If being in the NFL were a contest of aesthetics, it would be Weddle's great misfortune to be a defensive back.

As a rule, defensive backs are chiseled from granite. Their stomachs could be used as washboards. Their muscles have muscles.

Weddle is about as cut as the Pillsbury Doughboy. He is a throw pillow among the rocks.

“We kid him,” cornerback Antonio Cromartie said. “He doesn't look like a football player. He belongs on '90210.' ”

But there is a great contradiction with Weddle, who will take over for the departed Marlon McCree at free safety this season. And that contradiction is as clearly marked as the white sideline paint.

“He doesn't look like a football player,” Quentin Jammer said. “Until he gets on the football field.”

Jammer halted an unrelated conversation earlier this summer when Weddle walked by him. Jammer lowered his voice and nodded in Weddle's direction.

“This guy right here,” Jammer said, “he's going to be special.”

Said strong safety Clinton Hart: “He doesn't fit the ideal DB. Usually DBs are chiseled. But he has everything a DB should have. I guess that's the man upstairs showing you they can come in all shapes and sizes.”

Indeed, as easily as they laugh about Weddle's appearance, those who play with him stop abruptly and praise his play.

“He's got the smarts,” Cromartie said. “He might not look like a football player, but out on the field he's going to make the right calls. And whatever he runs – a 4.41 or whatever he ran at the Combine – he can play at full speed, now.”

Weddle takes the kidding in stride. First, he knows it's true that he does not have the look of a typical skill player in football. Second, he knows how good he is.

“I work hard to get strong,” Weddle said. “I just don't got the looks. But when I get out there it's like a switch. You look at me off the field and you're like, 'Man, this fool's not a football player.' You see me play and you're like, 'Wow! He doesn't look the same.'

“I've always battled that my whole life. Even my first couple years in college I was self-conscious about it. I wanted to look good. I never would take off my shirt. I'm around guys who are ripped up. Now I could care less. They didn't draft me because I looked good. They drafted me because I can play football.”

It's about all General Manager A.J. Smith could talk about after giving up second-, third-and fifth-round draft picks to move up 25 spots to select Weddle 37th overall in the 2007 draft. Smith promised Weddle was a “football player” above all else.

At one time or another in his career at the University of Utah, the kid played quarterback, both safety positions, cornerback, running back, punter and holder.

It was that versatility, willingness and adeptness that impressed the Chargers as much as anything.

It was always only a matter of time that Weddle would displace McCree. By midseason last year, Weddle was splitting time with the veteran – except for when Weddle was playing the nickel.

Now the starter, Weddle has impressed everybody at Chargers Park with his spring and summer performance. Philip Rivers said it is as if Weddle knows what Rivers is going to do, he plays coverage that well.

Weddle is the shortest player in the defensive huddle, and he would lose a foot race to every member of the secondary. But he is a religious studier of video and blessed with instincts about football, so he plays neither slow nor small, and he appears to always be around the ball, either breaking up a play or ending it. Clearly, too, Jammer and Cromartie are playing with aggressive confidence this training camp, as they trust Weddle has their back.

“He's got a nose for the football,” secondary coach Bill Bradley said. “He plays football with his eyes as well as anyone I've ever been around. And he does have some quicks. He can run. It doesn't appear that way, but he can.”

Kevin Acee: (619) 293-1857; kevin.acee@uniontrib.com