"Eric Weddle sits on his couch in his Escondido home, daughter Brooklyn in his lap, looking offseason-comfortable, a bag of golf clubs a few steps away. The Chargers free safety is a young athlete who has become very much his own man, secure within his own hide and hardly surprised by his success as a football player.

Talking with Weddle reminds me of conversations I once had with Drew Brees. Unabashedly confident, Brees was way out there, but Weddle's close. Eric Weddle believes in Eric Weddle, and will tell you so."