Chargers cornerback Antonio Cromartie was out looking at houses when he found another new home: He's going to the Pro Bowl, based on the strength of his NFL-leading 10 interceptions.

"I feel good. I can't stop smiling right now," he said Tuesday. "I called my mom any everybody else to let them know."

Cromartie is one of eight players from the AFC West champion Chargers who are going to the Pro Bowl. The others are running back LaDainian Tomlinson, fullback Lorenzo Neal, tight end Antonio Gates, guard Kris Dielman, defensive tackle Jamal Williams, linebacker Shawne Merriman and special teams ace Kassim Osgood.

Tomlinson, Neal and Gates were selected as starters. Cromartie and Dielman are going for the first time.

Four other Chargers could still make the trip. Punter Mike Scifres was voted the first alternate. Center Nick Hardwick, offensive tackle Marcus McNeill and return specialist Darren Sproles received enough votes to earn second-alternate positions.

Tomlinson earned his fifth Pro Bowl berth, Gates his fourth straight and Merriman and Williams, their third straight.

Cromartie broke a 46-year-old Chargers record with his 10th interception in Sunday's 51-14 win over Detroit. His 10 interceptions have come in the past nine games, and he's been a starter for the past six. He intercepted Peyton Manning three times in a win over the Colts on Nov. 11

He also had the longest play in NFL history on Nov. 4, taking a missed field goal and returning it 109 yards for a touchdown during a loss at Minnesota.

"I don't even know what to say now. I'm just trying to enjoy it and keep it going," Cromartie said. "It's a great thing. It's been my goal since I came in as a rookie last year. It's one more step to another goal. It's been a great accomplishment and I'm planning on many more."

Tomlinson is impressed with Cromartie.

"What he has done this year really proves he is an elite corner in this league," Tomlinson said Monday. "Any time you get 10 picks, that is special. He is an exciting player."

The hard-nosed Dielman could have left for more money as an unrestricted free agent, but chose to remain in San Diego, signing a $39 million contract in March.

"It's just the right place at the right time," said Dielman, a converted defensive lineman. "I've had some great coaches in the past few years to teach me how to play O-line and thanks for the Chargers for being patient with me and staying strong with me. I'm speechless."

Dielman was watching "The Price is Right" when offensive line coach Hal Hunter called with the news.

"It's awesome," Dielman said. "L.T., Lorenzo, Shawne Merriman and all these guys — these guys are ballers. They play hard. It's an honor to be in it. I've never been in an All-Star football game."

Neal broke his right leg in a win at Tennessee on Dec. 9, but said he should be able to play in the Pro Bowl. He hopes to be able to play in San Diego's first playoff game, which will be Jan. 5 or 6. Tuesday was the first day he was able to walk without a boot.

It was March 2005, just a little more than a year ago, that wide receiver Cedrick Wilson stood in the Steelers media room for the first time and talked about why he decided to leave the San Francisco 49ers and sign with the Steelers as an unrestricted free agent.

 

"I know that we are going to rock and I know that we are going to win and that is one of the reasons why I'm here," said Wilson a year ago of his new team. "I'm very happy to be here. I'm proud to be here. And I'm just ecstatic to get around the guys and blend in and win a Super Bowl. That's our number-one goal."

 

Fast-forward to May of 2006. Wilson is taking part in the team's coaching sessions, getting ready for a new season. And he is doing it as a Super Bowl Champion, something that amazes him even though that's the reason he came to Pittsburgh.

 

"You don't expect it," said Wilson, thinking back to the comments that he made that day. "You always hope, but you don't expect it."

 

There was a time during last season when Wilson was thinking maybe I won't reach that goal this year. The team had just lost three consecutive games, to the Ravens, Colts and Bengals, and the playoffs seemed light years away.

 

"For me at the point where it was looking like we weren't going to get into the playoffs, I was saying to myself I came here to win that Super Bowl and things just didn't happen right for me," said Wilson. "Then Coach (Bill) Cowher had a meeting with us at the pivotal point. He came in and said I checked all of your backgrounds and I know everything about you. He said I am going to find out who is going to leave it all out there and who is going to throw in the towel. He said I am going to find out.

 

"At that point we weren't giving up. Everybody stepped up their game even more. Everyone was focused and doing the little things. That's what got us over the hump."

 

The rest, as they say, is history. The Steelers finished the regular season winning their final four games and earned a wild card playoff spot. They were forced to go on the road for the playoffs, winning three more games, before defeating the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL.

