Porterville Recorder

Chargers’ Feeney to get first start vs. Super Bowl champs

- By STEVE DILBECK

COSTA MESA — Rookie Dan Feeney has been dreaming of this moment his entire life, maybe even since he was 6 years old and first saw quarterbac­k Tom Brady in a New England Patriots uniform.

Flash forward 18 years and the Los Angeles Chargers guard is scheduled to make his first NFL start on Sunday — against Brady and the Patriots.

“It is definitely a little crazy,” Feeney said.

Feeney was selected in the third round of the draft out of Indiana, where he was a four-year starter and two-time Allamerica­n.

He was unable to win a starting job in camp, but starting left guard Matt Slauson injured his biceps last Sunday against the Broncos. Slauson will have surgery and is out for the season.

So now the position falls to Feeney, all 6 foot 4 and 310 pounds of him.

The Chargers had been working him into the past few games, and he played much of the second half last Sunday after Slauson got hurt.

“When we started playing him a couple weeks ago and he went into games, there was no drop-off,” Chargers coach Anthony Lynn said. “We knew that he could play and wanted to get him more involved. And now he’s starting.”

Of course he’s not pleased by the way he got the opportunit­y. It was the veteran Slauson who largely helped Feeney with his transition to the NFL.

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