The

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...

are a professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

team 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 majo ...

(NFL) based in the Los Angeles Area. The club began play in

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

as a charter member of the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

(AFL), and spent its first season in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

before moving to

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 eighth most populous city in the United States ...

in 1961. They returned to Los Angeles in 2017. The Chargers created their

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

in 1976. Eligible candidates for the Hall of Fame must have been retired for at least four seasons. Selections are made by a five-member committee chaired by

Dean Spanos Dean Alexander Spanos (born May 26, 1950) is the chairman and owner of the National Football League (NFL)'s San Diego / Los Angeles Chargers franchise. He is the son of Alex Spanos, who purchased majority interest in the team in 1984. Spanos to ...

, Chargers vice-chairman. As of 1992, other committee members included Bob Breitbard, founder of the San Diego Hall of Champions; Ron Fowler, president of the Greater San Diego Sports Association; Jane Rappoport, president of the Charger Backers; and Bill Johnston, the team's director of public relations. The initial four members—former players Emil Karas, Frank Buncom, Bob Laraba, and

Jacque MacKinnon Jacque Harold MacKinnon (November 10, 1938 – March 6, 1975) was an American professional football player who was a tight end, playng most of his career in the American Football League (AFL) with the San Diego Chargers. He also was a member of ...

—were inducted posthumously in 1976. From 1986 through 1992, there were no new inductions. The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' wrote in 1992, "The Chargers have not done a good job in recent years of recognizing their former players." Dan Fouts and

Charlie Joiner Charles B. Joiner Jr. (born October 14, 1947) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons. He is best known for his career ...

were inducted in 1993. "It embarrasses me to go into the Hall of Fame before

Don Coryell Donald David Coryell (October 17, 1924 – July 1, 2010) was an American football coach, who coached in the National Football League (NFL) first with the St. Louis Cardinals from 1973 to 1977 and then the San Diego Chargers from 1978 to 1986. ...

, because if it wasn't for Don Coryell, I wouldn't be in the Hall of Fame for the Chargers," said Fouts of his former head coach. Coryell was inducted the following year. The Chargers allowed the 2012 inductee to be determined by fans, who selected punter Darren Bennett. The members of the Hall of Fame were honored in San Diego at the Chargers Ring of Honor, viewable above the

visiting team A road game or away game is a sports game where the specified team is not the host and must travel to another venue. Most professional teams represent cities or towns and amateur sports teams often represent academic institutions. Each team ...

's sideline of

Qualcomm Stadium San Diego Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium on the west coast of the United States, in San Diego, California. The stadium opened in 1967 as San Diego Stadium and was known as Jack Murphy Stadium from 1981 to 1997. From 1997 to 2017, the st ...

on the press level. It was founded in 2000 as part of the team's season-long celebration of its 40th anniversary. Before its introduction that season, the Chargers and the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Ra ...

were the only NFL teams without a Ring of Honor. In 2013, the Chargers also inducted their 1963 AFL Championship team into their Ring of Honor; 15 members of that team were already in the team's Hall of Fame.

Key

Hall of Fame inductees

{, class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" , - ! style=";", Inducted ! style=";", Name ! style=";", Position ! style=";", Years ! style=";", No. ! class="unsortable" style=";", Ref , - , rowspan=4, 1976 , , Emil Karas , , LB , , 1960–1966 , , 56 , , , - , Frank Buncom , , LB , , 1962–1968 , , 55 , , , - , Bob Laraba , , LB , , 1960–1961 , , 53 , , , - ,

, , TE , , 1961–1969 , , 38 , , , - , 1977 , , style="background:#cfecec;",

Lance Alworth Lance Dwight Alworth (born August 3, 1940), nicknamed “Bambi”, is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for the San Diego Chargers of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) an ...

* , , WR , , 1962–1970 , , style="background:#ff9;", 19^ , , , - , 1978 , , style="background:#cfecec;", Ron Mix* , , OT , , 1960–1969 , , 74 , , , - , 1979 , , Paul Lowe , , RB , , 1960–1968 , , 23 , , , - , rowspan=2, 1980 , ,

Barron Hilton William Barron Hilton (October 23, 1927 – September 19, 2019) was an American business magnate, philanthropist and sportsman. The second son and successor of hotelier Conrad Hilton, he was the chairman, president and chief executive officer of ...

, , Majority owner , , 1960–1966 , , – , , , - , Keith Lincoln , , RB , , 1961–1968 , , 22 , , , - , rowspan=2, 1981 , ,

Ernie Ladd Ernest Ladd (November 28, 1938 – March 10, 2007), nicknamed "The Big Cat", was an American professional football player and professional wrestler. A standout athlete in high school, Ladd attended Grambling State University on a basketball s ...

, , DT , , 1961–1965 , , 77 , , , - ,

Walt Sweeney Walter Francis Sweeney (April 18, 1941 – February 2, 2013) was an American professional football player who was an offensive lineman in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). He played college football at ...

, , G , , 1963–1973 , , 78 , , , - , 1983 , , John Hadl , , QB , , 1962–1972 , , 21 , , , - , 1984 , , Chuck Allen , , LB , , 1961–1969 , , 50 , , , - , rowspan=2, 1985 , , Gary Garrison , , WR , , 1966–1976 , , 27 , , , - , style="background:#cfecec;",

Sid Gillman Sidney Gillman (October 26, 1911 – January 3, 2003) was an American football player, coach and executive. Gillman's insistence on stretching the football field by throwing deep downfield passes, instead of short passes to running backs or ...

