60 Fun Facts About Chargers

What shape has been the Chargers' logo, in one color or another, since the team debuted in 1960?

The arc-shaped bolt has survived every uniform overhaul, including the 2020 redesign that dropped navy blue from the palette entirely.

Which stadium became the Chargers' home when it opened in 2020?

They share the Inglewood building with the Rams, one of only two NFL stadiums housing two teams at once.

In which league did the Chargers begin play in 1960?

They were one of the eight charter franchises of the upstart league, which merged with the NFL a decade later.

Which hotel heir was the Chargers' original owner?

He paid a $25,000 franchise fee and later sold his majority stake for $10 million, then a record for any pro sports team.

According to the general manager who picked it, the name 'Chargers' was inspired by what?

The owner denied any link to his Carte Blanche credit card business; a fan had nominated the name in a contest.

Where did the Chargers play their lone 1960 season in Los Angeles?

The original plan was the Rose Bowl, but home crowds under 10,000 in the enormous Coliseum sent the team south after one year.

Before choosing San Diego in January 1961, which city did the Chargers consider moving to?

Seattle was the other candidate; both cities would wait years for their own franchises.

Where did the Chargers play their home games from 1961 to 1966, their first years in San Diego?

The 1914 stadium beside San Diego High School was expanded to 34,000 seats for the team, and The Beatles played there in 1965.

Who was the Chargers' first head coach, hired away from the Los Angeles Rams?

He is credited with pioneering the deep vertical passing game and was the first coach to study game film obsessively.

By what score did the Chargers win the 1963 AFL Championship Game, their only league title?

The rout of Boston came at home on January 5, 1964, and the coach reportedly wanted a shot at the NFL champion Bears afterward.

Which Chargers back was MVP of the 1963 AFL title game after rushing for 206 yards on just 13 carries?

He also led the team with 123 receiving yards and completed a 20-yard pass, accounting for 349 yards of offense.

Which Chargers receiver was nicknamed 'Bambi' by teammates?

The baby face and deer-like stride carried him to 96 straight games with a catch and, in 1978, a place as the first AFL player in the Hall of Fame.

How many holding penalties was Chargers tackle Ron Mix called for in ten seasons?

Nicknamed 'The Intellectual Assassin,' he later earned a law degree and practiced as an attorney.

For how much was the Chargers franchise sold to a group led by Gene Klein in 1966?

The buyer group was 21 business executives; the price was a record for a pro sports franchise at the time.

In what year did the Chargers move into the newly built San Diego Stadium in Mission Valley?

The building later became Jack Murphy Stadium, then Qualcomm Stadium, and hosted three Super Bowls before its 2021 demolition.

San Diego Stadium was renamed in 1981 to honor Jack Murphy. What was Murphy's job?

The name lasted until 1997, when Qualcomm bought the naming rights.

What was the nickname of the pass-heavy offense the Chargers unleashed starting in 1978?

The scheme powered an NFL-record six straight seasons leading the league in passing yards, from 1978 to 1983.

Before the NFL, the Chargers' 1978–86 head coach won 100-plus games at which college?

His Aztecs staffs included two future Hall of Fame head coaches, John Madden and Joe Gibbs.

Which Chargers quarterback was the first with three straight 4,000-yard NFL passing seasons?

His 4,802 yards in 1981 was an NFL record, and his father spent more than 20 years as a 49ers broadcaster.

Which Chargers tight end caught 13 passes and blocked a field goal in the 1981 'Epic in Miami'?

The image of him being helped off the field by two teammates afterward became one of the NFL's enduring photographs.

What was the final score of the Epic in Miami, won by the Chargers in overtime on January 2, 1982?

The Chargers led 24–0 after the first quarter and still needed nearly 14 minutes of overtime to finish it.

Which Chargers kicker won the Epic in Miami with a 29-yard field goal in overtime?

The winner came after 13 minutes and 52 seconds of overtime, and he had missed an earlier chance to end it.

What was the reported wind chill at the 'Freezer Bowl' AFC Championship in Cincinnati?

The air temperature was −9 °F, and by wind chill it remains the coldest game in NFL history.

What rule did the NFL adopt after the Raiders' 1978 'Holy Roller' win over the Chargers?

The Raiders' quarterback later admitted he flipped the ball forward on purpose before it was batted into the end zone.

Which Chargers receiver retired in 1986 with the most receptions and receiving yards of any NFL wide receiver?

Bill Walsh called him the most intelligent and calculating receiver the game had known; his No. 18 was retired by the team.

Alex Spanos bought a majority stake in the Chargers in 1984. In which California city was he born?

The son of Greek immigrants started out selling sandwiches to farm workers and built the largest apartment developer in the country.

Which linebacker's No. 55 is retired by the Chargers?

The San Diego native went to 12 straight Pro Bowls and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2015, three years after his death.

Which head coach, hired in 1992, took the Chargers to their only Super Bowl?

His 1994 team went 11–5, then upset the Steelers 17–13 in Pittsburgh in the AFC Championship.

Which quarterback, acquired in a trade with Washington, led the Chargers to Super Bowl XXIX?

The 1994 Chargers were 18.5-point underdogs, the second-biggest spread in Super Bowl history at the time.

What was the final score of Super Bowl XXIX, the Chargers' loss to the 49ers in January 1995?

Steve Young threw a Super Bowl-record six touchdown passes and was named MVP.

