COSTA MESA, Calif. — Brandon Mebane sat in front of his locker at the Los Angeles Chargers’ training facility. Well, it sure looked like Mebane, the Chargers nose tackle and one of the team’s captains.
“I’m not Brandon,’’ the giant man said Wednesday. “Do you want me to go get him?’’
The man took a half-dozen steps, then turned around.
“Just kidding,’’ he said, and the 6-foot-1, 311-pound Mebane broke into a big smile that might have struck many people familiar with his situation as surprising.
Mebane’s infant daughter, Makenna, faces life-threatening health complications stemming from a heart condition and remains hospitalized more than five weeks after her premature birth. She is expected to undergo heart surgery this spring.
Mebane missed the Chargers’ past four games while spending time with his wife, Amena, and their two other children — 4-year-old daughter Mahailey and 2-year-old son Makai — in Omaha, Neb., where Makenna was born last month about four weeks ahead of her due date.
On Wednesday, Mebane, 33 and in his 12th NFL season, reiterated that plans to play against the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday and he was in good enough spirits to pull a prank on a reporter, too.
“Yeah, everything good, man,’’ he told USA TODAY Sports through sniffles. “Just happy to be back and happy that my daughter’s doing better.’’
During an interview with USA TODAY Sports, Mebane took out his phone, opened an app for Bible scripture and scrolled down until he found what he was looking for — 2 Corinthians 5:7.
"For we live by faith, not by sight."
Said Mebane: “That’s my all-time favorite."
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