57 Facts About Chargers

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.

Chargers were founded in Los Angeles in 1959, and began play in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League .

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.

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.

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Since then, the Chargers have made 13 trips to the playoffs and made four appearances in the AFC Championship game.

The Chargers have eight players and one coach enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame: wide receiver Lance Alworth, defensive end Fred Dean, quarterback Dan Fouts, head coach and general manager Sid Gillman, wide receiver Charlie Joiner, offensive lineman Ron Mix, tight end Kellen Winslow, linebacker Junior Seau, and running back LaDainian Tomlinson .

Chargers were established with seven other American Football League teams in 1959.

The Chargers were the originators of the term "Fearsome Foursome" to describe their all-star defensive line, anchored by Faison and Ernie Ladd.

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.

Chargers hired head coach Don Coryell in 1978, who would remain coaching the team until 1986.

The Chargers led the league in passing yards an NFL record six consecutive years from 1978 to 1983 and again in 1985.

The Chargers earned four consecutive playoff appearances during the Air Coryell era, including three AFC West division championships .

Additionally, the Chargers acquired quarterback Stan Humphries in a trade with the Washington Redskins.

The Chargers had upset victories over the Dolphins and Steelers in the AFC playoffs.

The Chargers selected Kevin Gilbride to become their new head coach.

However, the Chargers struggled in pass protection that year, resulting in Humphries suffering several concussions and his retirement from the game.

The Chargers traded several players and draft choices to the Arizona Cardinals in order to move up to the second pick and select Leaf.

Jones left the team at the end of the season to coach at the University of Hawaii and the Chargers named former Oregon State University head coach Mike Riley as their new head coach.

Chargers has been arguably the biggest draft bust in NFL history, and his failure to be the player the team envisioned was seen as a black mark on the franchise.

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.

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.

Chargers coveted Eli Manning and wanted to select him with their first round pick, which was the first overall pick of the draft.

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The Chargers agreed to a trade on draft day with the New York Giants.

The Chargers received draft picks from the Giants that were used to select future Pro Bowlers Shawne Merriman and Nate Kaeding.

The Chargers won the AFC West and Brees was selected to the 2004 Pro Bowl.

Chargers led the team to a playoff appearance, his 12th as a head coach.

Chargers got off to a rough start in their 2005 campaign, losing a close one to the Dallas Cowboys in their Week 1 home opener and then they lost on the road to their AFC West rival, the Denver Broncos .

The Chargers rebounded on the road against their division rival Oakland Raiders .

From that point on the Chargers began a six-game skid with losses to the Jets, Chiefs, Packers, Raiders, Bears, and Broncos, with the first four by only a score and against Denver in overtime.

The Chargers then began a three-game winning streak most notably beating the Ravens by more than any team has beat them that season.

However, the Chargers were beaten out by Denver for the Division Title via tie-breaker.

The Chargers announced in December 2014 that they would not be seeking to relocate for the 2015 season, followed by an announcement from the NFL that no team would relocate to L A until the 2016 season at the earliest.

When St Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke announced in January 2015 his intention to build a new stadium in Inglewood, the Chargers felt pressured to announce their own Los Angeles plan to preserve what they claimed was "25 percent of their fan base" in the affluent Los Angeles and Orange County areas.

The Chargers lost to the Cincinnati Bengals and Minnesota Vikings on the road before defeating the Cleveland Browns on a last second field goal.

The Chargers were given a one-year approval to relocate, conditioned on negotiating a lease agreement with the Rams or an agreement to partner with the Rams on the new stadium construction.

Meanwhile, in San Diego, the Chargers had continued preliminary work on a ballot initiative for public approval on a new facility at the controversial downtown location, while refusing to negotiate with the City of San Diego on its proposed new Mission Valley stadium, which was the location strongly preferred by its local stadium task force.

The Chargers became the second former San Diego professional sports franchise to relocate to Los Angeles, after the Clippers in 1984.

The Chargers announced they had hired Anthony Lynn to be their next head coach.

In December 2018, a Los Angeles Times columnist asked if the Chargers would receive a parade in the city if they were to win the Super Bowl.

In 2022, the Chargers announced the location of a new headquarters in El Segundo, California.

Except for color changes along the way, the Chargers have essentially used the logo of an arc-shaped lightning bolt since the team debuted in 1960.

In 1985, the Chargers started using navy blue jerseys and returned to wearing white pants.

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The Chargers went with all-white combinations in 1997 and 2001, only to have the blue pants make a comeback.

In 2001, the Chargers started wearing their dark uniforms for preseason games and white uniforms in September home games due to the heat before switching back to dark in October.

In March 2007, the Chargers unveiled their first uniform redesign since 1988, on the team's official website.

From 2002 to 2006, the Chargers used the early-1960s powder blue uniforms as alternate jerseys, which many football fans clamored for the team to bring back full-time.

Since 2007, the Chargers have worn the alternate powder blue jerseys twice per season.

In 2009, in honor of their 50th anniversary as one of the eight original AFL teams, the Chargers wore their 1963 throwback uniforms for three games.

The Los Angeles Chargers appeared in the postseason in one of the five last seasons, which happened in 2018 that resulted in a Divisional loss to the Patriots.

Recent notable honors with current members of the Los Angeles Chargers include NFL Rookie of the Year in 2016 for Joey Bosa and in 2020 for Justin Herbert along with NFL Comeback Player of the Year for Keenan Allen in 2017.

Chargers announced their 50th Anniversary Team in 2009 to honor the top players and coaches in the team's history.

The Chargers originally stated that only 50 members would be selected.

In 2020, the Chargers signed a multi-year preseason TV deal with KCBS-TV and KCAL-TV and will have a weekly show with the latest team news, replacing KABC-TV after three seasons of televising Chargers preseason football.

Chargers' fight song, "San Diego Super Chargers", was recorded in 1979 at the height of the team's success with Air Coryell, and has a distinctly disco sound.