Floyd gaining some 'air' time

Friday, Oct 13, 2006
By Tom Shanahan, Chargers.com

Malcom Floyd’s touchdown receptions have caught attention around the league and back home in Sacramento.

It wasn’t the first time Chargers wide receiver Malcom Floyd caught an NFL touchdown pass, but it was the first time on national television as NBC’s Sunday night cameras captured his second-quarter score that helped the Bolts come back from a 10-0 deficit to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 23-13.

And once Steelers coach Bill Cowher challenged Floyd’s 13-yard touchdown catch, the cameras replayed his reception over and over. From several angles the 6-foot-5 Floyd was shown reaching high above the grasp of 5-foot-10 cornerback Deshea Townsend while nimbly getting both feet down in the left corner of the end zone.

In 21st century American sports, anything on national television is magnified. Floyd went from anonymous backup receiver to national TV star of the game. Soon his phone was ringing too, with long-lost friends and acquaintances from his hometown of Sacramento offering everything from congratulations to requests for money. 

“People are starting to come out of the woodwork,” Floyd said. “People I haven’t seen or even talked to got my phone number and all of a sudden are calling me for stuff and even money. It’s crazy.”

Even his hometown newspaper, the Sacramento Bee, has discovered Floyd, although this is his third year in the NFL after a standout career at Wyoming as one of the best receivers in the Mountain West Conference. Floyd was on the phone after practice Thursday fulfilling an interview request.

Asked when was the last time his hometown paper wrote a story on him, he said, “Actually, they never did a story on me.”

Not while you were at Wyoming? “No.”

Not even in high school as an all-league athlete at River City High? “Nope.”

It might seem to folks in Sacramento that Floyd faded away after he went away to college and spent most of his first two years with the Chargers overcoming injuries or on the practice squad.

Floyd was signed by the Chargers as undrafted free agent in 2004, but a broken collarbone in training camp set him back. He was signed to the practice squad at the start of the season and activated for the final four games.

In the regular-season finale against the Kansas City Chiefs, the Chargers rested key starters in preparation for the playoffs since they had already clinched the AFC West title. Floyd and quarterback Philip Rivers teamed up as rookies for Rivers’ first career touchdown pass.

It was also Floyd’s first career touchdown grab, but many pundits considered at the time it might not be much more than the answer to a trivia question later in Rivers’ career. Except Floyd is showing he might still be around much later into Rivers’ career. In fact, including Floyd’s 31-yard touchdown reception from Rivers against the Baltimore Ravens a week earlier, Floyd caught three of Rivers’ first five touchdown passes.

“He’s not a secret to us,” Rivers said. “He had a great training camp. He has always had the ability and the raw talent. Now he’s becoming fundamentally sound with his techniques. He’s made strides when he was healthy through the preseason. He’s going to be a weapon for us throughout the season.“

Although Floyd recovered from missing time during the 2004 preseason to show some promise, he suffered another training camp injury in 2005 to his Achilles’ that forced him to miss more time.

“That hurt me,” Floyd said of his progress. “In training camp is when you get your reps.”

The repetitions he gained in 2006 helped build familiarity with Rivers and an understanding of the offense.

“You’re a little uncertain, but as you get more comfortable, you can do everything fast instead going a little tentative,” Floyd said. “It helps your confidence a lot.”

The Chargers had confidence in Floyd when they were in the red zone and he was matched up on the shorter defensive back. It’s the kind of matchup offensive coordinator Cam Cameron tries to design into his play calling and Rivers looks for when he approaches the line up scrimmage.

“That was a jump ball where he had a big advantage in height,” Rivers said. “When you see single coverage on a guy with that size and knack for the football, that’s a tough matchup to turn down.”

But the word is out on Floyd in his hometown of Sacramento as well as around the NFL.

“I expect people to adjust their coverage to me,” Floyd said. “But I was happy this time.”