The Los Angeles Chargers were one of the original eight teams in the American Football League (AFL). Founded in 1960, owner Barron Hilton chose the name “Chargers” when his general manager, Frank Leahy, saw the term on an electric scoreboard that featured a horse and lighting bolt. Leahy may have witnessed this at a USC college football game. The franchise played their home games their first season at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, still home to the USC Trojans.
In 1961 the team moved to San Diego, and with the move became known as the San Diego Chargers. The team won divisional crowns five times in their first six seasons in the AFL. The pinnacle of their success came in 1963 as the won the AFL title with a 51-10 victory over the Boston Patriots. Coach Sid Gilliam, coached a team that led the league in scoring as well as first in defense that year. Some of the key players of the early Charger teams included flanker Lance Alworth, Defensive End Earl Faison, running backs Keith Lincoln and Paul Lowe as well as offensive tackle Ron Mix.
Faison was the AFL Rooke of the Year, a rarity for a defensive end. While the term “Fearsome Foursome” is often associated with the Los Angeles Rams, the term was used with a Chargers team that featured a defensive line that included Faison and Ernie Ladd a full two years before being used with the Rams front four.
Hilton sells the team
Hilton sold the Chargers to a group headed by Gene Klein and Sam Schulman in 1966. The Chargers joined the National Football League (NFL) when the AFL merged with the NFL in 1970,
The Chargers enjoyed another resurgence of success when Don Coryell was hired as coach in 1978, Coryell, like Gilliam, a proponent of the vertical offense had developed the “Coryell offense” while coaching in St. Louis with the Cardinals. With Dan Fouts as quarterback, the San Diego Chargers’ offense has come to be known as one of the most exciting passing offenses in NFL history.
The team led the league in passing for six out of seven years from 1978 to 1985. Fouts threw to eventual fellow Hall of Famers Charlie Joiner and tight end Kellen Winslow. Fouts had initially been drafted in 1973 in the third round to back up Johnny Unitas, who was nearing the end of his career at the time. Under Coryell, the team made it to the AFC Championship game in 1980 and 1981, losing each time.
In 1994, the Chargers finally reached the Super Bowl before losing to the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XXIX. A key player from that squad was linebacker Junior Seau.
Alex Spanos purchased a majority interest in the franchise from Klein in 1983.
While in San Diego, the franchise played in Balboa Stadium and San Diego Stadium (also known as Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium.)
Chargers move to Los Angeles
In 2017 the Chargers moved back to Los Angeles after spending 56 seasons in San Diego. Owner Dean Spanos paid the NFL $645 million for the relocation. They played their home games at Dignity Health Sports Park, (also known as StubHub Center) in Carson while they waited for their stadium to be constructed. The facility only had a seating capacity of 30,000, well below the 50,000 minimum that the NFL requires.
The Rams had moved back to Los Angeles after spending 21 seasons in St. Loui the year before. In 2020 both franchises moved into SoFi Stadium. Along with MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, SoFi Stadium is the only other facility to call home to two NFL franchises.
The Los Angeles Chargers currently play in the American Football Conference (AFC) West Division, along with the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, and Las Vega Raiders.
Barry Schustermann
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