San Diego Chargers fans want the team to stay right where they are, and the NFL appears to share the sentiment. The league may guarantee the city the chance to host a Super Bowl if it can get a new stadium built by the fall of 2017. If not, the Chargers will likely follow the former-St. Louis Rams to Los Angeles.
The Chargers aren’t the only California football team that might be on the go. In fact, a potential move to Los Angeles seems quite mild compared to possibility of the storied Oakland Raiders heading to Las Vegas. An interesting note is the mediocrity that surrounds all three of those teams that either did or could move. The Raiders (7-9) and Chargers (4-12) finished third and last respectively in the AFC West division last season, while the Rams (7-9) came in third in the NFC West.
Still, it’s easy to see why the NFL would want to keep the blue-and-gold clad team in San Diego. They were founded way back in 1960, and moved to San Diego in 1961 after playing their first season in Los Angeles, ironically. While the team has never won a Super Bowl (it lost their only appearance to the San Francisco 49ers in 1995), it has 15 division championships between the AFL and NFL to its credit, along with 18 playoff appearances between the two leagues.
Armed with 2016 NFL Draft defensive end prospect Joey Bosa of Ohio State, the Chargers are hoping to make a splash this season. All the players can worry about is their on-field performance and hope it factors in to keeping the Chargers in San Diego. After all, Los Angeles already has its franchise back in the Rams.
Featured Image via Flickr/Jeffrey Beall
