Chargers linebacker Antwan Applewhite, cut after training camp in 2007, rejoined the team that November.

SWEET SUCCESS: When a new restaurant, in its second week, in a city glutted with restaurants, in the depths of a recession, is packed to the rafters on a weeknight, somebody's doing something right.

The NFL is often considered the playground of the rich, where young men earn a lot of money for playing a game.

While bars filled up with groaning, angry, ranting Philadelphians last night, furious that their beloved Eagles signed with dog-fighting Michael Vick, the approving voices may have been speaking in a low whisper, but they were still there.

MARTIN WISHES LEAF 'NOTHING BUT BEST' Wide receiver Charly Martin already was familiar with a bit of Chargers history long before he signed with the team as a free agent out of West Texas A&M. The quarterbacks coach at West Texas for all but three games the past three seasons: Ryan Leaf.

August 7, 2009, 11:39 a.m. There are times when Kassim Osgood looks like a bona fide receiver.

August 7, 2009, 11:39 a.m. There are times when Kassim Osgood looks like a bona fide receiver.

For all the glamour and glitz that comes with playing in the NFL, there's also the reality of the business.