Firm hands hold on to time

Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2005 | 9:44 a.m.

* Full name: Keenan Wayne McCardell

* Born: Jan. 6, 1970

* Hometown: Houston

* Height/weight: 6-feet-1, 191 pounds

* Family: Wife, Nicole; daughters Keandra and twins Nia and Nakeeya; infant son Keenan Wayne II.

* Resides in: Sugarland, Texas, and San Diego

* On golf: "I shot a 74 at The Houstonian once. I just couldn't believe it. I was hitting a lot of putts ... no hole-in-one yet. I'm waiting on that one."

* On being a fashion guru: "Guys here say, 'Man, you can't wear two suits on every road trip.' Yeah, one going and one on game day. You have to look good to play good."

* On being inducted into the UNLV Hall of Fame in February: "Tremendous. It was huge for me. A great honor. Going into a hall of fame is right up there with someone retiring your number."

The NFL's all-time leading receivers.

*Still active

"Yeah, I wrote it and kept going because I fought for something," the San Diego Chargers' wide receiver said of the early-October check he wrote to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, his former employer.

"We took it to the courts, and the courts made their decision. Nothing else you can do about it.

"It was just a piece of paper."

An arbitrator ruled that McCardell had to repay his signing bonus after sitting out the first half of the 2004 season and ultimately forcing a trade with the Chargers.

"You knew the consequences," he said. "You knew it could be good for you, you knew it could be bad for you. So you just move on. My mind was set to write that check if I had to, so it wasn't a big deal."

McCardell, who turns 36 on Jan. 6, has proven to be a very big deal in the NFL.

His six receptions in Kansas City last weekend gave him 819 for his career, tying McCardell with Steve Largent for 10th on the all-time list. If he makes at least eight catches Saturday against Denver at Qualcomm Stadium, McCardell would pass Larry Centers for ninth.

He has caught at least one pass in 101 consecutive games, and he nabbed his personal-best ninth TD pass of the season two weeks ago at Indianapolis.

In March, San Diego signed its time-defying receiver to a contract extension through the 2007 season.

McCardell continues to make a bevy of scouts, general managers and executives who were around in 1991 look silly.

An unofficial perusal of that '91 draft shows that only McCardell, Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre, Carolina kicker John Kasay and Pittsburgh punter Chris Gardocki are still playing.

Forty-two receivers were picked before Washington selected McCardell in the 12th and final round, and none are currently cashing NFL paychecks as players. Of that bunch, Ed McCaffrey (through '03), Herman Moore ('02) and Jake Reed ('02) were the most durable.

A dozen, according to records, never played a down in the league. Where have you gone, Linzy Collins, Joachim Weinberg and Millard Hamilton?

"You go through some ups and downs, and your character is tested a little bit. What will you do?" McCardell said. "Will you quit or will you keep fighting? Knowing my parents and the people around me, you don't quit. You fight back even harder.

"It just made me work harder than those guys who were drafted before me. I felt like I was probably a better receiver than a lot of those guys, but some of the scouts didn't see it. So, you know, I'll make them see it. That's how I felt."

Before the Chargers left for Kansas City -- and a Saturday defeat that eliminated them from playoff contention -- McCardell talked after a practice at Chargers Park about the key to his longevity and success.

Actually, he didn't talk about that specifically.

"That's my secret," McCardell said.

Not even a hint?

"No," he said. "It's MY secret."

He will consider revealing all when his career ends.

"Maybe," McCardell said. "You know, I just tend to work even harder during (the off-season). That's all I can say. That's what you're supposed to do. The season doesn't start in July or August.

"You have to be prepared before July and August to be ready for the season."

He became conscious of a work ethic by watching his parents when he was growing up in Houston. His father, Arthur, is an engineer for Dow Chemical Co., and his mother, Matty, now owns her own beauty salon.

"The only thing I could do is learn from that," McCardell said. "When you have two great role models in your house, it makes it easier for you to go out and be like them, work hard and be able to be respected by a lot of people."

His parents and all of his youth coaches are the sources of McCardell's wide range of charitable endeavors, which include his Touching Hands Foundation based in Jacksonville, Fla.

The first of his two toughest tests arrived early in his UNLV career. An uncle had gone to college, but quit, and McCardell's grandmother, Alice Green, feared Keenan would take the same route.

Green died during McCardell's sophomore season as a Rebel.

"That was tough," he said. "She always told me, 'You've got to finish.' I remember her telling me that. I just understood. That was my goal, to finish college and get my degree. And I did."

A couple of years into his pro career with the Cleveland Browns, he made the team during training camp only to be told Kevin Mack was coming out of retirement and McCardell's spot on the roster would be needed for Mack.

During his four weeks out of the game, McCardell sought counsel from his father, who said good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people.

"Well, what do you mean by that?" Keenan said.

"Keep believing," Arthur McCardell said. "Sooner or later, those good things will happen to good people."

Three years later, in 1996, McCardell rattled off the first of four 1,000-yard seasons over his first six years in Jacksonville.

In San Diego, he has been reunited with Chargers defensive line coach Wayne Nunnely, the former UNLV head coach who first brought McCardell to Las Vegas.

San Diego coach Marty Schottenheimer does not allow his assistants to speak with the media, but McCardell said Nunnely did not play a role in the trade with Tampa Bay or in trying to promote the Chargers to him.

Nunnely gave McCardell a chance to prove himself as a Division I college player, and McCardell considers Nunnely to be a second father.

"He played a big part in my career, about being straight-up and being honest with yourself," McCardell said. "He was always big on how you carry yourself as a man is the way you carry yourself out on the football field.

"It all started back in Vegas."

Rob Miech can be reached at 259-4087 or at miech@lasvegassun.com