* , , Head coach , , 1961–1969, 1971 , , – , , , - , 1986 , , Earl Faison , , DE , , 1961–1966 , , 86 , , , - , rowspan=2, 1993 , , style="background:#cfecec;", Dan Fouts* , , QB , , 1973–1987 , , style="background:#ff9;", 14^ , , , - , style="background:#cfecec;",

* , , WR , , 1976–1986 , , 18 , , , - , 1994 , ,

, , Head coach , , 1978–1986 , , – , , , - , rowspan=3, 1995 , ,

Speedy Duncan Leslie Herbert "Speedy" Duncan (August 10, 1942 – December 9, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a cornerback and return specialist in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). He played co ...

, , CB , , 1964–1970 , , 45 , , , - ,

Russ Washington Russell Eugene Washington (December 17, 1946 – August 5, 2021) was an American professional football player who was an offensive and defensive lineman for the San Diego Chargers of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football Le ...

, , Offensive tackle, OT , , 1968–1982 , , 70 , , , - , style="background:#cfecec;",

Kellen Winslow Kellen Boswell Winslow Sr. (born November 5, 1957) is an American former professional football player in the National Football League (NFL). A member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame (1995), he is widely recognized as one of the greatest tight ...

* , , TE , , 1979–1987 , , 80 , , , - , 1996 , , George Pernicano , , Minority owner , , 1961–present , , – , , , - , 1997 , ,

Rolf Benirschke Rolf Joachim Benirschke (born February 7, 1955) is an American former professional football player who was a placekicker in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the San Diego Chargers from 1977 until 1986. He is probably most kno ...

, , K , , 1978–1987 , , 6 , , , - , 1998 , ,

Gill Byrd Gill Arnette Byrd (born February 20, 1961) is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback for the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He was a two-time Pro Bowl selection in 1991 and 1992 for the Cha ...

, , CB , , 1983–1992 , , 22 , , , - , 1999 , , Gary "Big Hands" Johnson , , DT , , 1975–1984 , , 79 , , , - , 2000 , ,

Doug Wilkerson Douglas Wilkerson (March 27, 1947 – February 21, 2021) was an was an American professional football player who was a guard in the National Football League (NFL) for the Houston Oilers and San Diego Chargers. Named to the Pro Bowl three times, ...

, , G , , 1971–1984 , , 63 , , , - , 2001 , ,

Wes Chandler Wesley Sandy Chandler (born August 22, 1956) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for eleven seasons during the 1970s and 1980s. He was selected to the Pro Bowl four t ...

, , WR , , 1981–1987 , , 89 , , , - , rowspan=2, 2002 , , Stan Humphries , , QB , , 1992–1997 , , 12 , , , - , Bobby Ross , , Head coach , , 1992–1996 , , – , , , - , 2003 , ,

Louie Kelcher Louis James Kelcher (born August 23, 1953) is an American retired professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL), spending most of his career with the San Diego Chargers. He was a four-time All-Pro ...

, , DT , , 1975–1983 , , 74 , , , - , rowspan=2, 2004 , ,

Don Macek Donald Matthew Macek (born July 21, 1954) is an American former football player who was a center in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Diego Chargers for fourteen seasons. Macek played college football for the Boston College Eagl ...

, , C , , 1976–1989 , , 62 , , , - , Ed White , , G , , 1978–1985 , , 67 , , , - , 2008 , , style="background:#cfecec;",

Fred Dean Frederick Rudolph Dean (February 24, 1952 – October 14, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL). A twice first-team All-Pro and a four-time Pro Bowler, he won two Super ...

* , , DE , , 1975–1981 , , 71 , , , - , 2011 , , style="background:#cfecec;", Junior Seau* , , LB , , 1990–2002 , , style="background:#ff9;", 55^ , , , - , 2012 , , Darren Bennett , , P , , 1995–2003 , , 2 , , , - , 2014 , , Leslie O'Neal , , DE , , 1986–1995 , , 91 , , , - , 2015 , , style="background:#cfecec;", LaDainian Tomlinson* , , RB , , 2001–2009 , , style="background:#ff9;", 21^ , , , - , 2018 , , style="background:#cfecec;",

Bobby Beathard Robert King Beathard Jr. ( ; born January 24, 1937) is an American former football executive who was a general manager in the National Football League (NFL). Over the course of his 38 years in the NFL, his teams competed in seven Super Bowls ...

* , , General manager , , 1990–2000 , , – , , , - , 2022 , ,

Jamal Williams Jamal Williams (born April 28, 1976) is an American former professional football player who was a nose tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for thirteen seasons. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the second round of the 1998 S ...

, , NT , , 1998–2009 , , 76 , , {{center, {{cite web, first=Eric, last=Smith, title=Jamal Williams Made Undeniable Impact on Path to Chargers Hall of Fame, date=September 28, 2022, work=Chargers.com, url=https://www.chargers.com/news/jamal-williams-chargers-hall-of-fame, access-date=September 29, 2022

References

{{Reflist, 30em {{Los Angeles Chargers Hall of Fame {{Los Angeles Chargers American football museums and halls of fame Los Angeles Chargers Hall of Fame

Halls of fame in California Awards established in 1976 1976 establishments in California

Key

Hall of Fame inductees

See also

References