Sid Brooks' Tales from the San Diego Chargers' Locker Room

Coach Tommy Prothro's intensity sometimes got in the way of his common sense. One day in Seattle's dome-which was, of course, protected from outside weather-Prothro went down the sideline asking players, "Did anybody notice which way the wind's blowing?" That of course produced a lot of funny looks and a big laugh behind his back. From there, things got worse. With the offense on the field ready for third down, Coach began calling for the punt team. He was hollering for "Bensky, Bersky," or whatever sounded close to kicker Rolf Benirschke's name in an attempt to get his attention. He sent Rolf out to punt with another down left to go, alarming both sides of the bench. That wasn't funny at the time, but eventually it became a running joke, as "Punt team!" echoed throughout the locker room for as long as Prothro coached the Chargers. Book jacket.