57 Fun Facts About Chargers

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

SoFi Stadium in Inglewood houses the Chargers as tenants, and for a building that cost billions their rent is famously small: one dollar a year.

Which Chargers linebacker was the NFL's Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2005?

Shawne Merriman, the 12th overall pick in 2005, recorded 10 sacks as a rookie and won Defensive Rookie of the Year, celebrating each sack with his 'Lights Out' dance.

Which hotel heir was the Chargers' original owner?

Barron Hilton, son of hotel founder Conrad Hilton, started the team for a $25,000 fee and sold control in 1966 because the hotel company wanted him to run it without football on the side.

The Chargers' owner said the team's name was inspired by what?

The owner recalled fans yelling 'Charge!' to a bugle call at Los Angeles ballgames and denied any link to his Carte Blanche credit card business; a fan had submitted the name in a contest.

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

Balboa Stadium, beside San Diego High School, gained an upper deck to hold about 34,000 for the Chargers, who played three AFL title games there and won the one in 1963.

Who was the Chargers' first head coach, hired in 1960 after five seasons coaching the NFL's Rams?

Sid Gillman won five division titles in the AFL's first six seasons with a deep downfield passing attack, and rival teams had to adopt his methods just to stay competitive.

The Chargers routed which team 51–10 in the 1963 AFL Championship Game?

The Boston Patriots were overrun in San Diego, where a single Chargers back gained 329 yards as a runner and receiver on the way to the team's only AFL title.

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

Keith Lincoln also led the team with 123 receiving yards and completed a 20-yard pass, accounting for 349 yards of offense in the title game.

Which Chargers receiver was nicknamed 'Bambi' by teammates?

Lance Alworth's baby face and deer-like stride earned the 'Bambi' tag; he caught a pass in 96 straight games and in 1978 became the first AFL player in the Hall of Fame.

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

Two, in ten seasons. Ron Mix also studied law while he was playing, which is why a Chargers coach nicknamed him 'The Intellectual Assassin'.

Who led the group that bought control of the Chargers for $10 million in 1966?

Gene Klein, a Los Angeles businessman, bought control because the founding owner had been asked to run his family's company full time; Klein kept the Chargers until 1984.

Which company's name went on the Chargers' San Diego stadium from 1997 to 2017?

Qualcomm held the naming rights for twenty years; to keep honoring the man the stadium had been named for, the city called the site itself Jack Murphy Field.

San Diego Stadium was renamed in 1981 for Jack Murphy, who had what job?

Sportswriter Jack Murphy used his San Diego Union column to urge the Chargers to move south from Los Angeles, then to push for a new stadium, which took his name after he died in 1980.

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

Air Coryell, named for coach Don Coryell, took off the year the NFL barred defenders from hitting receivers more than five yards downfield, and led the league in passing six straight seasons.

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

San Diego State, where he went 104–19–2 in twelve seasons and gave two future Hall of Fame coaches, John Madden and Joe Gibbs, jobs on his staff.

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

Dan Fouts broke the NFL's single-season passing record in each of those three years, 1979 to 1981, yet his Chargers never reached a Super Bowl.

Which Chargers tight end caught 13 passes and blocked a field goal in the January 1982 'Epic in Miami'?

Kellen Winslow kept leaving the field with cramps and dehydration and kept coming back, and the picture of teammates helping him off afterwards became the game's lasting image.

Which trick play cut the Chargers' lead to 24–17 at halftime of the 'Epic in Miami'?

Hook and lateral: with six seconds left in the half, Duriel Harris caught a pass and flipped it to Tony Nathan, who scored untouched, yet the Chargers still won 41–38 in overtime.

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

Rolf Benirschke's 29-yard kick came 13 minutes and 52 seconds into overtime, after he had missed a 27-yarder earlier in the period.

The Chargers' January 1982 AFC title loss, in a reported −59 °F wind chill, is known as what?

The Freezer Bowl came eight days after the Chargers had won an overtime playoff in humid Miami; the air was −9 °F at kickoff, and by wind chill it is the coldest NFL game on record.

