Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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irish in the pros as you expect it to be or at least what I expected it to be," Te'o said. "When you're out there, it's football. Guys are going to get faster, but there's nothing you haven't seen, just collectively as a whole you're going against fast guys. "In college, you'll come across a fast guy every once in a while, but in the NFL everybody's got good speed, so that was that. My 'welcome to the NFL' experience came when I was leaving the complex and everybody was pulling out in their nice cars and zooming by and that's when I realized I'm in the NFL now." For a Hawaii native who spent his recent winters in frigid South Bend, you'd think a return to a warmer climate would be a relief. But Te'o said he learned to appreciate some aspects of Midwest weather during his time at Notre Dame. "To be honest, snow and all that cold stuff can be a bad thing, but it's also a good thing," he said. "It will get a little bit cooler and a little bit colder during the winter months, but you won't find any kind of snow or anything like that [in San Diego]. Being in South Bend and experiencing that culture of white Christmas, I learned to enjoy and to love that part of it. Obviously the temperature wasn't as nice, but that whole feeling brought another feel to Christmas. "I'm not going to miss the below zero temperatures, but I am going to miss that Christmas feel." San Diego is 3-3 and unlikely to win the AFC West with Denver and Kansas City undefeated through six games, but the Chargers are vying for a wild card berth and hoping the defense's improvements in the win over the Colts foreshadow the rest of 2013. For Te'o, the key, he said, is relaxing. "I think, for me, once I relax and once I get comfortable and once everything starts to click, I'll be able to play football the way I know how," he said. "I'll be able to fly around and make plays to help our team win and all that good stuff. "Right now, I'm making that transition over from thinking to just playing and that comes with time." NFL Notes Through Oct. 17 • Cincinnati Bengals rookie tight end Tyler Eifert caught seven passes for 66 yards against New England Oct. 6 and Buffalo Oct. 13 to increase his season totals to 19 and 225, respectively. He is, however, still searching for his first professional touchdown. • New York Giants defensive end Justin Tuck recorded five combined tackles in the team's losses to Philadelphia Oct. 6 and Chicago Oct. 10. • Minnesota Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph put up his best numbers of 2013 in a loss to the Carolina Panthers Oct. 13, when he snagged nine catches for 97 yards and a touchdown. • Kansas City Chiefs tight end Anthony Fasano remained sidelined as of mid-October with an ankle injury and has played in just two games this season. He has four receptions for 34 yards in those contests. • Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Golden Tate caught 10 passes for 94 yards and a touchdown in games against the Indianapolis Colts Oct. 6 and Tennessee Titans Oct. 13. The Colts defeated the Seahawks 34-28 to hand Seattle its first loss of the season. • Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Michael Floyd registered his first touchdown catch of 2013 in a 3220 loss to the San Francisco 49ers Oct. 13. He caught a combined 10 passes for 105 yards and a touch-