Chargers Players Surprise Fans of San Diego in "Thank You SD" Event

As a way to thank fans and get them pumped up for the 2013 season, the entire Chargers roster of players spread out around San Diego to visit with members of the community. The Charger Girls joined the players around town, as did Head Coach Mike McCoy and General Manager Tom Telesco. Everyone boarded 7 busses — grouped by positions — and headed to different areas of the county. Where they were headed was kept a secret until they actually arrived.

The fact that the team was able to get all the players to agree to this event is a feat in itself, not to mention the logistics involved in coordinating everything.

Following along on Twitter, you could tell the event was a resounding success. People from all over town were Tweeting pictures with the players, cheerleaders and staff. Several lucky fans were even given tickets to games this season.

• The running backs started in Old Town, then visited a local downtown fire station.
• The quarterbacks, tight ends and specialists hit the zoo then went to the airport. Seeing pictures of Rivers feeding a giraffe were especially humorous.
• The wide receivers headed to Mission Beach to cruise the boardwalk, then spent some time at Sea World.
• The defensive backs went shopping at the various malls in Mission Valley, then took a shot at being crossover athletes in the batting cages at Boomer's.
• The linebackers headed to the Sorrento Valley area, where they visited the Qualcomm headquarters. BFTB member Schwing was lucky enough to be there at the time and shared some pictures with us (below).
• The offensive line dropped in on a Costco in SE San Diego, then headed down to Chula Vista to the new Aquatica Water Park.
• Probably the best to see, though, was the defensive line visiting the oncology and pediatric unit at Kaiser Hospital. You could tell their presence just brightened the days of all the patients they visited.

It was the goal of the team to spread goodwill and get people excited about the Chargers. With just those two goals in mind, I'd say the #ThankYouSD event was a huge success.