After the Raiders beat the Chargers on 1978's 'Holy Roller', the NFL restricted who may advance what late in a game?

A fumble: since 1979 only the player who dropped the ball may advance it after the two-minute warning or on fourth down. Ken Stabler later admitted he had flipped it forward on purpose.

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

Charlie Joiner did most of it late: 586 of his 750 catches came after the Chargers traded for him at 28, and Bill Walsh called him the smartest receiver the game had known.

Which family took control of the Chargers in 1984 and later moved the team to Los Angeles?

The Spanos family. Alex Spanos, a Greek immigrant's son from Stockton, began by selling sandwiches to farm workers from a truck, grew rich building apartments and bought the team in 1984.

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

Junior Seau made 12 straight Pro Bowls for his hometown team, and the Chargers retired No. 55 at their 2012 home opener, four months after his death; he reached the Hall of Fame in 2015.

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

Bobby Ross's 1994 Chargers trailed 13–3 in the third quarter of the AFC Championship Game in Pittsburgh, then won 17–13 to reach the Super Bowl.

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

Stan Humphries was traded for only after starter John Friesz was hurt in a preseason game; in his third Chargers season he led them into Super Bowl XXIX as 18.5-point underdogs.

Which quarterback threw six touchdown passes against the Chargers in their 49–26 loss in Super Bowl XXIX?

Steve Young, in his first Super Bowl start, broke the record of five touchdown passes set by Joe Montana, the quarterback he had replaced, and was named the game's MVP.

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

Ryan Leaf went 4–14 as a Chargers starter and was released in 2001, while Peyton Manning, taken one slot ahead of him, went to Canton.

LaDainian Tomlinson played college football for which program?

TCU, where he once ran for 406 yards in a single game. The Chargers held the first pick in 2001, traded it to Atlanta, who took Michael Vick, and chose Tomlinson fifth.

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

LaDainian Tomlinson's 31 touchdowns in 2006 were 28 rushing, a record, plus three receiving; he also threw a pair of touchdown passes that did not count toward the total.

After nine seasons with the Chargers, LaDainian Tomlinson finished his career with which team?

The New York Jets signed him in 2010 after he also visited the Vikings; he played two seasons there, then signed a one-day contract in 2012 to retire as a Charger.

Which quarterback's team beat the 14–2 Chargers 24–21 in San Diego in the 2006 playoffs?

Tom Brady threw three interceptions, but one was stripped straight back from the Chargers, and New England kicked the winning field goal with about a minute left to end a 14–2 season.

Which head coach did the Chargers fire in February 2007, weeks after a division-winning season?

Marty Schottenheimer's feud with GM A.J. Smith led to his firing on February 12, 2007; he retired with 200 regular-season wins and no Super Bowl appearance.

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

Eli Manning had said he would not play for San Diego, so the Chargers dealt him to the Giants on draft day for Philip Rivers and picks; both quarterbacks started for 15-plus seasons.

Which team did Philip Rivers join in 2020 after 16 seasons with the Chargers?

The Indianapolis Colts went 11–5 with Rivers in 2020 before he retired; almost five years later, at 44, he came back to the Colts and played three more games in December 2025.

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

Antonio Gates played basketball at Kent State, helping the Golden Flashes reach the 2002 Elite Eight, then signed with the Chargers undrafted and retired with a tight-end record 116 touchdown catches.

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

A torn labrum in his throwing shoulder, suffered against Denver in the 2005 finale, led the Dolphins to trade for Daunte Culpepper instead, so Brees signed with the Saints.

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

Joey Bosa missed the first four games of 2016 with a hamstring injury, had two sacks in his debut and still finished with 10.5 in only 12 games.

Which tax would Measure C, the Chargers' stadium plan San Diego voters rejected in November 2016, have raised?

Hotel room tax: the measure would have raised the city's tax on hotel stays to help build a downtown stadium, but it lost decisively, and two months later the Chargers announced their move.

The Chargers' own Los Angeles stadium plan, which NFL owners passed over in 2016, was shared with which team?

