This is a great time of year to be thankful for what we have, where we have been, and what the future holds. Although the Chargers have lost their way a bit in recent years, the month of December used to hold such incredible promise! This advent calendar is an attempt to hearken back to these days of December joy. Each day will bring a new advent from the Bolts’ history that makes it wonderful to be a Chargers fan.

Dec. 17: The New Logo Debacle

Being a Chargers fan is a bit of a pain and reward balance. They’re awful good at teasing that they’re really good, and they’re awful good and going from good to awful. At their best they are one of the best teams in the league, and at their usual they are hilarious and occasionally incompetent. From the empty seats at a soccer stadium to the overhead buzz of unrestricted airspace on game day, fans have learned to enjoy the silliness of some of the franchise’s missteps. Heck, there used to be a time when tweets were the most embarrassing part of the Chargers public face.

One of the darkest days of the Chargers franchise, however, was January 12, 2017. Not even a full year ago. The Chargers officially announced that they were leaving San Diego to head north to LA. Apart from the general rancor that this unceremonious departure caused, the Chargers also ‘leaked’ out a new logo to commemorate the occasion.

It was not received well.

Within hours of the news and the logo unveiling, the Chargers doubled-back on the logo and said it was not intended to be official. Fans across the globe had chimed in on how the logo was an obvious ripoff of the LA Dodgers. It was not long before memes got involved.

The next day, the Chargers tried again, this time to appeal to fans of the classic powder-blue Chargers uniforms.

The internet remained unimpressed.

Finally, later the second day, the Chargers tried to reconcile the two and harken back to the classic Chargers logo from San Diego.

In the end, the Chargers decided to return the ship to port. Well, not the ship itself, but at least its flag.

Via Pro Football Talk:

“The logo that was revealed on Thursday was meant to help launch our brand into the market and supplement — not replace — our official team marks,” Chargers president of business operations A.G. Spanos said in a statement provided to PFT. “Clearly, we miscalculated how the logo would be received, and we’ve taken it out of the rotation.”

A.G. Spanos emphasized that this is the identity of the team. “If we make a mistake, we own it, learn from it, and move on without looking back,” he said.

“If the ultimate outcome of this episode is something really special that L.A. fans help create and truly love, that’s a win,” Spanos said.

In the end, it ended up being a lot of hoopla over nothing. The Chargers might have intended to make the LA-bolt logo their official brand image, but it wasn’t truly official at the time of its unveiling. For better or for worse, the Chargers were in the news for goofy things, taking at least some of the flak away from the heart-wrenching move.

The Chargers changed their non-official logo 3 times in two days, but ended up listening to fans and critics alike by sticking with what has worked in the past. Some might take anecdotes like this more seriously than they should, but I think that it helps color some of the silliness that Chargers football brings to the table for fans to laugh about.. even in the cold, bleak offseason!

-Jason “Leggo my logo!” Michaels