NFL Los Angeles Chargers Wiki

The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference West division, and play their home games at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, which they share with the Los Angeles Rams.

The Chargers were founded in Los Angeles in 1959, and began play in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League. They spent their first season in Los Angeles before relocating to San Diego in 1961 to become the San Diego Chargers. The team joined the NFL as result of the AFL–NFL merger in 1970. In 2017, the Chargers relocated back to Los Angeles after 56 seasons in San Diego, a year after the Rams had moved back to the city after spending 21 seasons in St. Louis. The team previously played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum during their first stint in Los Angeles, Balboa Stadium and San Diego Stadium while in San Diego, and Dignity Health Sports Park from 2017 to 2019, while SoFi Stadium was under construction.

The Chargers won the AFL championship in 1963, and reached the AFL playoffs five times and the AFL Championship game four times before joining the NFL. Since then, the Chargers have made 13 trips to the playoffs and made four appearances in the AFC Championship game.

First season in Los Angeles

The Chargers were established with seven other American Football League teams in 1959. They began AFL play in Los Angeles the following year in 1960.

Relocation to San Diego

After the 1960 season, there were rumors that the team was considering a relocation to San Diego, Atlanta or Seattle. In January 1961 the team announced that a deal was made with San Diego to play in Balboa Stadium in Balboa Park.

They played for the whole ten-season existence in the AFL before the upstart league merged with the older NFL. Their only coach for the ten-year life of the AFL was Sid Gillman, who was widely recognized as a great offensive innovator. The early AFL years of the San Diego Chargers were highlighted by the outstanding play of wide receiver Lance "Bambi" Alworth with 543 receptions for 10,266 yards in his 11-AFL/NFL-season career. In addition he set the pro football record of consecutive games with a reception during his career.

With players such as Alworth, Paul Lowe, Keith Lincoln and John Hadl, the high-scoring Chargers won divisional crowns five of the league's first six seasons and the AFL title in 1963 with a 51–10 victory over the Boston Patriots. and featured AFL Rookie of the Year defensive end Earl Faison. The Chargers were the originators of the term "Fearsome Foursome" to describe their all-star defensive line, anchored by Faison and Ernie Ladd.

Eugene Klein era

Hilton sold the Chargers to a group headed by Gene Klein and Sam Schulman in August 1966.

In 1970, the Chargers were placed into the AFC West division after the completion of the AFL/NFL merger. But by then, the Chargers fell on hard times; Gillman, who had returned as general manager, stepped down in 1971, and many of the Chargers players from the 1960s had already either retired or had been traded. The Chargers acquired veteran players like Deacon Jones and Johnny Unitas; however, it was at the later stages of their careers and the team struggled, placing third or fourth in the AFC West each year from 1970 to 1978. During the 1973 season, the Chargers were involved in the first major drug scandal in the NFL. That same year, however, a rookie quarterback from Oregon named Dan Fouts would serve as the catalyst to the Chargers' return to prominence as the 1970s wore on.

Don Coryell years

The Chargers hired head coach Don Coryell in 1978, who would remain coaching the team until 1986. Coryell developed an offensive scheme and philosophy known as Air Coryell, also known as the "Coryell offense" or the "vertical offense". With Dan Fouts as quarterback, the San Diego Chargers' offense was among the greatest and most exciting passing offenses in NFL history, setting league and individual offensive records. The Chargers led the league in passing yards an NFL record six consecutive years from 1978 to 1983 and again in 1985. They also led the league in total yards in offense 1978–83 and 1985. Under the tutelage of Coryell, Dan Fouts, wide receiver Charlie Joiner, and tight end Kellen Winslow blossomed on the field and would all be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The Chargers earned four consecutive playoff appearances during the Air Coryell era, including three AFC West division championships. However, they came short of making it to the Super Bowl, including two straight losses in the AFC Championship game in 1980 and 1981.

Despite making the playoffs again during the strike-shortened 1982 season, the Chargers missed the playoffs every season from to. In 1984, Klein cut salary in preparation of selling the team, sending defensive linemen Johnson and Kelcher to San Francisco, where they would join Dean and offensive tackle Billy Shields for another 49ers championship in Super Bowl XIX.