 

"I don't know of any other team in the NFL that won in the fashion we displayed," said Wilson. "Throughout the course of the season we had guys going down here, guys going down there, losing games and things of that nature. It was at a point where we could have given up, thrown in the towel and got ready for next year. But we stuck in there, kept fighting and ended up in the playoffs. Just the way we got it accomplished, it was awesome; it was phenomenal."

 

Had he been elsewhere, Wilson might have had doubts that the team could have reached that pinnacle with the odds so stacked against them. But he knew when he looked around the locker room that the men that stood beside him could get it done.

 

"This is the best group of guys I have been around," said Wilson. "I am not saying that just because we won the Super Bowl. I don't have to say that. This is the best group of guys I have been around in my lifetime, not just on the football field. These guys like one another, they work together and they compete against one another. It's fun. It's like, if you beat me out, it means you worked harder than me. I am not upset with you, I am upset with myself."

 

That competition is starting again now as the team starts it's preparation for the 2006 season. There isn't a quiet feeling of being content among the players. It's far from that. The players don't want to stop at winning one Super Bowl. They want more.

 

"Everybody here is fired up about being back," said Wilson.  "We are still hungry. We want to win more championships. It's back to business. We won one, but it's not the feeling. Those guys back in the days won four of them. If we can get past that mark we can be the best team in Steelers history.

 

"You see what it does for the city. Everybody is happy and smiling now. Everybody is friendly. You want people to stay that way so we want to win some more."

The San Diego Chargers will open the 2006 preseason in San Diego when they host the Green Bay Packers on Saturday, Aug. 12 for a 7:00 p.m. PDT kickoff. Even though future Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre has not announced if he’ll be back for the 2006 season, this promises to be an exciting match-up as the Packers make their first-ever preseason visit to San Diego. Last year, the Packers defeated the Bolts, 10-7, in a preseason meeting at Lambeau Field.

The Chargers’ first road trip of 2006 takes them to Chicago to face the Bears in a nationally-televised Week 2 preseason contest at Soldier Field on Friday, Aug. 18. CBS will televise the game beginning at 5:00 p.m. PDT. It will be just the fifth-ever preseason meeting between the Chargers and Bears, and the first since 1989.

The Chargers are at home for preseason Week 3 to play the defending NFC Champion Seattle Seahawks. Kickoff is set for 8:00 p.m. PDT. Mike Holmgren leads the Seahawks into QUALCOMM Stadium for the seventh preseason meeting between these two former AFC West rivals.

San Diego will close out the preseason with a trip to the Bay Area to face the San Francisco 49ers at Monster Park on Friday night, Sept. 1. That game will also kick off at 7:00 p.m. PDT. It will be the 35th preseason meeting between the Chargers and 49ers in a series that is tied, 17-17. In 2005, the Chargers closed out the preseason with a 28-24 win over their neighbors to the north.

Sat. Aug. 12  Green Bay Packers
Fri.  Aug. 18  Chicago Bears
Sat. Aug. 26  Seattle Seahawks
Fri.  Sept. 1   San Francisco 49ers

*Home games will be subject to local blackout rules. The games will be blacked out in San Diego if they are not sold out 72 hours prior to kickoff.

George Mason's basketball coach, Jim Larranaga, stoked the coals from his team's Final Four run this week and wrapped up a recruiting trip. When he returned to campus, a pile of messages had to be sorted through. One stood out.

"The Washington Redskins called again," Larranaga said. "I really need to get back to them."

The Redskins wanted to know more about Jai Lewis, the Patriots' 6-foot-5, 290-pound senior center, who has not played football since high school but has designs on the N.F.L. Lewis has been working with a personal trainer for less than a week; the start was delayed by the Patriots' surprising run in the N.C.A.A. tournament and Lewis's trip to an N.B.A. predraft camp.

Representatives from the Giants, the Jets, the Steelers, the Dolphins, the Redskins, the Eagles and the Buccaneers are scheduled to attend Lewis's workout Thursday, according to his agent, Jeff Jankovich.

"It's been a long time since I've been hit, but as long as we've got pads on, we can go at it," Lewis said Wednesday after a workout here, his green shorts drenched in sweat. "I'm picking things up quickly."

San Diego Chargers tight end Antonio Gates blazed the trail for players like Lewis and the UConn senior forward Ed Nelson, who is also training to make an N.F.L. roster.

Gates played basketball at Kent State but did not play football. Still, he signed with the Chargers as an undrafted free agent in 2003, and he has been selected to the last two Pro Bowls.

