Los Angeles Chargers

The Los Angeles Chargers are part of the AFC West, along with the Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders, and Denver Broncos. The Chargers have been since 1959, while moving to the National Football League in 1970 with the merger. The Chargers were the Los Angeles Chargers in 1960, then the San Diego Chargers from 1961-2016, before going back to the Los Angeles Chargers in 2017. The Bolts have a long history, which includes no Super Bowl titles.

SoFi Stadium is one of the most modern venues in all of the National Football League. The Chargers share their facility with the Rams in Los Angeles. SoFi occupies the former site of Hollywood Park Racetrack, near the vicinity of Los Angeles International Airport, and near the Kia Forum. The venue opened in 2020, and was host of Super Bowl LVI in February of 2022. The Rams were the winner of that Super Bowl, making SoFi Stadium the second stadium to see its main tenant win the Super Bowl.

Before SoFi Stadium, the Chargers played in many different locations. They started in Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, before moving to Balboa Stadium for the 1961-1966 seasons. Qualcomm Stadium was next, where they played for 49 seasons. In 2017, they moved to Dignity Health Sports Park, and then of course the 2020 season, they moved to SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.

The Chargers original owner was Barron Hilton, the son of the Hilton Hotels founder Conrad Hilton. When he took over, the team had a contest for the team name. The “Chargers” was the winning entry. General Manager Frany Leahy picked the winning name, and Hilton agreed. They mentioned they liked the yelling “charge” at games, and also DOdgers and USC games in town.

The Chargers have been through several uniform and color changes over the years. When the team announced they were moving back to Los Angeles, they went with a new logo incorporating the letters “LA” with a lightning bolt. The logo was not well-liked, and later on, they would change their look again. That would come in 2020 when they announced new logos and uniforms for the team. The new logos took out the navy blue. The Chargers now have a uniform combination that sees gold pants in the mix.

LaDainian Tomlinson had one of the bet seasons in the history of the National Football League. The 2006 season, saw the running back score 31 touchdowns, with 28 of them on the ground, and he won’t the league MVP. Tomlinson also has one of the most individual games, with 220 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns in a 2002 game.

The Chargers are tied with the Steelers for the second most consecutive season with single-digit losses. Only the Patriots have been better. The Saints are just below. The problem with this record is the Chargers are the only one that has not won a Super Bowl.

During the 1991-2002 seasons, Junior Seau made 12 straight Pwo Bowls, which is the most in franchise history. Over 13 seasons, Seau missed just 9 games and finished with 100 tackles or more in 8 seasons.

Chargers’ Antonio Cromartie is in the record book for his 109-yard touchdown following a missed field goal. This was and still is the longest return of a missed field goal in league history.

Finally, the Chargers in 1961 were record-breaking. The team picked off the opponents 49 times in just 14 games. That’s a record for a 14-game season.

As we mentioned at the start of this article, the Los Angeles Chargers have never won a Super Bowl. They were champions of the AFL during the 1963 season, as they blasted the Boston Patriots 51-10 in the final game. That game was in San Diego, and Keith Lincoln was the MVP of the game.

Since the modern-day National Football League, the Chargers have gone to the Super Bowl once. That was Super Bowl XXIX in 1995. This game was held at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, and San Diego was victim to a 49-26 blowout at the hands of the San Francisco 49ers.

Los Angeles has been to the postseason 20 seasons. Five of them came before the merger, and then 15 others since 1979. The Chargers went to the postseason in 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009, which was the most sustained success they have had.

The Chargers have won the AFC West 10 times, including 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009, but have yet to win one since then.

The most famous quarterback in the history of the organization has got to be Philip Rivers. Playing from 2006-2019, Rivers made 224 starts, and won 123 games. Rivers also won 5 postseason games.

Next to him is Dan Fouts. Fouts played from 1973-1987, and started 171 games. He went 86-84 in his career, and 3-4 in the postseason. The only other name with 100+ starts for the Chargers was John Hadl. Hadl went 59-55 during the 1962-1972 seasons, but lost his only start in the postseason.

Other names on the list for the Chargers includes Drew Brees, for 58 starts, Doug Flutie for 22, Ryan Leaf for 18, and Stan Humphries.

Rivers completed more than 4,900 passes in his career, and finished just shy of 59,300 yards passing with 397 touchdowns and 198 interceptions. As popular as Fouts, his overall numbers did not end up great, with 254 passing touchdowns and 242 interceptions.

In the history of the San Diego and Los Angeles Chargers, they boast 12 names, with 8 of them as primary members of the Chargers. The first name to be inducted into the Hall of Fame from the Chargers was wide receiver, Lance Alworth. #19 played from 1962-1970, and was later inducted in 1978.

Following that on the list was both Ron Mix and Johnny Unitas. Mix spent 10 seasons with the Chargers, while Unitas was just a single season. Both these guys were inducted in 1979. The other three names that were not considered mostly Chargers were Deacon Jones, John Mackey, and Larry Litte.

The other Chargers that are in the Hall of Fame include quarterback Dan Fouts, tight end Kellen Winslow, wide receiver Charlie Joiner, defensive end Fred Dean, linebacker Junior Seau and running back LaDainian Tomlinson. Tomlinson was the last Charger to get inducted in 2017, after playing from 2001-2009.

The Chargers first winning season came in their first season, 1960. That season they went 10-4. The first win in franchise history came 21-20 over the Dallas Texans. One season later, the Chargers made the postseason, but eventually lost to the Houston Oilers in the final game.

Lance Alworth was the first Charger to be elected to the Hall of Fame; Dan Fouts was the first quarterback in team history to throw for more than 400 yards in a game. That was in 1980, when he finished with 444 yards.