Spanos family era

Alex Spanos purchased a majority interest in San Diego from Klein on August 1, 1983. Spanos's family still owns 97% of the team and until his death in 2016, George Pernicano owned the other 3%. Al Saunders was named the seventh head coach in Chargers history in 1986 following the resignation of Coryell during the middle of that season. In Fouts retired after a 15-year career in which he set seven NFL records and 42 club records, and became the NFL's second most prolific passer of all-time with 43,040 yards. Fouts's jersey number was retired at halftime of "Dan Fouts Day" game in San Diego. The Chargers would lose their first four games of the season and come back to become the first 0–4 team to make the playoffs as they won 11 of the last 12 games and clinched the AFC West title. Ross was named NFL Coach of the Year for the Chargers' dramatic turnaround by Pro Football Weekly. In the first round of the playoffs, the Chargers shut out the Chiefs 17–0, but the Dolphins shut out the Chargers in the divisional playoffs to eliminate the Chargers. In 1993, the Chargers finished 8–8. and who hired coach Ross, was named the NFL's smartest man by Sports Illustrated, and became the only general manager to lead three different teams to the Super Bowl.

The Chargers' follow-up year in 1995 did not bring the same success of the previous season, but the team still managed to get into the playoffs with a five-game winning streak to end the season at 9–7. However, in the first round, the Chargers were eliminated by the Indianapolis Colts in a 35–20 defeat.

In 1996, running back Rodney Culver and his wife, Karen, were killed in the crash of ValuJet Flight 592 in the Florida Everglades. Culver was the second player in team history to die while on the active roster after David Griggs was killed in a one-car accident in Davie, Florida, 11 months earlier. However, the Chargers struggled in pass protection that year, resulting in Humphries suffering several concussions and his retirement from the game. To replace Humphries, Beathard drafted quarterback Ryan Leaf after the Indianapolis Colts selected Peyton Manning with the first pick in the 1998 NFL Draft. The Chargers traded several players and draft choices to the Arizona Cardinals in order to move up to the second pick and select Leaf. In 1998, the Chargers went 5–11. Said safety Rodney Harrison, "If I had to go through another year like that, I'd probably quit playing."

Gilbride was replaced by interim head coach June Jones, who was on the Chargers' staff before the hire. From to the Chargers had eight straight seasons where they were.500 or worse.

In 2001, Norv Turner, the former head coach of the Redskins, was named offensive coordinator by Riley. Turner learned the offense from Ernie Zampese, former offensive coordinator during the Coryell era, while the two were on the Los Angeles Rams coaching staff. The Chargers signed Heisman Trophy winner free agent quarterback Doug Flutie, formerly with the Bills, and traded the team's first overall selection in the 2001 NFL Draft to the Atlanta Falcons for their first-round selection and third-round selection in the same draft. In addition the Chargers obtained wide receiver-kick returner Tim Dwight and the Falcons' second-round draft selection in the 2002 NFL Draft. The Chargers used that selection in the 2001 draft to select Texas Christian University running back LaDainian Tomlinson and their own first pick in the second round to select Purdue University quarterback Drew Brees. In 2003, the Chargers traded Seau to the Dolphins for a draft pick in 2004 NFL Draft. Seau was selected to the 2003 Pro Bowl, his 12th Pro Bowl selection of his career, and in his final season with the Chargers, he was chosen by teammates as the recipient of the Emil Karas Award as the team's Most Inspirational Player. Also in 2003, Tomlinson accumulated 195 total yards from scrimmage in a late-season game against the Packers to raise his season total to 2,011 and became the first player in team history and the eighth player in NFL history to record consecutive 2,000-yard seasons.

In August 2004, Rivers signed a six-year, $40.5 million contract that included $14.5 million in signing bonuses. However, due to a protracted contract negotiation, Rivers only reported to the team during the last week of training camp, and incumbent Drew Brees retained his starting job. After the starting quarterback switch, it was almost certain that Brees' days as the Chargers' starting QB were over. However, Rivers held out nearly all of training camp, and Brees remained the starter throughout the 2004 season, where he started 15 games and led the team to a 12–4 regular season record. Brees posted spectacular numbers, completing 65.5% of his passes for 3,159 yards, with 27 touchdowns to only 7 interc…


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