"If there's one tight end that's done this before, who's to say there aren't more out there that can fit this role?" Wade Harman, the Baltimore Ravens' tight ends coach, said Tuesday in a telephone interview. "I think scouts and coaches are trying to turn over a few more rocks; nobody wants to be outshone."

Lewis said his goal was not desultory. A former tight end and defensive lineman at Aberdeen (Md.) High School, he said it was simply a dream deferred.

When Lewis was a child, he weighed more than the maximum allowed by a local youth football league, and he was not allowed to play. So he stood on the sideline and watched his friends. He joined the junior varsity football team as a sophomore and was quickly shuttled to the varsity, where he became a tight end, nose guard and punter.

"Just about every game he pancaked someone," Aberdeen Coach Joe Harbert said. "His nickname was Can't Be Stopped."

Virginia Tech, Boston College, Maryland and North Carolina State showed interest in Lewis, according to Harbert. But Lewis did not have a qualifying SAT score, and he enrolled at Maine Central Institute, a prep school where he played basketball.

Lewis accepted a basketball scholarship to George Mason. Soon after he arrived on campus, he learned that the university had a club football team. He pestered Larranaga to let him join, but Larranaga would not budge.

During the summer before his junior year, Lewis told Larranaga he would like to play pro football. So Larranaga wrote a letter and sent it to every N.F.L. team.

"I said I don't know anything about football, but I've got a guy who's 6-7, close to 300 pounds and quick as a cat," Larranaga said. "If you have the time and inclination, come see Jai Lewis."

Over the next two seasons, a slew of pro football coaches and scouts attended Patriots basketball games. They saw Lewis bound up and down the court, grab rebounds and double-team opposing point guards. They also saw him help 11th-seeded George Mason reach the Final Four. They became intrigued.

"I remember when I coached at Utah State," Harman said. "I always thought Karl Malone would make a heck of a tight end."

Lewis is still considering a basketball career. Earlier this month, he had a strong showing at the Portsmouth (Va.) Invitational Tournament, an N.B.A. predraft camp.

Still, Lewis maintains that football is his main focus. His first step is renovating his diet. Surprisingly, he does not eat enough. Lewis said he had just one large meal a day, usually tacos or cheeseburgers. Lewis's trainer, Walt Cline, wants him to eat five or six small meals a day, starting with a breakfast of whole-grain cereal and fresh fruit.

"I got it going with a banana and a pear," Lewis said. "So far, so good."

During Thursday's workout, Lewis wants to run a 4.9-second 40-yard dash. He also wants a vertical leap of 30 inches.

"If he can meet the numbers he's capable of," Cline said, "he'll be pretty comparable to a lot of the tight ends in the draft."

At the Final Four in Indianapolis, Lewis ran into Colts quarterback Peyton Manning. Lewis said that Manning asked him if he knew how to block — linemen, not shots — and added that he would like him on his side.

Lewis smiled. He is ready to give it a shot.

The success of San Diego Chargers tight end Antonio Gates could soon bring former St. Thomas Aquinas standout Ed Nelson from the hardwood to the football field.

Like Gates, a forward on Kent State's basketball team, Nelson plans to eschew a chance for the NBA in favor of the NFL. Nelson -- a 6-8, 265-pound power forward for Connecticut -- will work out for NFL teams on his college campus April 21.

''I have gotten great feedback in the last week that I am an individual that NFL teams could and will be very interested in,'' Nelson told The Associated Press earlier in the week. ``I am anxious for the chance to show scouts next week that I can help their team in the future.''

Nelson played one season of football as a freshman at Piper before making the permanent transition to basketball. Nelson already convinced his agent, Joe Linta, of his football ability.

''I came up to work out Ed with little expectations and came away convinced that he is an NFL prospect at the tight end position,'' Linta, who represents more than a dozen NFL players, told the AP. ``He is very quick, has outstanding hands and great lower body strength.''

After leading the Raiders to the Class 5A state title in 2001 while averaging 26 points and 11 rebounds, Nelson attended Georgia Tech, where he was ACC Rookie of the Year. But Nelson was not happy with the Yellow Jackets and transferred to Connecticut. With the Huskies, Nelson was largely a reserve. In 29 games as a senior, he averaged three points and three rebounds.

Still, Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun believes Nelson could have succeeded in the NBA. ''He clearly has the talent to play basketball at the professional level, but if anyone can make the transition, it's him,''