The Oakland Raiders and the Chargers proposed a shared stadium in Carson; owners chose the Rams' Inglewood project 30–2 instead, and the Chargers ended up moving in there.

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

The interlocking 'LA' looked like the Los Angeles Dodgers' logo with a bolt-shaped tail; it was pulled within days and the team went back to its own bolt.

From 2017 to 2019 the Chargers played in the NFL's smallest stadium, a Carson venue built for which sport?

Soccer: the stadium is the LA Galaxy's home, and the Chargers used it as a stopgap for three seasons because their permanent home was still being built.

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

Powder blue jerseys, a nod to the 1960s look, became the primary home uniform in 2019; in that era the helmets carried each player's number on the side.

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

Justin Herbert was only the third quarterback drafted in 2020, after Joe Burrow and Tua Tagovailoa, yet he beat both to the award and threw 31 touchdown passes, then a rookie record.

A Chargers team doctor accidentally punctured what while giving quarterback Tyrod Taylor a painkilling injection before a 2020 game?

His lung. The shot was meant to ease a rib injury minutes before kickoff, and the rookie who started in his place kept the job for good.

The Chargers blew a 27–0 lead and lost 31–30 to which team in a January 2023 playoff game?

The Jacksonville Jaguars turned the ball over five times in the first half and still won on a field goal as time expired, then the third-largest comeback in NFL playoff history.

Jim Harbaugh, a Chargers quarterback in 1999 and 2000, later coached which team to a Super Bowl against his brother's Ravens?

The San Francisco 49ers reached three straight NFC title games under Harbaugh, but lost Super Bowl XLVII to the Baltimore Ravens, coached by his older brother John.

In which stadium did the Chargers lose the January 1982 AFC Championship 27–7 in −9 °F air?

Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, where Ken Anderson threw two touchdown passes for the Bengals; the Chargers had won an overtime playoff in humid Miami only eight days earlier.

Frank Leahy, the Chargers' first general manager, had won four national titles as head coach of which college?

Notre Dame, where Leahy won titles in 1943, 1946, 1947 and 1949. His Chargers job was brief: he resigned because of ill health in July 1960, before the team had played a game.

Which team, quarterbacked by former Charger Jack Kemp, beat the Chargers in the 1964 and 1965 AFL Championship Games?

The Buffalo Bills had claimed Kemp from the Chargers for a $100 waiver fee in 1962, then beat his old team 20–7 and 23–0 in back-to-back title games.

Which quarterback legend, aged 40, played his final season for the 2–11–1 Chargers of 1973?

Johnny Unitas arrived in a trade after 17 seasons in Baltimore, became the first passer to reach 40,000 career yards, and was benched that October for a rookie.

Which defensive end spent 1975–81 with the Chargers before entering the Pro Football Hall of Fame?

Fred Dean was traded away early in the 1981 season, had 12 sacks in 11 games for his new team and won the Super Bowl with it that same winter; he entered the Hall of Fame in 2008.

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

Vince Lombardi's grandson Joe ran the Chargers' offense for two seasons and was fired days after they blew a 27-point lead in a playoff loss; he was born the year after his grandfather died.

The Chargers fired coach Brandon Staley and GM Tom Telesco a day after a 63–21 loss in December 2023 to which team?

The Las Vegas Raiders had been shut out 3–0 four days earlier, then led the Chargers 42–0 at halftime and scored the most points in their franchise's history.

Which team knocked the Chargers out in the wild-card round after Jim Harbaugh's 11-6 debut season in 2024?

The Houston Texans won 32-12 by intercepting the Chargers' quarterback four times, one more than he had thrown in the entire 11-6 regular season.

Who led the American Football League in rushing in 1965, running for the Chargers?

Paul Lowe ran for 1,121 yards, then an AFL record; six years earlier the 49ers had cut him and he was working in a credit-card company's mailroom.

Which team did the Chargers shut out 17-0 in the wild-card round after the 1992 season?

The Kansas City Chiefs had beaten the Chargers twice that regular season, then failed to score in San Diego, still the rivals' only playoff meeting through 2025.