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COSTA MESA, Calif. -- As a youngster living in Carlsbad, a half hour north of San Diego, Scott Quessenberry grew up an avid fan of the Chargers. So Quessenberry -- like most San Diegans -- acknowledged his disappointment when the team announced its intentions to move to Los Angeles in January 2017. However, even though the Bolts relocated north a little over a year ago, Quessenberry said he’s still excited the team of his youth selected him in the fifth round of this year’s draft. “It’s pretty crazy I think to come full circle and now be playing for them,” said Quessenberry, who played center at UCLA. “When they moved, yeah, obviously, a little piece of you is bummed out. But now, no hard feelings. I’m playing for the Chargers. I’m a Los Angeles Charger. It’s all good.” Adding to the allure for is that he will wear former longtime center Nick Hardwick’s No. 61 -- one of the players Quessenberry admired growing up while rooting for the Chargers. “What a pleasure to watch a guy who grew up a Chargers’ fan as a kid during an era when we were really cranking,” said Hardwick, who retired in 2015 after 11 seasons with the Chargers. “And for him, of all the good linemen that we had during that time period and to pick my number, it’s just an honor. “To watch a guy that knows what we were all about during that time period, run around on the field [wearing my No. 61 jersey], it’s really tremendous.” Hardwick said he spoke to UCLA football players a few years ago, and Quessenberry was one person that really stuck out in the offensive line room. “He knew everything about us, and I could tell that he was really into Chargers football,” Hardwick said. “And getting to be there and present to the other guys that were there at the time, and now for this to happen and for him to hopefully make a name for himself wearing my number as a Charger, it just feels right.” Quessenberry will don Hardwick’s old jersey for the first time on Friday as the Chargers open up a three-day, rookie minicamp. However, it will not be the first time for Quessenberry working out at the Hoag Performance Center. He went through drills with the team’s coaching staff, including offensive line coach Pat Meyer, during the Chargers’ local pro day last month. A graduate of La Costa Canyon High School, Quessenberry started 44 games for the Bruins, including all 13 last year. He sat out all of the 2015 campaign due to surgery on both shoulders. Quessenberry earned first-team, Pac-12 Conference honors in 2016 and was an honorable mention selection last season. At 6-foot-4 and 310 pounds, the former high school basketball player put up good numbers at the NFL scouting combine in February, posting a 33.5-inch vertical jump, a 5.09-second time in the 40-yard and a 9-foot, 3-inch broad jump -- all among the top six marks for offensive linemen. Quessenberry, who also played guard for the Bruins, offers versatility as a rotational, interior lineman and potential backup behind starting center Mike Pouncey and last year’s starter, Spencer Pulley. Quessenberry said he got a chance to meet Pouncey at The Opening, a national recruiting event hosted by Nike, while in high school. “Now that I know a lot more about the game of football, being able to learn from him, somebody that’s done it at such a high level for such a long time, it’s going to be huge for my career,” Quessenberry said. Quessenberry is the younger brother of David Quessenberry, a former walk-on at San Jose State selected in the sixth round of the 2013 draft by the Houston Texans. David was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in June 2014, and after a three-year battle returned to the field last season. “He just told me to stay calm,” Scott Quessenberry said, when asked what type of advice his brother provided for handling the draft. “Whenever it happens, it happens. All you really need is one opportunity, and it doesn’t matter what you did before, it matters what you get in.” Quessenberry said he looks forward to meeting his new teammates, including quarterback Philip Rivers. “He’s done amazing things for the organization and for the city of San Diego at first, and now he’s doing good things for the city of Los Angeles,” Quessenberry said about Rivers. “To be able to call him a teammate, I don’t even know how to describe it; it’s crazy.”
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