Chargers by the (Jersey) Numbers: #78

Bob Brown, DT

Andre Coleman, DE

Chuck Ehin, DE-NT

Richard Hudson, T

Joel Patten, T

DeQuincy Scott, DL

Gene Selawski, T

Sometimes the quality of a team is not measured by the quality of the individual players.   Case in point: the 1972 and 1973 San Diego Chargers.  The two teams won a combined 6 games, even though their offensive lines consisted of 3 Golden Jersey winners – including the #78 winner.

The Winner

Walt Sweeney, G

Sweeney combined with Russ Washington and Doug Wilkerson to form a pretty formidable base for the offense.  And Carl Mauck and Terry Owens weren’t that bad either!  And they were blocking for the likes of John Hadl, Mike Garrett, and Dan Fouts in his rookie season.  And Hadl and Sweeney went to the Pro Bowl in ’72!

Admittedly, a football team isn’t just about the offense.  But still, you’d expect more than 6 wins in two seasons from that team!  It may have had something to do with a bad defense.  Or a coach whose name sounded more like a character from the Clone Wars.