Monday Morning Cheerleader: Melissa of the Chargers

By Steve Mazzucchi
Esquire

Down 20-3 entering the fourth quarter, a lot of teams might start daydreaming about hot showers, cold beer, and women not unlike the one pictured above. Especially against Tom Brady and the Patriots. But after finding innovative ways to give away a game — easy turnovers, dropped passes, ill-timed penalties — the Chargers somehow rallied to within 23-20 and lined up for a game-tying field goal with under 30 seconds to play. Then came another penalty, and a thunderous clang off the post: this year’s 2-5 Bolts in a nutshell.

And yet, if this troubled but talented team possesses half the electricity of rookie cheerleader Melissa, a playoff run may still materialize. The Brooklyn-born, 100 percent Sicilian runs half-marathons, started her own web-solutions company in 2005, and is developing an online community for people who are deaf or have severe hearing loss like herself. “I would love to be an ambassador to kids, to show them they don’t have to let a disability get them down,” she explains. Consider us inspired.

ESQUIRE: Let’s start off positive. Is the weather at least nice in San Diego these days?

MELISSA: You know what’s funny, finally the sun came out today, but it’s been raining for the past two weeks. Every home game, the weather’s been gorgeous.

ESQ: Ever seen such a combination of brilliance and ineptitude in the same game?

MEL: This one was really crazy. We were night-and-day from the first quarter to the fourth quarter. I guess it takes a while for the guys to get warmed up. After the first half, they start to come together as a team. You can see when it clicks, and they start to play really good football.

ESQ: Had the fans bailed by then, or did they stick around?

MEL: They stuck around! This was the first home game that wasn’t blacked out, the stadium was the loudest I’ve heard it, and it was completely packed the whole four quarters. A girl near me was holding up a sign that read, “True Charger fans never give up.” Even when we’re losing, they still support the team.

ESQ: How big of a factor is LT leaving, Shawne Merriman hardly playing, and Vincent Jackson not playing at all so far?

MEL: Going into the season I was a little bit worried. LT was the first Chargers jersey I ever bought. But I think we have a great mix of youth and experience. Antonio Gates is incredible. He’s like 10 of me, but he’s fast. He now has the sixth-most receiving yards ever for a tight end. Philip Rivers is phenomenal and a great leader. Darren Sproles, Patrick Crayton, Mike Tolbert, Ryan Mathews, Malcolm Floyd, who was out today — all those guys as a team can make it work.

ESQ: Any encouraging signs from this game?

MEL: Well, yeah, the fact that we did come back in the fourth quarter. Our defense did great, sacking Tom Brady four times and hitting him a lot. We had twice as many yards as the Pats did. Silly mistakes are costing us games, but I think it’s something that’s fixable and that we can overcome. We have the number-one offense and defense. We’re the best 2-5 team in the NFL.

ESQ: Plus, your quarterback doesn’t have girl hair.

MEL: Oh, right. I had never seen the Patriots play in person before. I was expecting Tom Brady to be dominating, such a hot shot. And they won, yes, but I don’t think he played very well. Rivers was the better quarterback. Brady’s hair might be slowing him down.

ESQ: The 2008 Chargers started 4-8, then won their last four games to capture the division. Think something similar could happen this year?

MEL: We always seem to start slow, and we always seem to come back at the end of the season. I would love to be cheering at a couple playoff games. Of course it’s disappointing when we lose, but we’ve won the AFC West the past four years. Until that doesn’t happen, you’ve gotta believe.

ESQ: Last week, the NFL announced it would suspend players for dirty hits. Did this game look any different to you?

MEL: I don’t think players were being any less aggressive. I can understand the frustration of players to be fined and suspended for doing what they know, but safety should be the top priority, and it’s not like this is a new rule, it’s just being enforced. They’re still playing football out there. No one got hurt during the game, so maybe it’s having a positive impact already.

ESQ: This is your first year on the squad. Have you made any rookie mistakes?

MEL: We have this thing where if you forget to bring something to practice, you have radio duty. You have to lug around this big boombox that plays our music. I forgot my warm-ups the second practice, so I was the first rookie to have radio duty. Fortunately someone else forgot something the next day.

ESQ: You do half marathons. Does a guy have to be able to run that far to impress you?

MEL: Fitness is important to me, but I like to be able to run circles around him! So I guess he can’t be so out of shape that I can’t because it takes too long. He doesn’t have to look like he’s on Jersey Shore, but yes, he should be fit.

[Melissa at Chargers.com]