For pro football fans, it's probably the third biggest day of the year (after the Super Bowl and Opening Day). For teams who struggled in the previous season, it may be the biggest. On draft day, hope springs nearly eternal. Some kid coming out of college could be the missing piece that helps your team go from afterthought to contender.
For me, the Chargers have been my favorite team for a while. I was a Steelers' fan in the early '70s (in large part because Joe Gilliam, Jr. was a backup quarterback on the roster). That team won several Super Bowls, and eventually sent a number of guys to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Then, the '80s came and the team got old. In that period, the Chargers were starting to make a move up. One pre-season game pushed me over the edge into serious San Diego fandom.
Let's go back to late summer, 1985. I was in Air Force navigator training, and living with my wife in a small apartment in Rancho Cordova, California. she was eight months pregnant at the time, and money was tight, so most evenings were spent at home. This night was one of those at-home nights.
I was going over some celestial navigation class paperwork, getting ready for a training flight the next day. The television was on in the background, but I wasn't watching it close. The San Francisco 49ers were down in San Diego, playing the Chargers. Like most pre-season games, the second half meant lots of guys with unfamiliar names getting into the game. I had some knowledge of Dan Fouts and the "Air Coryell" passing offense, but not much else about the team.
The Chargers' offensive backups were on the field, and the quarterback was a guy named Ed Luther. I didn't know anything about Luther, but he showed a poise and command of the offense that I didn't expect. Of course, the San Francisco defensive backups weren't anything special (and some of those guys were probably cut from the roster in the following days), but Luther was different from most backup quarterbacks. His dropbacks were clean, his reads were confident. One, two, three steps and boom - the ball was out & on the numbers of one of his wide receivers. He repeated that command of the offense over and over, marching his offense downfield with seeming ease. Seeing a backup QB play that confidently drew me in, and I started seeking out more info on the Chargers. Been a fan ever since.
(Whew. Take a breath, man.)
I typed all that to type this: the team is starting a downward slide. The organization can't admit it, for fear of damaging ticket sales, but it's true. The last couple of years in particular have been a disappointment. Key playmakers like Vincent Jackson and Darren Sproles have left, and their replacements have yet to show the dynamic ability of their predecessors. Even quarterback Philip Rivers is starting to show the effects of wear and tear. The defense has been taken advantage of, and struggles to get stops late in games (that 4th-and-29 against Baltimore still haunts my dreams).
So, for the draft this weekend, the Chargers need players. You could make an argument that nearly every position needs either a) a young guy to step in and play well from day one, or b) higher quality depth as part of strengthening the whole team.
I expect San Diego to take offensive and defensive linemen early and often this weekend. The pass rush still hasn't become upper-echelon (so the rest of the defense suffers), and the offensive line struggles to protect a barely-mobile Rivers in the pocket.
The San Diego Chargers need help. Hopefully this weekend, they draft guys who can help from game one this fall.
As training camp and the subsequent season commence, I'll definitely post my thoughts on my team.
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