The 2000 season was the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

' 31st in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL), their 41st overall and their second under head coach Mike Riley. The Chargers failed to improve on their 8–8 record from

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, and finished the season 1–15, the worst record of any Chargers team in history. The team lost its first eleven games before their only victory of the season against the Kansas City Chiefs (by one point, which was obtained on a last-second field goal). The 2000 Chargers were also the first team to finish 1–15 and have their only win of the season be at home. Oddly enough, out of the eleven teams in NFL history to finish 1–15, only three others had their only win at home ( 2007 Dolphins, 2016 Browns, and 2020 Jaguars). The Chargers were also the third 1–15 team to win their lone game by a single point; the others, the 1980 Saints and 1991 Colts, each defeated the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

on the road. It was also

Ryan Leaf Ryan David Leaf (born May 15, 1976) is a former American football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for four seasons. He played for the San Diego Chargers and the Dallas Cowboys between 1998 and 2001, and also p ...

’s final season with the Chargers. San Diego had a historically inept running attack in 2000; their 1,062 total team rushing yards (66.4 per game) is the lowest total of rushing yards by any team in NFL history in a 16-game season. For perspective, the strike-shortened

1982 NFL season The 1982 NFL season was the 63rd regular season of the National Football League. A 57-day-long players' strike reduced the 1982 season from a 16-game schedule per team to an abbreviated nine game schedule. Because of the shortened season, th ...

—which was a nine-game schedule—included thirteen teams who rushed for more yards than San Diego did in 2000, and the 1992 Seahawks, who scored only 140 points in 16 games, rushed for 1,596 yards.''Pro Football Reference''
1992 Seattle Seahawks
/ref> Despite this, there were a few bright spots; Darren Bennett and

Junior Seau Tiaina Baul "Junior" Seau Jr. (; ; January 19, 1969May 2, 2012) was an American professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL), mostly with the San Diego Chargers. Known for his passionate play, he was a ...

would be selected for the Pro Bowl that year. After their miserable season, the Chargers earned the first overall pick in the next season's

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vessel ...

. The Chargers would trade that pick to the Falcons and draft

LaDainian Tomlinson LaDainian Tarshane Tomlinson (born June 23, 1979) is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. After a successful college career with the TCU Horned Frogs, the San Diego Chargers se ...

and also

Drew Brees Drew Christopher Brees (; born January 15, 1979) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the New Orleans Saints for most of his career, Brees is the NFL leader in ...

. The last remaining active member of the 2000 San Diego Chargers was

David Binn David Aaron Binn (born February 6, 1972) is a former American football long snapper who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eighteen seasons. He played college football for the University of California, Berkeley. He was signed by th ...

, who played his final NFL game in the 2011 playoffs, although he played his final regular season game in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Offseason

NFL draft

Personnel

Staff

Roster

Schedule

Standings

References

{{2000 NFL season by team

San Diego Chargers seasons

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...