The Chargers Fan

Like so many of the residents in San Diego, Daniel Brothers has been a life long fan of the Chargers. He dates his fandom for the lightning bolts to the days when the Chargers wore gold pants and Qualcomm was the crown jewel of the city. But, there will be no more happy memories for Brothers. Not in San Diego anyways. Not with the Chargers packing up and moving to L.A.

Instead, as if he was visited by a thief in the night, he woke up without a hometown NFL football team. And without any hope of his Bolts staying in their rightful home in Americas finest city.

"I'm mad, hurt, disgusted," Brothers said. "I'm all three and in that order too. I feel like my wife cheated on me with my worst enemy."

You may remember Brothers from his passionate plea for the Chargers to stay as he was being interviewed before the most recent Raiders game live on KUSI's Good Morning San Diego.

He would have gone to the ends of the world if it would have meant he could save NFL football in San Diego.

The hardest part of the relocation for Brothers is that they will now call Los Angeles home. He explained that there is a big brother complex that San Diego shares with LA whether people want to admit or not.

"We tried to identify ourselves as not LA over here," Brothers explained. "That's what the Chargers and Padres gave us. Our identity. Of all the places to go, I wish they would have gone to the other side of the world before LA. Damn no more Chargers."

His greatest memories are exactly the same ones that many Chargers fans share. He can tell you about the Super Bowl run in '94, and Ladainian Tomlinson's run for the touchdown record in 2006.

As I pepper him with questions, he is reminded of his fondest memory - Darren Sproles racing down the left sideline for the 22-yard game-winning touchdown to beat the Indianapolis Colts in overtime of the '08 playoffs.

For Brothers, the Chargers brand was more than just a football team. It was an opportunity to share a lifeline between him and his family, to build memories, to educate and explain the nuances of football to his kids. All something he wasn't able to experience with his father as a kid.

But there’s more.

Brothers, from Lomita Village, will miss the fact that a man from his side of the tracks can interact with somebody from the other side of the tracks; that for at least on that Sunday afternoon at the stadium, he can rub elbows with the rich people and in turn they can see that people like him are not so different either.

"The San Diego Chargers gave me the opportunity to interact and bond with people that would normally have nothing to do with me," Brothers explained. "Sports teams bring everyone together. Without them, we go back to having nothing in common and being divided."

As of now, Brothers has not decided how he's going to feel when the Chargers announce their first draft pick on April 27th or take the field for the first time in Week 1 of the 2017 NFL season.

He said he’s gonna try and give it a shot.

"It's still too fresh, too new, you know what I mean?" he said. "But I tell you what, those people who went to Chargers park and made that pile of stuff and burnt it, you're not hurting [Chargers Owner] Dean Spanos. Think about those players’ jersey, and those players watching you do that. They didn't ask for this. A real fan would never throw a Seau jersey or a Rivers jersey. They built a legacy and if you are willing to just throw out all those memories, well we have nothing left. It was sad to see, man, it was sad to see."