Charlie Joiner

Charlie Joiner

San Diego Chargers

The San Diego Chargers can trace their lineage to August 1959, when Barron Hilton met with representatives from five other cities to discuss a proposed football league, which later became known as the American Football League.

After moving to San Diego in 1961, the Chargers went on to play nine more years in the AFL. In all, the franchise reached the AFL playoffs five times and the AFL Championship four times. They won the AFL Championship in 1963 when they beat the Boston Patriots 51-10 before 30,127 fans at Balboa Stadium.

The Chargers are the only team to start a season 0-4 and make the playoffs, and the only team to start a season 4-8 and make the playoffs.

The Chargers won one AFL title in 1963 and reached the AFL playoffs five times and the AFL Championship four times before joining the NFL  in 1970 as part of the AFL-NFL Merger. The Chargers have made ten trips to the playoffs and four appearances in the AFC Championship game. At the end of the 1994 season, the Chargers faced the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XXIX. The Chargers have six players and one coach enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio: wide receiver Lance Alworth (1962-1970), defensive end Fred Dean (1975-1981), quarterback Dan Fouts (1973-1987), head coach/general manager Sid Gillman (1960-1969, 1971), wide receiver Charlie Joiner (1976-1986), offensive lineman Ron Mix (1960-1969) and tight end Kellen Winslow (1979-1987).

In 1970 the San Diego Chargers were placed into the AFC West division after the NFL merger with the AFL. But by then, the Chargers fell on hard times; Gillman, who had returned as general manager, stepped down in 1971, and many of the Charger players from the 1960s had already either retired or had been traded. 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.

About the Author

ClarkBF is a sports enthusiast. He is a football follower particularly the NFL. If you find this article interesting you may visit his webpage to know more about the San Diego Chargers or you may read other NFL articles written by him.

Charlie Joiner sets NFL record

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