San Diego shows up once more to support the Chargers

Yesterday at the Del Mar Race Track, many former Chargers players (and a few trainers and coaches) got together to say thank you to the people of San Diego.

I had to go, for my full-time job, and was honestly expected to be underwhelmed by the response from the fans. I’ve spent the last six months hearing San Diegans tell me that the Chargers are dead to them, they don’t want to hear about them, and that they’ll stop paying attention to sports media if that’s the only way to avoid the Chargers.

What actually happened is that many thousands of fans showed up to yell “Thank you!” at the players, get autographs, and shake hands with the same guys they rooted for on the field.

Personally, I’ve been wrestling with my own feelings concerning the Los Angeles Chargers. Being able to dive right back into the “San Diego Chargers” was refreshing, and getting the chance to chat with guys like Kris Dielman, Nick Hardwick, Lorenzo Neal, Donnie Edwards, Kassim Osgood, Hank Bauer and others really turned me right back into a fan.

Grid View

There were also fans that were angry. Not so much at the players, but angry that events like this will slowly die off as the team stops having much of a history in San Diego. For the moment, I am choosing to relish a fun day of good memories instead of tearing down Dean Spanos. There will be plenty of time for that later.