round pick.

Three weeks into the Oilers’ camp, it became evident that Jefferson was not a typical ninth-rounder.

Once Charger General Manager Bobby Beathard saw Jefferson during workouts at UC San Diego, he was suddenly a key ingredient in the trade that sent defensive lineman Lee Williams to Houston.

Beathard held out for two weeks until Houston General Manager Mike Holovak consented to a deal that sent Jefferson and a No. 1 draft choice in 1992 to the Chargers for Williams.

Beathard is not yet completely satisfied that Jefferson was worth the wait, but he is excited about the receiver’s potential.

A 5-foot-11, 172-pounder who has been clocked at 4.45 in the 40-yard dash, Jefferson still is learning the offense. But he has caught four passes for 34 yards in two brief appearances. In the season opener at Pittsburgh, he caught three passes for 23 yards and a touchdown in less than a quarter.

“He’s real, real fast in and out of his cuts--that’s what sets the good ones apart,” Beathard said after the Pittsburgh game. “He’s off to a good start, but one game doesn’t make a career.”

Those close to Jefferson know that Beathard won’t ever have to worry about his rookie receiver becoming complacent.

Vanchi LaShawn Jefferson’s upbringing never allowed him to be complacent. He grew up with six brothers and five sisters in an impoverished section of Jacksonville. Drug dealers and gangs littered the streets. Although he never became involved with either, Jefferson said there was constant peer pressure.

“Unless you were there, you’ll never know how bad it was,” he said.

Jefferson’s father worked a construction job to support his family of 12. His mother ran the household.

“They would always go without to make sure we had,” Jefferson said. “We didn’t have much money, but my mom always made sure we looked nice even if we didn’t have the name brands that some of the other kids had.

“You see some of your friends getting killed and you realize how grateful you are for a family structure like we had. You have to have a strong mind to resist those things. Your mother and father instill that in you.”

Once Jefferson graduated from Raines High, he knew he had to escape that environment. But he never figured football would be his ticket out.

Neither did his brother, Curtis.

“He had an interest in basketball, but he was never really confident he could play football,” Curtis said. “He was afraid of the licks, and my mother kept telling him he was too small.”

Jefferson was convinced his mother was right. So instead of risking injury, he stuck to safer activities such as track and basketball.

“Shawn was more interested in saving money than sports,” Curtis said. “He always had a paper route or some odd job where he could make money.”

Until his senior year, Jefferson spent his fall afternoons in the house watching television.

Jefferson wouldn’t have considered football had he not been dared into trying out for the team during chemistry class his senior year.

“This guy said, ‘I bet you’ll never come out for football,’ ” Jefferson said. “He was embarrassing me in front of the girls. I had to go out.”

He quickly earned a starting wide receiver job and by the end of the season, college coaches started asking Stephens about Jefferson.

South Carolina, North Carolina, North Carolina State and Central Florida recruited him. But since Central Florida, of Orlando, invested the most time, Jefferson orally committed there.

But at the last minute, Jefferson fell for a pitch from Liberty University.

When Rick Stockstill, Central Florida’s receivers coach, heard about Jefferson’s decision, he drove to Jacksonville and spent the night outside Jefferson’s house.

“You just don’t do that kind of stuff in the neighborhood that I come from,” Jefferson said. “So I figured if this guy would do this, he must really want me.”

Later that day, with coaches from Liberty, South Carolina and Georgia looking on, Jefferson signed with Central Florida.

But because he failed to score at least a 15 on his American College Test, Jefferson was prohibited from playing football his freshman year because of NCAA Proposition 48 guidelines.

Once he became eligible, he showed flashes of brilliance. But with only one year of football behind him, Jefferson’s talent was raw. His statistics improved three consecutive years, but he was never the leading receiver on the team.

He figured that would come his senior season. But his senior season never came. The NCAA informed Jefferson in January of his fourth year at Central Florida that he had used up his eligibility because he had been a Prop 48 case.

“I was planning on having an All-American type senior year to set myself up for the draft,” he said. “I was thinking, ‘Wow, teams won’t even give me a look now.’ ”

But the pro scouts found Jefferson, who finished his Central Florida career with 67 receptions, a 16.2-yard average per catch and 11 touchdowns.

Beathard said Charger scout Dwight Adams, now with the Bills, was impressed with Jefferson, but like most organizations, they hadn’t seen enough of him. So they passed.

Phil Williams, Jefferson’s agent, said draft day was tough for Jefferson to handle.

“I think Shawn believed he was going in the second or third round,” Williams said. “He honestly felt he was as good as the first rounders at the combine. He wants to prove to people that he was not a ninth-round draft choice.”

Curtis Jefferson said Shawn already has proven enough to him.

“I was always leery of Shawn’s football career because he had never played much,” Curtis said. “Even when he went to college, I said, ‘Well, Shawn I don’t know. Just make sure you get your education.’

“Then when he got drafted, it hit me. I was trying to remain calm when the phone call came, because Shawn was. But that was a touching moment.”

But for Jefferson, the hard work was just beginning. When he entered Houston’s camp, he was only one of 16 receivers. But Jefferson quickly stood out, just as he did at Raines High.

“He was getting behind everybody,” said Chris Palmer, the Oilers’ receiving coach. “That just jumped out at everybody.”

Jefferson also jumped out at Ernest Givins, the Oilers’ All-Pro receiver.

“He caught a short slant across the middle and went scampering down the sideline,” Givins said. “He reminded me a lot of myself.”

Givins took an interest in Jefferson and began showing him some of his techniques. It didn’t take before they became close friends.

Now they call each other every day.

“We probably have a phone bill of $400 or $500,” Givins said. “He’s always asking me about different cornerbacks or what he should be working on.”

When Givins learned Jefferson had been traded to San Diego, he offered him some advice.

“I said, ‘First of all, your last name already rings a bell with people in San Diego,’ ” said Givins, referring to John Jefferson, the Chargers’ ninth leading-career receiver. “If you just come out and make some plays and score a few touchdowns, you’ll be there a long time.’ ”

Jefferson hopes Givins is right.

“When I left home, I made the point that I would never go back to that way of life,” he said.

And so far, he is taking every precaution possible against that happening. Although he is making close to six figures, Jefferson has rented a modest apartment with his fiancee, Marla Davis, near Jack Murphy Stadium. He does not own a car and doesn’t plan to until next year. For now, he is renting a car.

“I want to make sure I do the right things with my money,” Jefferson said, “So if something does happen, if I get hurt, I can have a little something in the bank.”

Said Curtis Jefferson: “He’s so scared of blowing it.”

Givins said Jefferson is always overly cautious.

“He’s always looking over his shoulder, wondering who’s coming up from behind,” Givins said. “I told him to quit worrying. But he told me, ‘Where I come from, you never know.’ ”