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Friday, May 27, 2011
The Chargers are one of the most snakebitten franchises of all time. Despite having great offenses during the days of the AFL, the 1980's, and even now, the team has not won any championships. Even though the city of San Diego seems to have cursed sports teams, a lot of great players and coaches have worn Chargers colors.
With Don Coryell you had to look to the skies to understand his offense. That is probably because of his famous "Air Coryell" offense he developed during his tenure in San Diego. Coryell took over the Chargers midway through the 1978 season and were 1-4. The Chargers were able to 8-3 the rest of the way with Coryell at the helm. Coryell was able to lead the Chargers to three consecutive division titles (1979, 1980, 1981) and four consecutive playoff berths even though the team had not made the playoffs since 1965. For six consecutive years, the Chargers "Air Coryell" passing attacks led the NFL with the help of future Hall of Famers like Dan Fouts, Charlie Joiner, and Kellen Winslow. Even though the Chargers defense of the 1980's were known to give up huge leads, most notably in a 1981 Divisonal Playoff Game against the Miami Dolphins that went into tripple overtime, they still led the league in sacks in 1980 with 60. Coryell helped coach one of the greatest one of the greatest teams not to win a Super Bowl in 1981. After a exhausting game against the Dolphins that became known as "The Epic in Miami," the Chargers went on to lose the AFC Championship Game to the Cincinnati Bengals. Even though Coryell is the first coach on our list to not lead a team to a Super Bowl, his innovations and intelligence for the game helped change the NFL forever.
One of the classiest NFL players you will ever meet, LaDainian Tomlinson is hands down the greatest Charger of all time. Tomlinson immediately became the Chargers starting running back during his rookie season. From the start many fellow teammates and opponents realized what a dynamic play L.T. was. Tomlinson has completed seven passes, eight of them for touchdowns for a passer rating of 154.4. On October 16, 2005 in a game against the Oakland Raiders, Tomlinson became the seventh player in NFL history to run, catch, and throw for a touchdown. Despite being a great passer, Tomlinson was better known for being a running back. In 2003, Tomlinson became the first ever player in history to run for 1,000 yards and record 100 receptions in the same season. The 2006 season was probably Tomlinson's best as he broke numerous records. They included scoring 14 TD's in a span of four games, scoring 16 TD's in a span of five games, and scoring 19 TD's in a span of six games. L.T. also became the first player to score three TD's in three straight games. Tomlinson also became the fatest player ever to score 100 TD's in a career. At the end of the season, Tomlinson finished with 2,323 yards from scrimmage and 31 touchdowns, both NFL records. Although San Diego lost to the Patriots in the Divisional round, Tomlinson was undoubtedly the NFL's MVP that season. On December 2, 2007, Tomlinson passed the legend Walter Payton on the all time rushing TD list with his 111th. Starting in 2008, L.T. hit a decline that eventually led to his release before the 2010 season. Every running back goes through a decline no matter how great they are and L.T. is the greatest ever to wear the yellow and blue. Click here to look at Tomlinson's stats.
Many teams find a franchise QB in the first round, rarely do they find one in the third round, but the Chargers got lucky. With 64th pick in the 1973 Draft, San Diego selected QB Dan Fouts from Oregon. Under the new "Air Coryell" system, Fouts florished. During a strike season in 1982 that was shortened to nine games, Fouts averaged 320 passing yards per game, which is still a record. Fouts was able to lead the Chargers to two straight AFC Championship Games, but they lost in both. In his 14 season as a Charger, Fouts never played in a Super Bowl. Despite this, Fouts still had a very successful career. Players who helped with Fouts success are future Hall of Famers Kellen Winslow and Charlie Joiner. Fouts helped the Chargers to a record six consecutive seasons leading the NFL in passing yards. In one of his only playoff victories, Fouts set an franchise record 433 yards and three touchdowns against the Dolphins in a tripple overtime game. Fouts was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1993 and is only the third QB in the Super Bowl era to not win a Super Bowl. Even though Fouts never played in the big game, he made the Chargers... super. Click here to look at Fout's stats.
The story of the 1998 Draft is one of the funniest ever, well, unless your Ryan Leaf. Going into the draft, many considered Leaf and Tennessee's Peyton Manning to be the two best players available. Manning was selected #1 and Leaf was selected by the Chargers at #2 out of Washington State. One went to become a future hall of famer, while the other one is the second biggest QB bust (biggest is coming soon) in NFL history. Unless you don't know football, you should know Leaf was the bust. Unlike many of our busts that have been featured on this series, Leaf was a disaster from the beginning. First, he skipped the Rookie Symposium which resulted in a fine. Leaf then became only the second QB in NFL history to go 2-0 in his first two starts. However, those two wins came in the preseason and by the the ninth game of the regular season, he found himself on the bench after throwing two touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Leaf also did not have a very good relationship with the media. One of the biggest blow ups in NFL history came his rookie year when he told a reporter to "back the f*&k off" and then had to be restrained by teammate Junior Seau. Leaf didn't even get along with the fans and during one incident he had to be restrained by two coaches. Former teammate Rodney Harrison also said that his rookie season with Leaf was a nightmare. If even your teammates don't support you, then you are no doubt a bust. One of the biggest in NFL history and the biggest in Charger history. Click here to look at Leaf's stats.
The Chargers went 1-15 in 2000 and became one of the worst teams in NFL history. Thanks to NFL rules, they had the #1 pick in the draft in 2001. San Diego traded their pick to Atlanta for the Falcons fifth overall selection. The Falcons went on to select Michael Vick out of Virginia Tech and the Chargers selected Ladainian Tomlinson out of TCU. That was not the only steal in the draft they got, the Chargers then went on to draft QB Drew Brees out of Purdue. San Diego went from one of the worst teams in NFL history to a serious title contender just years later. L.T. went on to win rushing titles and has become one of the greatest players in NFL history, while Brees has since won a Super Bowl with the New Orleans Saints. Even though both Brees and Tomlinson have enjoyed success with other teams, they made the Chargers into a team that people would actually recognize every Sunday. Without the help of Brees, who knows if current QB Phillip Rivers would be the Pro Bowler that he is today. The 2001 Draft helped change the whole face of the Chargers as an orginazation and helped make them one of the best teams of the decade.
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