Which quarterback did the Chargers take second overall in 1998, right behind the Colts' first pick?

He went 4–14 as a starter, was released in 2001 and topped ESPN's list of the biggest flops in sports, while the man taken one slot ahead of him went to Canton.

LaDainian Tomlinson played college football for which program?

The same 2001 draft, using picks from trading away the No. 1 slot, also brought Drew Brees to San Diego in the second round.

How many total touchdowns did LaDainian Tomlinson score in his record-setting 2006 MVP season?

Twenty-eight came on the ground, also a record, and he added two passing touchdowns on top of that.

How many points did Tomlinson score in 2006, breaking Paul Hornung's 46-year-old single-season record?

He was also co-winner of the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award that same year.

What regular-season record did the 2006 Chargers post, the best in franchise history?

Their two losses were by a combined six points, and they still lost their first playoff game at home to New England.

Which head coach was fired by the Chargers in February 2007 just weeks after that 14–2 season?

A feud with GM A.J. Smith did him in; he retired with 200 regular-season wins and no Super Bowl trip.

Which quarterback, drafted first by the Chargers in 2004, was traded to the Giants for Philip Rivers?

He had made it clear he would not play in San Diego, and both quarterbacks went on to start for 15-plus seasons.

Philip Rivers had No. 17 for his entire career. Why that choice?

He has worn it since ninth grade, and his father was his high school head coach in Decatur, Alabama.

Which sport did Antonio Gates play in college at Kent State before becoming a Chargers tight end?

He helped the Golden Flashes reach the 2002 Elite Eight, went undrafted, and retired with 116 touchdown catches, the most ever by a tight end.

Drew Brees suffered which injury in his final game as a Charger in 2005?

The Dolphins passed on him over concerns about the shoulder, and he signed with the Saints for six years and $60 million.

Which Chargers defensive end, the third overall pick in 2016, was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year?

His father John played in the NFL and his brother Nick is a fellow Ohio State product and Pro Bowl edge rusher.

In the November 2016 vote on Measure C, a hotel-tax plan for a new San Diego stadium, what share said no?

The measure needed two-thirds approval and got 43 percent; the relocation letter followed two months later.

How much did the Chargers pay the NFL as a relocation fee to return to Los Angeles in 2017?

Dean Spanos announced the move in a letter posted to the team site on January 12, 2017, and hired Anthony Lynn as coach the next day.

The 'LA' logo the Chargers unveiled on relocating in 2017 was widely mocked for resembling which team's logo?

The interlocking letters were pulled within days, and the team went back to the bolt.

Roughly what was the capacity of the Chargers' temporary Carson home (2017-19), then the smallest NFL stadium?

The soccer-specific building on the Cal State Dominguez Hills campus is the home of MLS's LA Galaxy.

In 2019 the Chargers made which 1960-era look their primary home uniform?

The 2020 redesign then removed navy from the color scheme altogether, and the 1960s helmets famously carried the player's number on the side.

Which quarterback, the sixth overall pick in 2020, won AP Offensive Rookie of the Year with the Chargers?

The Eugene native played at Oregon, like Dan Fouts before him, and threw for a franchise-record 5,014 yards in his second season.

Why did the Chargers' rookie quarterback make an unplanned first start in Week 2 of 2020?

The pain-killing injection went wrong minutes before kickoff, and the rookie went on to set the record for touchdown passes by a first-year quarterback with 31.

In the 2022 Wild Card round, the Chargers lost to Jacksonville after blowing a lead of how many points?

The 31–30 collapse was the third-largest blown lead in playoff history and helped seal Brandon Staley's fate a season later.

In which seasons did Jim Harbaugh play for the Chargers before becoming their coach in 2024?

'Captain Comeback' closed out his 14-year playing career in San Diego and later coached the 49ers against his brother John in Super Bowl XLVII.

Where was the Freezer Bowl AFC Championship, which the Chargers lost 27–7 in January 1982, played?

Ken Anderson threw two touchdowns for the Bengals in air that measured −9 °F, and the Chargers never got back to a conference title game until 1994.

Which general manager picked the Chargers' name for Barron Hilton's new AFL franchise?

The former Notre Dame coach liked the bugle and 'Charge!' chant heard at Dodger Stadium and USC games.

The Chargers lost the 1964 and 1965 AFL Championship Games to which team?

They had beaten the Boston Patriots for the 1963 title, their only league championship.

What was the Chargers' record in 1973, a low point of the early-1970s struggles?

Don Coryell's arrival in 1978 revived the franchise with the Air Coryell offense.

Which defensive end is among the nine Chargers players in the Pro Football Hall of Fame?

Dean played for San Diego from 1975 to 1981 before winning Super Bowls with the 49ers.

Brandon Staley's first offensive coordinator was the grandson of which coaching legend?

Joe Lombardi came from the Saints and was fired in January 2023, replaced by Kellen Moore.

Staley and GM Tom Telesco were fired in December 2023 one day after a 63-21 primetime loss to which team?

Giff Smith finished the 5-12 season as interim coach.

What record did the Chargers post in Jim Harbaugh's first season, 2024, earning the AFC's fifth seed?

Harbaugh had coached the 49ers from 2011 to 2014 and Michigan before that.

According to Forbes in August 2024, the Chargers were worth about how much?

That ranked them 20th among NFL teams.

The Chargers' only playoff win over the Chiefs came in a wild card game in which season?

As of 2024 the Chiefs led the overall series 70-58-1.